Houses in hours

You don’t have to take out a huge bank loan and wait months and months for workers to build your dream home. Not if you are willing to downsize your dreams a bit and put your trust in a group of willing Centre for Employment training students. Patrick Jones reports on an innovative program that brings homeowners instant gratification.

For the thirty-one wood working students of the Centre for Employment Training, the next ten months will be anything but boring. As part of their training, the young men and a sole female trainee, are taking part in an experimental program to provide low-income houses for needy families.

Karl Myvette, Instructor, C.E.T.

“Well basically the idea behind these houses isto fill the need of the people who are desperately in need of somewhere to stay at this point; who already have a piece of land and don’t have a place to stay. We’re trying to get them into a small house. If they want to afterwards they can make additions and make the house bigger but the idea is to get them their own place.”

According to Wayne Williams, for many of the trainees it’s their first time using hammers and nails and saws, and that every little bit of help goes a long way.

Wayne Williams, Wood Working Student, C.E.T.

“First of all our instructor write out the diagram on the board and he will tell us how big the house he wants, what size the windows and doors and everything, mark out the size on the blackboard. And we’ll go and measure, cut up the wood and get all the pieces together and nail them up.”

But nailing pieces of wood together is more than just another day’s work on campus. Williams says it’s a lesson in life that will last well beyond graduation.

Wayne Williams

“We gain a lot of experience from this because most of us, this is the first time we are dealing with hammer and nails and cutting wood. And also we have some heavy duty machine inside whereby this is the first time we get to handle some of them.”

Karl Myvette

“It gives me a very good feeling to see the guys really involved. I guess one of the things about this type of work is to get them enthused, to get them motivated. Obviously these trainees here are not those that are inclined to much book study and they are more fascinated with hands-on and getting themselves involved. This makes it very easy for even myself, and as you can see they enjoy what they are doing. And that gives me much fulfillment to see them be involved in something that they could carry out and help them to forward their own lives when they leave C.E.T. here.”

The C.E.T. housing project is being underwritten by the Housing and Planning Department. So far three houses have been constructed and are ready for assembly on their owner’s lots. Williams says that although they are still novices at carpentry, putting together the one room twelve by sixteen houses is no sweat at all.

Wayne Williams

“A house like this which is twelve by fourteen takes us about one day. When everybody’s participating it takes about a day to complete: to set it up, take it out to the site and set it up.”

Karl Myvette

“These houses I believe are as secure as any house you could find around here. As a matter of fact these houses pretty well have a lifetime of twelve to fifteen years. They are built from all treated material and we try to use proper building codes, having our studs and everything in place, not more than 24 inches centered and also the roofing material we use some of the best we could find. We use the twenty-six gauge corrugated sheeting which is very good and very durable.”

According to Myvette, the building project, which also included two bedroom and concrete houses, will continue for the remainder of the school year. Patrick Jones for News Five.

Myvett estimates the cost of each pine house to be between three and four thousand dollars. For more information contact the Housing and Planning Department.