Looking more polished

Today the finishing touches were placed on the foundation walls. Everything looks smooth and straight (which will be an improvement on the original house - nothing is square anymore after 60+ years of settling). There is a pile of wood in the yard under a tarp, ready for them to start work on the framing. Dirt inside the addition space has been smoothed out. They also carted away some of the rubble from the concrete pad.

A rising monolith

Well, maybe the title is a bit ambitious . . but the wall keeps going up, bit by bit. There is still a pile of dirt inside what will become our living room, and trenches along the edge of the foundation. They have installed some vents that will allow air to circulate under the house. I am afraid all of this is a bit mundane so there is not much else to say.

Cement blocks getting in line

Work proceeded on the foundation today. There are several layers of concrete blocks in place, with steel reinforcement added for extra strength. The contracter said he hopes to start framing by the end of the week.

River of stone

At least that's what it looks like to me. The workers put down a layer of concrete to start the foundation today. It reminds me of the way glaciers look as they course their way down a mountain valley - evoking a feeling of solid strength and flowing liquid at the same time.

They also had to build a pretty cool ramp to move equipment into the yard. I kindof wish we could leave it there after the

project - it would make getting the bike out of the yard easier.

The moat remains

I took a picture of the "moat" this morning. I have received a few calls from the contractor - if all goes well they will start pour cement on Monday. Guess I will need to clear out the alligators that we placed in the moat for security . . .

Moat

I don't have a picture, but the addition space is now outlined by a moat. We have had a minor delay because the contractor was out of town, and the foundation "trench" is now filled with rain water. Don't know if they will try to pump it out or just wait for dryer weather to pour the concrete.

Ditches and bridges

When I got home yesterday there were more changes. They have deepened the trenches that will be used for the foundation, and set up several wooden planks to use as "bridges" across these rather deep holes. There is rebar in place, so I am expecting them to begin pouring the foundation soon. No activity yet today, as of 9:30 -- I think the crews are working in multiple sites.

Bobcat in the backyard

Never thought I would see a bobcat in my back yard, and unfortunately it's not of the living variety (that would be really cool, although I don't think they even lived in this area prior to colonization). But we have all the proper permits now, and when I returned home this afternoon I found that some more work had been done on the foundation. The one worry-some item is the yellow caution tape stretching across the back yard. Not sure if it's indended to keep me from going to the back of the yard or to keep intruders from entering the area . . .

Hard digging

Workers started clearing some dirt and digging the foundation today. They were complaining of all the rocks and roots. I know how tough the soil (if you can call it that) is in our yard - I dug out the pond 2 years ago. They need to hand-dig at least some of the foundation; they are hoping to get a Bobcat into the yard for part of the work, but have yet to clear a path through the woods.

Ripping up concrete

The contractor finally started work on the yard yesterday. They broke up the concrete slab that had formed a crude patio behind the house. When I came home in the afternoon all I found was this pile of rubble. We are still working out some details for the permit from GHI; the contractor hopes to proceed to digging the foundation soon but it will probably be a couple more days before they can start.

No more tree

It caused us great pain to do it, but we had to remove the beautiful, large tree in our back yard. The tree was in the spot where the deck will be built. We thought about building the deck around the tree, but there was not enough space to make it work. We had to re-scheduled several times, but the tree finally came down in early July. The back yard looks bare now! We will plant a replacement tree when everything is finished, but of course it won't be as large!

Initial conditions

This is how the back yard looked in spring of 2007, before we started the addition. We moved all of the plants to the area between the shed and the pond.