After only six hours into the Blitz Build, Lawrence Home Builders Association members and Habitat of Humanity volunteers made fast progress on a new Habitat for Humanity house started Friday morning at 1813 E. 17th St. The plan is to have the house completed by the end of the weekend. This is the second Blitz Build home LHBA has built.

The sound of hammers and saws could be heard from far away. Construction trucks lined the streets for blocks in every direction. A John Deere Gator chauffeured men in hard hats to the scene.

Jennifer Benitez watched the flurry of activity Friday morning from underneath a tent where food was being served to the volunteers. All of this was for her and her family.

Dozens of local homebuilders are donating their time and skills this weekend to give Benitez and her two children their own home, in southeast Lawrence. During the second Lawrence Blitz Build for Habitat for Humanity (the first was in 2006), numerous contractors are coming together to build the house — in just three days.

They started at 6 a.m. Friday. By midday, the walls were up, and construction workers were already building the roof. They planned to have the house finished by noon Sunday.

Benitez, 37, and her two teenage children intend to move in a few weeks later. They have been residing in a two-bedroom apartment the past couple of years — Mom sleeps in the living room — since Benitez and her husband divorced and moved from their west Lawrence home. With the new residence, she and her two kids will each have their own bedrooms.

It’s all thanks to the dozens of members of the Lawrence Home Builders Association who gave their time and skills to help a neighbor in need. Six months of planning went into this weekend’s build. Volunteers prebuilt the walls and designed schedules for the contractors to speed the process along.

“It’s been real slow in our business,” said Lawrence general contractor Bob Santee. “When we did this eight years ago, we were on a 10-year run where everyone was making a lot of money. It was easier to get donations and stuff.”

“It’s really special right now to get people to come out,” he added. “You can see at the core just everybody wanting to help out. They’re giving up their Friday, Saturday and Sunday for this.”

About 120 individuals and companies donated supplies, labor and money to finish the home in three days. How are they getting the job done so fast? Sheer manpower.

“We’ve got six framing crews up there, three different heating and air-conditioning companies, two different electricians, three different plumbing companies,” said Frank Salb of Lawrence-based Salb Construction. “During the week they’re competitors, and now they’re coming together and working together.”

For her part, Benitez, a pastry chef at a local nursing home, has put in 250 hours of sweat equity for Habitat for Humanity the past two years, helping build homes for other beneficiaries of the program in Lawrence. A normal Habitat home takes four to five months to complete.

“I’m very blessed,” Benitez said, watching the construction. “It’s kind of amazing — to have your house built in three days.”

“I remember when we told her,” said Maddie Hinds, community outreach coordinator for Lawrence Habitat for Humanity. “She said, ‘What’s a Blitz Build?’ We said, ‘Your house is going to be built in three days.'”

“I had to pinch myself — three days?” Benitez said. “I can’t wait till the kids get here to see this.”