American Staff
The "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" episode shot in Slaughterville and Lexington last month will air 7 p.m. March 14 on ABC, KOCO Channel 5 and channel 8 on COX cable.
The house was built in a week by volunteers who were coordinated by Ideal Homes of Norman on land in southeast Slaughterville. Brian and Audra Skaggs and their children, Merit and Jhett, live in the home.
"We had a great time working with our contractors and vendors and the thousands of volunteers who stepped forward and gave their time to build this home for the Skaggs family," said Todd Booze, Ideal Homes president of construction. "We can't wait to see the show."
A Moore construction company recently did its part to make sure the Slaughterville family had the well-built home it deserves.
Steve Shawn, president of Silver Star Construction, said work crews from his company were stationed in Slaughterville to participate in ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" building project.
"We had employees down there 24 hours a day," Shawn said.
Workers and volunteers completed the home for the Skaggs within one week. However, the wet ground and muddy fields leftover from winter storms provided many challenges.
Shawn said workers pushed away 500 cubic yards of mud from the building site.
"It was up to your ankles," Shawn said as he described the thick mud.
He said before crews could get started building the house, workers hauled in tons of gravel for a road.
"When the smoke cleared, it took 2,600 tons of gravel to make that road passable and it still was not very good," Shawn said.
Silver Star crews constructed the building pad for the home structure and tore down the previous structure and barn on the property, Shawn said.
"We had at least five or six workers taking shifts," he said.
Vernon McKown, co-owner and president of sales of Ideal Homes, said during the first days of construction, workers faced weather challenges and a few hiccups. Crews made up for lost construction time Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Hansen Aggregates and Boral Aggregates donated gravel and project materials. Additional companies and volunteers from Cleveland County also donated their time to the site.
Ideal Homes, Dolese, Silver Star and Forest Lumber helped underwrite the project.
Cleveland County Commissioner Rusty Sullivan who represents District 3, allowed workers to store gravel at the District 3 barn on US 77 in Lexington. Sullivan kept the facility open 24 hours a day so that crews could reload trucks and haul gravel to the work site.
Silver Star has taken part in community projects in the past, but none of this nature.
"We have donated to the YMCA and always take part in Christmas in April," Shawn said.
Shawn said he was glad to see there were people who were willing to come together and help with the project.
"It's good to see there are so many Oklahomans that have a good heart," he said. "Everybody has been so good. There are going to be so many unsung heroes."
Photos and stories from the project are available online at www.idealextremehome.com.
