Homebuilders, Remodelers Continue Work on Blitz Build Home

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BREWSTER – Cape Cod home builders, remodelers and supplies are hard at work to construct a Habitat for Humanity home in one week.

The 4th Habitat for Humanity Home Builders Blitz build began Monday on Paul Hush Way off Tubman Road in Brewster between Routes 124 and 137.

Previous blitz homes were constructed in 2013 in Orleans, 2015 in Harwich and 2017 in the same Paul Hush Way development in Brewster.

Plumbing, heating, electrical, insulation and plastering was completed Tuesday with inspections.

Home Builders and Remodelers Association President Peter Kimball said the event is a great partnership with Habitat and a great way for local businesses to give back.

“It’s a great benefit to a local Cape Cod family,” Kimball said.

“It makes a huge impact in their life and is probably a life changing event for them.”

The two-story, three-bedroom Cape-style home is being built for Josue and Katherine Ortiz, of Harwich, and their two sons Jayden and Isaiah.

Josue grew up in Harwich and works for Cape Coastal Landscaping, and Katherine grew up in Brewster and works at the Speedway gas station in South Orleans.

Katherine said it is amazing that they will be getting a new home. The family of four have been living in a studio apartment above a garage.

“I’m mostly excited about two bathrooms and a dishwasher,” Katherine said.

The family will move in about a month after the home is completed.

Katherine said it will be nice to be in the new home for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Kimball said that nearly 200 companies participated in making donations for the project, including labor and materials.

“I’m guessing there is somewhere between 600-700 individual people who end up working on the site over the week,” Kimball said. “It’s a pretty big effort.”

Normally a Habitat home is constructed in just over a year with anywhere between 2,000 and 3,000 man hours.

“We just have to cram it all into one week,” Kimball said.

Planning for the Blitz Build begins about a year in advance.

“Some of that is so that we can get into companies’ budgets for their donations for that next fiscal year,” Kimball said. “It also takes time for us to gather all that up and make sure everybody is onboard.”

Kimball said there is a crunch at the end of the planning phase.

“We know what certain tasks are and those are easy to assign,” Kimball said. “We have a lot of different companies that participate in the carpentry phase and some them have different skill sets or availabilities so we are typically are coordinating that piece of it near the end of the planning cycle.”

Kimball said that there have never been any issues with competing companies.

“Everybody has always been super cooperative and we have never had any major issues with personalities or egos,” Kimball said. “It’s really all about the build and everybody has a good time doing it.”

Kimball said the project also requires a lot of cooperation from the town and it’s Building Department.

“It’s not normal for us to be doing all the rough inspections in a single day, and even insulation on the same day,” he said.

“We work closely with the town of Brewster Building Department to make sure they are on board. They understand what we are doing, when we are doing it and they have been very cooperative with helping us with that.”

Interior finishes such as cabinets, plumbing fixtures and flooring will be installed Wednesday. The home will be painted on Thursday with last minute details wrapping up on Friday.

The Blitz Build is part of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Cape Cod’s mission statement to support and promote workforce housing on Cape Cod.

Kimball said the best way for the community to get involved on a project like this is to continue to show support for Habitat for Humanity.

Spectators are welcome to turnout and see the process.

A Blitz Block Party and Home Dedication Ceremony will be held Friday at 4:30 p.m.

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