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Bud Chatham and son Gregr are shown
"'ork on nearly-completed home.
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This is split-level house that Bud Chatham, with help of son Greg and father,
Warren Chatham, built on Ford Street in Draper section of Eden.
Chatham Finds Building House Is Lot Of Work But Worth It
If a “Do It Yourself” club is ever or
ganized in Eden, G. H. (Bud) Chatham
qualify as a charter member.
Two years ago Mr. Chatham, a shift
®fernan at the Bedspread Finishing
set out to build his own home. No
, ®g cabin” dreamer was he. The Chat-
plans called for a large split-level
^°Use with four bedrooms, two baths,
Kitchen, living room and large base-
t> Now the home on Ford Street in
cci^ section of Eden is nearly
mpleted and the Chathams are living
j ®.^°nomics played a large part in his
^^cision to build. Mr. Chatham says
^ he has saved a great deal by doing
himself. The largest savings, of
was in labor costs. Lumber also
i,^^®sented considerable savings as he
approximately two-thirds of the
used in the framing from trees
^ Were on his lot.
admits to some uneasiness at the
of his project. “I was a little afraid
^ f I might make some mistakes that
.^Id be expensive to correct,” he said.
didn’t prove to be the case, how-
er. With the exception of a few
^ dor points, the work went with re-
^hable smoothness.
(jUis two biggest helpers were his son,
a 17-year-old senior at Morehead
Qj^gh School, and his father, Warren
gj^^tham, a loom fixer at the Draper
Meeting Mill with 45 years of service
ways look to see how it was made,” he
said.
Mr. Chatham has no actual construc
tion experience but he had worked dur
ing summers as a plumber’s helper and
later with plasterers. He has also done
some electrical work. “I’ve been around
and seen a lot of construction work,”
he said.
Mr. Chatham, with the help of his
father and son, did all of the work with
the exception of the laying of cement
blocks for the basement, the masonry
work, spraying the ceilings and con
struction of a wrought iron rail for his
staircase.
“I had the basement laid so I’d know
the house was started right,” Mr. Chat
ham said. As for the brickwork, he felt
it was too “time consuming.” Because
his house is a split-level, the outside
is approximately half wood and half
masonry. Being split-level, it is also a
more complicated house to complete and
involves more labor.
Besides the help he got from his fath
er and son, Mr. Chatham’s two daugh
ters, Paige, 13, and Carla, 5, helped
with sweeping out the place as they
were working. His wife, Lavata, was
very patient about the whole thing.
“She often would have late suppers for
me and, in general, did everything she
could to help,’’ he said.
To anyone about to start a similar
project, Mr. Chatham has this advice:
“Remember that it’s a one and a half
to two years spare time project, depend
ing on the size of the house. Also it
involves a lot of work!”
Retired Fieldcrest Official Joins Shrine Band
-fieldcrest..
Of all.
h,
“Greg was the biggest
He worked right along be-
Mr. Chatham said.
-riosity may have killed the cat but
gj,f'^°'ved to be one of Bud Chatham’s
®test assets. “I have many friends
are carpenters and contractors and
I ran into problems they answer-
questions. Also when I would
'oto sorpeone’s house, particularly
me,’
Cur
Ho
Hen
0^6
in
that was being built, I would al-
A talented tenor drummer has joined
the Araba Shrine’s Pipe Band: Randolph
C. Johnston, retired divisional vice pres
ident and regional manager in the Field-
crest Marketing Division.
His talent, Mr. Johnson said, “dates
back to my boyhood days in Northern
Ireland.” He has been in several pa
rades in Florida’s Cape Coral area
where he now resides with his wife,
Anita. His next parade events will take
place during the International Conven
tion in Miami Beach this summer.
Mr. Johnston retired in 1970 after 37
action-packed years with the company
and reports that he greatly enjoys his
retirement. The Johnstons are spending
many happy hours fishing and sailing
and savoring the Florida weather.
Picture at left shows Randy Johnston,
retired divisional vice president, in uni
form as a member of a Shrine Band.
ONDAY. august 3 0, 1 9 7 1