By Steve Thompson
Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — The home builders spread architectural plans across a pallet of stones – a makeshift desk.
“Make sure that by 12 o’clock, everything is moved out of the way because we’re pouring the flatwork,” Bryan Jeffery of Cheldan Homes told a man in a hardhat.
“Ok,” the man said. “So I’ve got an hour-and-a-half.”
Two days ago, the Dallas police SWAT team helped demolish the Lancaster home of fellow officer Carlton Marshall, who suffered disabling injuries after being shot in the neck during a 2007 drug raid.
Already Monday, the skeleton of a new home stood in its place. Cameras for the ABC reality TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition filmed the progress of dozens of volunteers busy like ants on an anthill.
“We’ve got to be done and hand them the keys Wednesday at 2 p.m.,” explained Joey Goss, owner of local building company Cheldan Homes, which volunteered to lead the construction.
Goss has headed building companies for 27 years, and this is the fastest he’s ever put up a home. During one building boom, he built a home in 10 days, he said. “But that wasn’t nothing like this.”
Thirty Dallas police officers formed lines in the near 100-degree heat to pass sandstones – 65 tons worth – one-by-one to masons crafting the home’s exterior.
The construction hasn’t gone without snags. Framers failed to appear Sunday, putting things behind schedule.
“It just got so hot yesterday, and one of our crews, for whatever reason, didn’t show up,” Goss said. “But we think we’ve got the cavalry coming on that one.”
Marshall and his family are in Disney Land, flown there by the show for a vacation. They’ll return to a spacious new home with wheelchair-accessible features to help Marshall get around better.
GreenWatt Energy Systems of Fort Worth has installed a 40-foot tall wind turbine, as well as several solar panels, to help make the home more energy-efficient.
As workers put on the roof Monday morning, crews filmed the action. On-screen talent Ed Sanders took to the roof with the workers, mugging for a camera attached to the end of a small crane.
“Well friends, I’ve got some good news for you: We’ve got a fresh bunch of framers that have just started sheeting out the roof!” he said to the camera. “The bad news is, we’ve still got a load more roof to go!”
A producer watched the performance, sweating.
“Ed, by the end you’re really small,” the producer said. “So sell it with your arms.”
Sanders stepped back across the roof and readied himself for another take.
Organizers are still collecting donations to help pay off the Marshall family’s previous home’s mortgage. For more information, visit www.extremecheldan.com.