Basement Walls

On Friday 5/25, the neighbor said the masons left around noon.  Must be starting the holiday weekend early, hmm?   They got some more of the block walls done, but not finished.  Tuesday 5/29, they left when a quick rain storm came through around 10:30 am.  And today, it looks like they worked most of the day and got the block all finished.

The white pipe sticking out on the left is where the well will connect.

Looking from the left to the right, porch in middle, garage on far side.

This is the garage.  My husband says it'll be filled with gravel up to those blocks that are sticking out (2nd row). On the 2nd row is where the floor will be.



The next step will probably be waterproofing the basement walls.  But what do I know, the only thing I can build are spreadsheets.  I guess you'll have to check back and see!

Get The Block Outta Here

So we stopped by the lot this evening and we have lots of block and some walls!  We thought maybe the block would be delivered today, but we had no idea they were going to start too.  This is just 4 days in!!  We went from grassy land to this.  Impressive.



Aww, you can see Dylan's shadow on the wall



Footers

My husband stopped by after work today around 3:30 and the footers had been poured along with the footer drain.  The footers had cured enough that they could remove the wooden forms that they poured the concrete into. The footers are the concrete base that will hold all the weight of the block and the rest of the house.  The black tubing running along the outside of the footers are the footer drains.  They collect all moisture that might seep down to the base of the basement wall and channel it into the sump pump well (the black circle thing in the corner) inside the basement.  This way it keeps moisture away from getting into the house.

In the next day or two they will drop off the block to start building the basement walls.  Once the footers have cured completely the walls should start going up.



Garage



The white pipe is the sewer line

Sump Pump




We're amazed at how quickly things are moving.  The neighbors don't seem to mind much yet.  Although I'm sure they'll be less than happy when the framers start hammering in the early mornings.  That's nothing compared to the two yappy Yorkies they'll be listening to for years to come.

Dig Day Part 2

The basement excavating is complete.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, a full basement was part of our incentive package.  Before digging started, when the land was just staked, it was  hard to imagine the size of the home.  It looked small.  But now that the basement is dug out, you can really see the size.


Looking from back yard to front yard



Looking from side yard


The excavator let Dylan help operate the digger.  He got to ride for 5-10 minutes and shoveled lots of dirt.  He had the biggest smile on his face.  It was really nice of the excavator to do that. 

Disclaimer: Dylan is in half-day afternoon kindergarten. We didn't let him skip school for this.  :)

Dylan is behind the controls (with a little help)



Along with digging out the basement, they dug for the footers, which will be under all the block walls (basement, porch, garage).  The footers are to be poured tomorrow (5/23), with block starting soon after.

This is the garage. The footers will be poured around the edges.



Dirt, Dirt, and More Dirt

The excavator started digging the basement today.  Boy, there is A LOT of dirt!  I don't have much to say tonight, so I'll just show you lots of pictures.  We'll be at the site first thing Tuesday morning for a while also.

These 2 pictures are the first scoop of basement dirt from Monday morning 5/21.




And these pictures are from around 3:30 pm Monday 5/21.  They got a lot done.

 



We stopped after Dylan's baseball game tonight to get a closer look.  This was my first time seeing it in person.

Dylan's impromtu sketch on the ground with a rock.  In case you weren't sure where the house will be, the arrows point in the right direction.  Future architect?

Let's Get It Started

We closed on the loan Tuesday 5/15 and Friday 5/18, the excavator was out to put in the construction driveway and sewer line.  Originally our dig date was supposed to be Monday 5/21, then they changed it to Tuesday 5/22 so the closing paperwork could get through the county (something about the land).  But then they changed it back to Monday again.  Either way, it doesn't matter to us, it means the house is getting started.

During our pre-construction meeting with Doug, he said there'd be plenty of dirt to even out the backyard.  We had some doubts that there would be enough dirt, but looking at the pile just from the driveway, shows that it should be good.

He laid down sandstone for the construction driveway.  It will get packed down tightly during the construction, so it'll be a good base for the concrete when the time comes.

They said it would take 2 days to dig out the basement and the next day they'd have the footers poured.  The block will be delivered by the end of the week.

I will spare you another Carlton gif, instead, here are some actual pictures of progress.



Dylan loves the excavator

 Here is the brand new sewer line where it will attach to the house.

We have a dig date!

Our tentative loan closing date is May 15 and our dig date is May 21.

Hopefully only good news from now on!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

6 pack of beer...$6

bottle of Jack...$20

Ativan prescription...$18 co-pay

Getting an accurate appraisal and avoiding rehab...PRICELESS

So there are competent appraisers in the world!  We found out this morning that our new appraisal with the new bank came back and it's what we needed to build the Litchfield!  Next week we should have our close date and our dig date rescheduled.