Extreme Makeover build begins Tuesday

Tuesday marks the beginning of Springfield's weeklong excursion into the world of hyperspeed TV home building.

ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" begins work Tuesday at a still yet-to-be-announced home in Springfield. The show takes a family in need and transforms its home from scratch in just seven days. Show producers, builders and suppliers alike are all extremely secretive about which of five finalist families will be chosen.

While framing work has been going on off-site since Saturday in preparation for the big build, work begins in earnest Tuesday morning after the lucky family is announced around 8 a.m. when the Extreme team shows up in its well-known bus and host Ty Pennington wakes the family with his ubiquitous bullhorn.

Springfield homebuilder Sam Clifton and his company, Millstone Custom Homes, are organizing the project, which will see between 700 and 1,000 volunteers working at a time, rain or shine, to finish the project. Building crews have a little more than four days to finish, as the rest of the time is needed to stage the home for the family.

"If you blink, you miss a wall going up or a roof going on," Clifton said. "You have four and a half days, so it's amazing how fast things go."

Numerous other companies are working on the project or supplying products and services; Meek's - The Builder's Choice is providing building materials, while Price Cutter is providing food for volunteers.

According to the project's Facebook page, at the link below, organizers are still looking for a few volunteers for the midnight-6 a.m. shifts each day. Anyone interested in helping can call the project's volunteer line, (417) 885-9696.

For those who don't want to volunteer but are still interested in the project, Clifton said there will be a spectator area set up at the site to watch the proceedings. Visitors and volunteers alike are asked to bring food to donate to Convoy of Hope.Follow the Extreme team's daily progress beginning Tuesday on SBJ's blog, The Fine Print.