Limo, lights leave; Kirkland volunteers get busy on house

As the stretch limo rolled away from the little yellow house at 10203 116th Ave. N.E. in Kirkland on Wednesday, it took not only the Chapin family with it, but also the Hollywood glitz of reality-TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

It was time to get to work.

With one antiquated house still standing, one fresh home to be built and seven days to complete the project, construction crews and volunteers began preparing the old house for demolition soon after Connie Chapin and her four children took off for their weeklong Disney resort vacation.

About 2,000 community volunteers are expected to help with the project before its completion Wednesday, said Erin Shannon, a spokeswoman for the Building Industry Association of Washington, the group handling the project.

"It's amazing to see the response just since it's gone public," said Shannon.

With hundreds of volunteers at work Thursday, the nearly 100-year-old house was demolished within 24 hours of the Chapins' departure, and the concrete for the new foundation was poured less than a day after that.

"It's extreme," said Gina Opacki, a project volunteer and interior designer who came with a group of other designers from the Tacoma area. "It's literally tenfold of anything I've done."

Tradespeople have been offering services from furniture inventory to equipment maintenance; others have helped keep the site clean and served refreshments to workers.

Although volunteer coordinators have been overwhelmed by support, there is still a need for help during night shifts and for the post-project neighborhood cleanup, Shannon said.

Spectators are welcome to view construction from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily through Wednesday. Free shuttles will run from Everest Park in Kirkland to the Chapin home throughout the day.

"You get to see big equipment and a house demolished, which you don't get to see every day," said Bob Sternoff, a Kirkland City Council member who viewed the demolition. "It kind of builds a sense of community."

Although the commotion has been a challenge for neighbors, some consider it exciting rather than inconvenient.

"You can hear the generators at night, but not enough to keep you awake," said neighbor Kari Hanley. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing to happen in your neighborhood."

Chapin created her nomination tape for the ABC-TV show after an independent structural engineer determined that her house was on the brink of collapse. The house serves as a work space for Chapin, who is divorced and operates a swim-lesson business out of her backyard pool.

The show's producers selected her from among some 15,000 applications they receive each week.

Meghan Peters: 206-464-8305 or mpeters@seattletimes.com