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WEST CHESTER TWP. — The scene was relatively quiet as volunteers capped off a six-day construction marathon to build a new home as part of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

Volunteers wearing blue shirts on Wednesday, July 16, hauled boxes in and out of the garage at Greg and Ginger Akers' newly built stone ranch-style house on Manor Drive. The loudest noises came from the fans crowded along a fence across the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars of the hit ABC television show.

The production crew will finish filming Thursday, July 17, a process that started eight days earlier when the Akers family were surprised when Ty Pennington, the show's star, knocked on their front door.

Pennington and an estimated 2,000 to 5,000 family, friends and fans will welcome home the Akers around 11 a.m. Thursday.

"It's been wonderful," said home builder Scott Dallis of Fairfield-based Dallis Designer Homes, which built the house, coordinating staff from almost 75 volunteer contractors.

The Akers' three children all suffer from debilitating illnesses: Brooke, 7, and Faith, 3, have spinal muscular atrophy, which makes mobility difficult; and Nick, 9, has Crohn's disease. The girls could not move from room to room in their old split-level home.

Producers have been impressed with the volunteers and crews who have built the home.

"I think there must be something in the water in Ohio," senior producer Diane Korman said. "Here it was like a choreographed dance.

"Every piece of the dance went perfectly."

How to go

Spectators at the home revealing Thursday, July 17, must park at the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting on Tylersville Road and ride a shuttle bus to the filming site. Shuttle buses begin running at 6:30 a.m. Spectators are discouraged from walking to the site.

Roads around the Akers house on Manor Drive will be closed during filming. The Akers are expected to arrive at the site around 11 a.m.