Chris and Travena Pettit’s home in Akron that TVHS students have been doing construction on.

AKRON — The Tippecanoe Valley High School Building Trades program will hold an open house on Sunday, May 21, at a home in Mentone that students have been working to remodel throughout the school year.

The community is invited to attend the open house from 1 to 4 p.m. The home, owned by Chris and Travena Pettit, is located on Jefferson Street at the east end of the Mentone Youth League complex.

With help from JH Construction, students transformed the Pettit’s single-story home into a two-story home featuring three bedrooms and four bathrooms. They first had to remove and rebuild the existing portion of the home from the outside, which meant removing old metal and wood siding that exposed rotten and termite-damaged wood.

“We started off rebuilding the outside walls from the foundation up to not only replace damaged lumber, but to also try and re-plumb the walls,” said instructor Wes Backus.

Students added 708 square feet to the existing 1,172 square feet of living space on the first floor. They also added a 659-square-foot garage. The second story is 2,636 square feet, bringing the total living space to 4,516 square feet. The total square footage of the house, including the garage, is 5,175 square feet.

“The students have done such a great job this year and should be more than proud for what they have accomplished. They have had the opportunity of seeing both the remodel aspects and new construction side of working on and building the home,” said Backus.

Students involved in the TVHS Building Trades program can earn up to 18 college credits by participating in Building Trades during their junior and senior years. College credits are offered at no cost through Ivy Tech in Fort Wayne. Students must maintain a C or better grade in the class to earn college credits.