Covington County Habitat for Humanity president Dale “Flip” Pancake said Tuesday it is not likely the organization’s first house would be finished for at least another two weeks.

“I’m hoping that we can get most of the rest of the painting done on the inside this weekend,” he said. “We’ve got the first two coats of primer on the walls, the cabinets are hung and the interior doors are all hung. We’ve still got a few little details to get done — finishing the baseboards and some electrical wiring work, for example.”

The primary construction phase of the house, where more than 150 daily volunteers helped with a “building blitz,” took place from Fri., April 24, through Sun., April 26. Pancake said work has been slower since then, because it has been difficult for skilled volunteers to make time in their busy schedules.

“Jimmy Fowler, who is our construction supervisor, has a couple of other pay-the-bill jobs that have been pressing him,” Pancake said. “He’s brought his people over to the site a few times, and was anticipating that he would pay them for the finishing work. But his crew told him that he didn’t need to pay them; they said it is a Habitat build and they were going to do it just as volunteers.

“That’s a really nice thing for them to have done and a wonderful contribution on their part.”

This is the first building project for CCHFH, but Pancake said that other Habitat for Humanity officials have instructed him that the project is not necessarily behind schedule.

“(Those officials) told me that two months (from the completion of the building blitz) is not unreasonable,” he said. “I think we’ll be right along there, but we’re not ready to set a date yet for the completion ceremony. Our board (of directors) is going to meet next Tuesday, and we’ll probably have a better idea of where we are and be ready to make a decision then.”