Carpentry students are finishing another Really Big Raffle house for the NIC Foundation, the 20th one to be given away.
The students are responsible for the majority of the construction for the house, and get to work alongside the contractors hired to handle the non-carpentry aspects as well.
They are overseen by Dave McRae, the carpentry instructor. Dave guides them through the construction of the house both in the classroom, and on the building site.
Earlier in the week the class meets to discuss theory on the focus of the week, and then gain practical experience in the topic.
“The raffle house serves as the laboratory exercise for the carpentry program,” Mc said.
“I’ve heard of carpentry programs where they build a wall, and they nail the wall together in shop,” Dave said. “Then they disassemble it and put the pieces back in their shelves someplace and then the next class builds the wall with those same pieces.”
Robbie Ellithorpe, 17, Cd’A, Carpentry, is one of the students who is involved in this project.
“It’s a lot of work,” Ellithorpe said. “I love it; it’s what I want to do.”
After the semester and the completion of the house, Ellithorpe intends to continue on with his degree and aims for a job managing construction.
“It’s gonna be a cool house,” Ellithorpe said.
Dave Mcrae said that students do more than just the carpentry on the house.
“We sub out things to make it go fast. We sub out all the major house systems like the electrician, and the plumbers; the sheet rockets we sub out,” McRae said. “We blend in to some of the subs.”
Students will often work alongside the third-party contractors and help with projects such as insulation, painting and putting concrete down. This gives students some additional experience and a look at other aspects of construction.
Snow and rain hampers the building process during the winter months.
“When we’re building in the winter we have to cover our lumber, we have to divert water with temporary gutters, we have to watch our power supply in the snow,” McRae said. “If they want to see what the real world is like, there’s no better way than to build a house in the winter in North Idaho.”
Scheduling provides another challenge. The speed of construction is affected by the myriad of different schedules the students have.
Each year the NIC Foundation purchases the lot for the house and provides a budget for construction, around $250,000.
Five thousand raffle tickets are sold at an individual price of a hundred dollars. Money from the raffle goes toward supporting the Foundation and their efforts on campus including grant money for programs and students.
Because the Foundation provides the funds for the project, the carpentry program can provide practical experience for students without the need for a large grant.
Kristen McFadden, database information specialist of the NIC Foundation, said that a hot tub has been added to the house for the 20th anniversary of the house raffle.
The welding program also contributed to this years’ raffle house in the form of a barbecue. This is the first house that has included a work by the welding program.
