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LEXINGTON - Twelve-year-old Brittany Creasey dashed to the front door of her family's new house. At the urging of Ty Pennington, she tried pulling it open.

It was locked.

"He knew that door was locked," Brittany's mother, Tricia Creasey, said. "But Ty liked to play tricks on her. She's fun to pick on."

A few minutes later, however, the family got their first glimpse at the inside of their new digs -- a 3,100-square-foot house raised in just more than 100 hours by 2,500 volunteers from the surrounding community.

Crews from "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" rolled into town in November and teamed up with local contractors and suppliers to build a new home for the Creaseys. Tonight's episode of the popular show documents the effort.

"To see everybody come out for us, people who didn't even know us, and give their time and effort for someone that they just read about, that was pretty special," said William Creasey, Tricia's husband. "There are a lot of caring people in Davidson County."

The family was one of several hundred from North Carolina who were nominated, and one of about 25 to be featured on the show's seventh season. The reality series seeks families in need and coordinates the building of a new house for them.

Putting herself last

Tricia Creasey, a seventh-grade teacher at E. Lawson Brown Middle School in Thomasville, was diagnosed with colon cancer four years ago. She underwent chemotherapy, but the cancer came back last year and invaded her lymph nodes.

While undergoing treatment, she continued working, asking fellow teachers to bring papers home for her to grade. She has also served as Survivor chairman for the Relay for Life of Davidson County.

Other teachers gave up sick days in support of her.

Even with insurance, her expenses were running about $1,400 a month, and the family had to put planned renovations to their home on hold.

"I just think she always puts herself last. The needs of everyone else are always first with Tricia," fellow teacher Misty Hinesly said. "And for somebody that gives and gives and gives like she does, all her life, if anyone should get a house, it needed to be her. I don't even know if she cared that she got it, but she wanted it for her family."

The 1930s house where the family lived had 1,180 square feet -- one bathroom, three bedrooms and no hallway. All the rooms were interconnected. The walls had no insulation, the foundation was cracked, and there were holes in the floor.

"The Creaseys were living in a house that was not making her condition better, it was making it worse and with their medical bills for chemotherapy, ... they were stuck in a terrible situation," "Extreme Makeover" executive producer Anthony Dominici said in an e-mail. "So when we heard about the Creaseys' amazing, inspirational story, we knew we needed to help."

William Creasey, a network analyst with Guilford County Schools, said the family was nominated by some teacher friends of his wife. Tricia said she didn't know the family had been put forward until she received a call from the production company in October telling her she was being considered for the show.

"We couldn't believe it, actually," she said. "It never felt like it was actually going to happen. But we were really excited."

The family received several more calls during the next month, as they worked their way through the nomination process. Eventually they became one of five finalists in the Tar Heel state, and were told to ask for a week off work in November in case they were chosen.

On Nov. 11, show host Ty Pennington showed up in their front yard with a bullhorn.

"We had a time period when we knew we were supposed to be home in case they came," Tricia Creasey said. "And it was down to the last 10 or 15 minutes of that time period, so we kind of thought we hadn't been chosen. And then we heard something outside. We jumped up. Brittany ran, pushed me out of the way and jumped into Ty's arms."

Their other daughters, 5-year-old twins Makayla and Makenzie, got scared and ran the other way.

A new house in five days

Jason Hedrick, owner of Hedrick Building, was trying to figure out a way to increase his business when he happened upon an article about community service.

The down economy during the past two years had taken a toll on the construction business. But the article suggested that assisting on community projects was a good way to get your name out.

"So I thought about getting involved in HUD, Habitat for Humanity, some job to give back," he said. "And two days later, somebody from the show called, said they had five families they were considering and asked if I wanted to do this. I said, 'Well, that must be a real sign.' "

Hedrick became the lead contractor for the project. The production company covered some expenses, but Hedrick had to "basically sign a contract to supply them a house at no cost."

"That was the biggest challenge up front," he said. "To get the material donated, the first thing I did was call all my subcontractors and all my suppliers.

"If I wanted to put hardwood floors in the house, I probably could have done that eight or 10 times over. But lumber and Sheetrock were the hardest to get. With the down economy, everybody is working at or near zero."

