TV show making it go for needy Camden family.

In just one day, a Pennsauken field of dirt sprouted a house. The basement had been excavated, a foundation poured, walls erected, the roof shingled.

The day after that, 25 windows were installed, and the house was clad with slate-blue siding.

Though it takes months - maybe years - to remodel most kitchens, an army of blue-shirted, hard-hatted volunteers has been working around the clock this week on what must be South Jersey's speediest home construction project.

Most of the work was to be finished by today, ahead of schedule. Good thing. The new homeowners are moving in tomorrow.

With cameras rolling, the TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition touched down here last weekend, turning a forgotten corner of Pennsauken into a frenzied Hollywood set.

For days, throngs of spectators have stood behind yellow police tape on Federal Street gawking at the whirlwind.

Kalene Ingram, 11, of Pennsauken, peered through binoculars the other day, hoping to spot a celebrity.

"She's trying to see Ty," said Kalene's mother, Carla Ingram. Ty would be Ty Pennington, the spiky-haired carpenter and former fashion model who hosts the show.

Sovonne Ukam of Collingswood watched the spectacle unfold during her lunch hour.

"In a few days, somebody with nothing is going to move into this wonderful house," Ukam said. "I wish they'd do my bathroom."

The work is going so fast that Camden's mayor, Gwendolyn Faison, was foiled when she arrived Wednesday to take a picture of the foundation.

"We forgot our camera, so we came back the next day to take a picture of the hole," Faison said. "But there was no hole. Less than a day later, there was already a house."

Hundreds of construction workers continued to swarm over the 21/2-story house last night, finishing painting, plumbing and installing hardwood floors.

Interior designers move in furniture today.

"It's like a time-lapse movie unspooling right before your eyes," said Bruce Mains, who runs the adjoining Urban Promise Ministries, which donated land for the house.

For the construction workers, it's more than fast-moving charity work.

"This is the Super Bowl of construction jobs," said Donald H. Yoos, director of construction for the luxury-home builder J.S. Hovnanian & Sons, which is leading the work. "The other night, we had 150 framers working at 1 a.m. under a full moon. It doesn't get any bigger or more intense than this."

Yoos pointed to a group of hard hats, all wearing blue T-shirts emblazoned with the Extreme Makeover logo.

"Their shifts are over," he said, his voice hoarse from the 14-hour shifts he has been working. "Look at them. They don't want to go home."

About 3,000 volunteer workers will have contributed to the project by the time it is finished, Yoos said.

The house will be handed over to Victor Marrero and his five boys tomorrow afternoon, when Extreme Makeover's Pennington roars "Move that bus!" and hands over the keys.

A two-hour episode of Extreme Makeover featuring the Marrero house will be broadcast during a rating sweeps week in the fall.

Marrero and his son, Billy Jo, became unlikely celebrities in January when the ABC-TV news program 20/20 featured them in a program about poverty in Camden.

Diane Sawyer, the program's host, spent a night in the family's roach-infested rowhouse. Millions watched as Victor Marrero mixed coffee creamers with water so his hungry grandchildren could drink "milk" from a bottle.

Viewers saw Billy Jo, 17, struggle through his senior year of high school, trying to do his schoolwork before sundown because there was little heat or electricity in their East Camden home.

Many TV viewers wanted to help.

Hundreds wrote to Extreme Makeover, nominating the Marreros for a free home that would be built with volunteer labor and donated materials.

Five New Jersey families were named semifinalists. Each underwent an application process and background checks.

In early May, the show's producers chose the Marreros. Quietly, the producers lined up the necessary building permits and enlisted the help of Pennsauken Township officials. They asked Hovnanian to build the $350,000 house for free.

The company jumped at the chance, said spokesman Garo Hovnanian.

"Every day of a typical building schedule is compressed into an hour," Hovnanian said. "It's a 24-hour operation."

But speed was not their only concern. All of their preparations had to be kept secret until the Marreros were notified last weekend. If the secret had leaked, the Marreros would have been disqualified and another family chosen.

