HUMBOLDT — Humboldt High School’s nearly finished building trades project has offered dozens of students all sorts of real-world experiences.
They’ve learned the prerequisite construction-related tasks, from framing walls, roofing and siding work to wiring electrical outlets.
Their instructor, Scott Murrow, learned a few things as well, namely how to keep a construction project going through a global pandemic that sent the students home just as the house neared completion.
“We lost the kids on March 13, a Friday the 13th of all things,” Murrow recalled.
With the instruction opportunities waylaid, but much of the project already finished, Murrow took it upon himself to continue working on the home through the summer.
Fortunately, much of the home was already complete, leaving Murrow to focus on such things as adding trim throughout the house, and eventually painting the home. Mike Hofer, meanwhile, and his Hofer & Hofer crews poured the concrete driveway and sidewalk.
Students returned to help finish constructing front and back decks.
Now, a few months later than planned, the high school is ready to put the ranch-style home on the market.
All that remains is property cleanup, such as landscaping that can’t be completed until the weather improves in the spring.
Prospective buyers are encouraged to call USD 258 Superintendent of Schools Kay Lewis to schedule a tour of the home. The asking price is $128,400.
WHEN THEY arrive, they’ll find a delightful 1,492 square-foot ranch style home at 512 Osage St. built for comfort, style and energy efficiency.
Even better, Murrow said, the newest shining piece of Humboldt’s housing stock comes courtesy of students who should have a leg up if they want to pursue a construction career after high school.
“We’re really striving to provide lots of different opportunities for CTE” — career technical education — ”and this allowed us to work with the kids and an opportunity to get out of the classroom and into the a real-world environment,” Murrow said.
While many previous building trades projects were usually finished in the course of a single school year, Murrow set out to spread the work over two years instead.
“I wanted to have time for instruction while we were constructing the house,” he explained. “We wanted to make sure the students understood why they were doing what they were doing.”
As such, Murrow had students do all of the prep work as well, such as laying out stringline to mark where the walls will be, digging the footings, even pouring the stem walls.
As the project proceeded, Murrow brought in Donnie Van Leeuwen, a local electrician and plumber, to show the ins and outs of electrical, plumbing and heating and ventilation system work.
Work began on the home in the fall of 2018, with the skeleton of the house up in place by the following spring. Roof work, siding, drywall and other essentials became the focal point of 2019-20 — until the pandemic hit.
Murrow had 36 kids the first year; 48 the second. Thirty-seven are enrolled this year.
“We’re staying pretty consistent with our numbers,” Murrow said.
THE HOUSE is the first HHS building trades house constructed with 2-by-6 walls, filled with R-19 insulation, instead of the typical 2-by-4 lumber.
A 2-by-4 wall is filled with insulation 3 ½ inches thick, Murrow said, while the wider 2-by-6s allow for a 5 ½ inch layer of insulation.
The all-electric home also utilizes LED lighting — designed to last more than 20 years without having to change a single bulb — with R-30 insulation in the ceiling. (The light switches also have separate dimming controls capable of producing 600 lumens each using a fraction of the power required to light incandescent bulbs.
“You can get as bright or as dim as you want,” Murrow noted.
The home has three bedrooms, a master bedroom complete with attached master bath, containing a walk-in shower and accessible through a barn door-style entry.
Two smaller bedrooms lie opposite each other near the second bathroom on the east end of the house.
The carpeted living room and dining room areas feature an open floor plan layout. The dining room is spacious enough for a dining room table; the nearby countertop will accommodate a breakfast nook area.
The kitchen and bathrooms have matching vinyl, tongue-and-groove flooring and matching cabinets equipped with soft-close drawers.
Double-paned windows throughout can tilt inward to be cleaned from inside the house as well.
And on the outside, concrete siding is adorned with Sherwin Williams “super paint” built to withstand the harshest Kansas weather elements for 30 years or longer.
“Honestly, that paint has the consistency of pudding,” Murrow laughed. “It’s some very good stuff.”
Even better, it’s designed so a new homeowner can repaint the home if he chooses with no danger of voiding the siding’s warranty.
The home’s Heritage roof is built to last 30 years as well, he added.
Both the front and rear entrances feature a minimal transition to get inside.
“The entire house isn’t ADA compliant, but with a minimal transition at both doors, you can get in pretty easily,” Murrow said. “Even if somebody is in a wheelchair, they should be able to get in pretty easily.”
Reinforced shower walls can be equipped with bars if necessary for older users.
MURROW thinks the house’s neighborhood will offer another compelling selling point.
Across the street lies a recently remodeled home, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church is about a block to the north.
“The folks across the street did a great job,” Murrow said. “You’ve got single folks on either side. Down the road, there’s a small engine repair shop. It’s a great area.”
Which leads to the other benefit offered by the building trades project, one that lies dear to Murrow’s heart.
“The cool part about this project, we’re building homes in our community and we’re doing something to keep the community alive,” Murrow said. “I tell everybody all the time that I grew up in Elsmore. If you want to see what happens to a community that isn’t growing, drive 14 miles that way.”
Just as importantly, the school continues to expand the horizons for students. Murrow points to a Kansas Department of Labor study that notes the proliferance of careers that involve construction trades and similar programs.
“These tech ed programs offer a great opportunity for kids who want to get into a trade,” he said. “Honestly, the sky’s the limit. If you’re interested in being an electrician or a plumber or a carpenter, there are jobs everywhere. You can work here or travel.”
And coupled with Humboldt High’s traditional classes for those who are college-bound, Murrow notes the educational outlook locally is bright.
“We are producing a lot of great, well-rounded students,” he said.
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