His network of subcontractors ultimately provided him the necessary materials, as well as a number of skilled volunteers such as painters, masons and framers. Altogether about 2,500 people helped out.

The Creaseys left for Walt Disney World the day Ty Pennington showed up. Crews hired by the show packed the family's belongings, and on the next day, a Thursday, the house was bulldozed. Within about 30 minutes, the home was rubble. Immediately after, the crawl space was dug. By Friday, the exterior walls were being raised.

"The biggest surprise for me is that all this actually does take place in five days," Hedrick said. "I always thought maybe that was a TV trick. They'd build the house in a normal amount of time but made it look like it was five days. But no, it really happens in five days."

Allen Styers, who with his wife, Freda, helped with the landscaping, described the scene as one of controlled chaos.

"There was about six inches of rain when were getting ready to (demolish) the house," he said. "And then you had 300 or 400 people on site constantly. It was mass confusion. But we never heard anyone complain. Everybody was getting along. Everybody was working together, wanting to do whatever they could to get the project done."

Volunteer C.J. Sink, who donated a Kubota lawn mower, did some landscaping and helped shuttle workers, said some of the cast and crew could be a little standoffish, but that the on-site team leaders from ABC did a good job of motivating people.

"On a task like that, if you get behind, you can get down in the dumps real easy," said the owner of Sink Farm Equipment in Lexington. "A lot of people ask, 'Are we going to make it?' Yeah we're going to make it. We have to make it."

Move that bus!

While away at Walt Disney World, the Creaseys weren't allowed to access the Internet or talk to anyone at home, so they had no idea what sort of progress was being made or what the home looked like.

They returned to North Carolina on a Monday and spent the night at a hotel. The big reveal was the next day.

Thousands of spectators showed up on Allred Road, where the family lives, as did singer Jewel and her husband, championship bull rider Ty Murray.

The Creaseys were brought to a church at the end of the road and had lunch while waiting for the crews to put the finishing touches on the home.

Shortly before 2:30 p.m., a bus was parked in front of the house and Pennington came out to greet the crowd, shaking hands and giving high-fives. The crowd practiced the trademark chant "Move that bus" several times before the Creaseys pulled up in a black limo. They got out, the bus moved, and Tricia Creasey burst into tears.

"You get there and you're nervous and you're excited and you have butterflies over seeing what the house is going to look like," she said. "And then you see it, you see all those people, and it's just amazing."

The family didn't actually get to spend that night in the house, though. After the reveal, they toured the home and taped some interviews but went back to the hotel while crews cleaned up. The next night was their first in the home.

The new house has four bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths and was constructed according to the National Association of Home Builders' green building standards. Features include instant and solar hot water, spray foam insulation in the attic and a sealed crawl space. Hedrick said utility bills for the new home should be lower than they were for the old one.

Though no provision was made specifically to cover increased property taxes, a fund has been set up to help with additional expenses.

Lawn and home maintenance equipment and scholarships for the daughters was donated to the family, as well as a year's supply of gas and groceries.

Tricia Creasey said her last CT scan was clear, and last weekend, she underwent what she hoped would be her last chemo treatment.

"I have a PET-CT on Feb. 2," she said. "And if that one's clear, I get to take eight weeks off and go to maintenance chemo. It'll be in pill form, which won't be as bad."

For now, the family can't reveal too much about what the interior of the house looks like, but William Creasey said the new place has made it a little easier for his wife to deal with her condition.

"After her treatment, she can go into our bedroom, shut the door and rest and have quiet," he said. "The kids are in a separate part of the house. Nobody has to come through our bedroom to go to the bathroom or anywhere else like before."

They haven't yet seen footage of the house going up and plan to attend a viewing party tonight.

"It's wonderful what a group of people can do when they join together for one cause," Tricia Creasey said.

"We live in a wonderful community and a wonderful state. The way people opened their homes for the crew, gave up their yards for them to put stuff in, park their cars in, that says a lot about our community."

Contact Robert C. Lopez at 691-5091 or robert.lopez@news-record.com