Hovnanian hinted to its subcontractors that a "major community initiative" would be coming to South Jersey.

Every construction company in the region could read between the lines, said Yoos, Hovnanian's director of construction.

"I had to turn away contractors who wanted to step up," Yoos said. "Everyone wanted to be part of this."

Jon Myland, a heating contractor from Erial, installed duct work and fans in the basement of the new house with 20 of his co-workers from Marlton's RPM Heating & Air Conditioning.

As the concrete of the foundation cured, it generated heat, making an already steamy day sweltering for Myland and his crew.

"Everybody brought their A game," Myland said. "The boss was even down there sweating with us. He never does that."

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

producer Diane Korman answers questions about the TV show and the Pennsauken project.

Question: Why do they have to finish in one week?

Answer: We were trying to come up with an idea for a prime-time design show. The original idea was having seven designers redo a house in seven days. Then somebody asked, "Can you build a house in seven days?" That sounds impossible. It usually takes six months to build a house. So that became our "high concept" idea.

You can't believe the number of contractors that laughed at us and hung up the phone when we first started out. In the 100-episode history of the show, only one family did not come home in a week. It was South Central Los Angeles, there were torrential storms, and it was in the middle of gang territory. The roofers decided it wasn't worth the risk. We called the family and asked them if they wouldn't mind spending 24 hours longer in Jamaica.

The average time to build is 100 hours. The fastest builder did it in 54 hours and 54 minutes.

Q: Can a quality house be built in that little time?

A: Local building inspectors are on site 24 hours a day. These homes are not being held together with sticky tape. When the house was built in less than 60 hours, seven building inspectors toured the property.

Q: How big is the Pennsauken house?

A: It's two stories, about 3,000 square feet, and will have 4 or 5 bedrooms.

Q: Does hot weather ever call off a build?

A: If it had stormed all week, we would have kept going. We've built in triple-digit weather, thunderstorms, tornados, snowstorms. We go rain or shine, 24/7.

Q: When will the Marreros take possession of the house and get their first look at it?

A: Sunday between 1 and 3 p.m. We invite the entire community to come down and chant "Move that bus!" Then the family will have six hours to open each room like a Christmas present.

Q: Who's going to pay Jersey's legendary property taxes on the property?

A: New Jersey was the first state to protect families who have had home makeovers because of a disability or because the house was in an urban renewal zone. The state Legislature passed a bill that freezes the tax rate for five years. After that, the family can reapply.

Q: What about utilities, insurance, and the other costs of owning a home?

A: Housing incidentals will be paid through a trust fund set up through Commerce Bank and J.S. Hovnanian & Sons. The family also will receive a donation that will cover homeowners insurance for six years.

Q: What about federal income taxes?

A: There is not a gift tax associated with the Extreme Makeover. This is not a game show, they're not getting a prize at the end of the day. The makeover is all done by volunteers. The builder is waiving all fees and working free. Every nail, every stick of wood, and every piece of furniture is donated.

Q: Why is it being built in Pennsauken, not Camden?

A: The family was renting its previous home. For us to build a house for someone, they have to be homeowners or landowners. Other sites were considered. But Urban Promise Ministries donated the land to the Marreros. The land is in Pennsauken. It works out well because Victor Marrero will run Single Fathers of Camden out of another Urban Promise building, which is less than two blocks away and in Camden.

Q: How much is the house worth?

A: It's difficult to put a price tag on a house that is built by volunteer labor, especially when there are no other houses like this in the neighborhood. Only Bill Gates could afford to build a house like this in a week. A comparable house in a nice part of Pennsauken would be worth about $350,000.

Q: Why the Marreros?

A: It's completely because of the 20/20 piece. The citizens of the state of New Jersey nominated them. After the 20/20 piece aired, we received hundreds of letters and calls about the family. We did a thorough background check to make certain they were who they said they were. America holds us to a very high standard.