Distpatch Tribune 4/05

An Extreme Rush to Help
KC region works for free to build home in less than a week

Give him five days and nine hours, and Kevin Green will raise a new house.

Green, owner of Parkville’s Kevin Green Homes, was solicited by ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” producers to perform a feet that normally would seem impossible.

His company and a vast crew of subcontractors have just 129 hours to build a new house at 8211 E. 79th St., where the six-member Stephen Johnson family used to sleep. The Johnson family is at Disney World while Green’s crew works against time.

“This is crazy,” Green said. “But it is for a great cause.”

Green’s architect, Rob Marshall, had one week to design a home that would normally tax his creativity for a month. The show’s producers told him to think “Hollywood” – a glorious exterior with a bright, spacious interior.

The clock began ticking on the project 11 a.m. Friday, Aril 1, when members of the Kansas City Fire Department took chainsaws and axes to the home. Heavy machinery finished the job as thousands of area residents cheered.

By Thursday, April 7, neighbors on the quiet, suburban street can expect to see a stately two-story home in place of as subtle brick-front ranch. Stonework, arching windows and copper accents will tantalize the eye.

Green, whose team is working unpaid, is relying on vendors he normally subcontracts with to get the house done on time. And hundreds of people from dozens of businesses agreed to provie labor and materials for free.

“We have good people in place to follow up on their duties,” said Green, who, as general contractor, is required to live on the job site for the week. “I trust them.”

They will work around the lock to get the job done.

“Sleeping is not a priority in this event,” he said “The priority is to get the home done on time.”

Subcontractors include Chip Zuck of Jim Kidwell Construction in Lake Winnebago. Zuck’s crew was responsible for demolishing the Johnson home and digging out room for a larger basement. Zuck estimated it would take almost as much time as a normal excavation job.

His company sent three pieces of large machinery to the site, and he estimated the contribution was worth about $15,000.

Zuck’s crew will pave the way for a team of plumbers from Robertson Plumbing of Liberty.

The Robertson crew was scheduled to complete underground plumbing midnight Friday to 2 a.m. today. They’ll come back at 2 a.m. Tuesday, April 5, to do the finish work.

“It’s some pretty fancy stuff that’s going into this house,” said Danny Dale, plumbing supervisor. “There are unusual things you wouldn’t see in a typical house.”

Dale’s team will work shoulder-to-shoulder with electricians and heating and cooling vendors.

The Bordner Installation Group of Raytown is responsible for roofing, siding, painting and interior and exterior stonework. It starts work this evening.

“What we’re going to do is going to be pretty amazing, I think,” said Jerry Fleenor, corporate general manager to Bornder Installation. “I think we’ll be able to get through it.”