A Firm Foundation

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At 8:00 this morning the guys showed up to put the wire and rebar in the foundation.

Right behind them was the pumper truck.

The operator got it unfolded to its full length. This slowed down traffic considerably on Little Elm.

 Here's a close-up of his remote control gizmo.

Meanwhile the guys got all the wire in place and drilled into the old foundation to tie it to the new one with rebar.

The wooden box is the elevator pit.

 
As I said earlier, the holes in the block had to be filled to strengthen the walls first. Here they have poured the elevator slab and are starting on the block fill.

The pit being leveled and smoothed.

Finishing the block pour.

The back field has become a construction lot.  The pour required two and a half truckloads of concrete mix.

The trucks were waiting their turn to be pumped.

Pouring the main foundation slab.

Beginning the smoothing process.

The builder-contractor, Jacob, pouring the footings for the gazebos...

and for the rest of the porch ..
 

and for the back deck.

Time to fold up the pumper arms!

The final smoothing by machine.

Jacob says he expects to begin framing in 2-3 days. It is moving right along now that the weather is good.  I will post pictures every time there is enough change to warrant a new post.

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Pest control

Today the plumbing inspector came out, and the job must have passed inspection, because the plumbing contractor proceeded to cover up his work.  The pipes left showing are the rough-ins for the bathrooms.

Then the pest control service guy came and thoroughly saturated the foundation fill and the adjoining areas that will be under the porch.  He concentrated around the pipes and along the existing wall.

Next step: tying in the wire and rebar for the slab. With any luck that will happen this week.

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This is the beginning of hubby's nursery business.  He and his "crew" are really getting things in order.

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Here is my garden, not doing too badly after all.  The radishes have not come up, but most of the other plants are doing okay. I even have a few tomatoes.

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Hubby scored a lot of daylilies from another gardener.  He had to dig them, but he brought home 8 large bags full; 2 bags of them were Hemerocallis fulva, the common ditch lily, which I love.  They have all been potted up ready to be transplanted after the addition is finished.

Ditch lilies

unknown daylilies

More unknown daylilies. Hubby is working to identify all these.

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Roughing In--and a setback

The concrete wall on the north side did not quite withstand the pressure of the fill,  and cracked all the way down.  The builder put up wooden cribbing to hold up the walls temporarily. When they pour the slab, they will fill the holes in the blocks with concrete and rebar to strengthen them.  It will delay things for a day or so, but at least it's repairable.

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Today the plumber came out to do the roughing-in of the pipes, etc.  The inspector will check it soon, hopefully on Monday. 

 

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We hope that next week the foundation slab will be poured. Then the framing can begin!

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The fill is in...

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Yesterday I woke up to see this out the back window:

then the workers arrived;

then the front loader:

and the job of filling the foundation began.

The operator occasionally had to stop and work on the lawn, which was getting rutted since it had been raining all night and all morning.  The backhoe was used to smooth it out and tamp it down.

The fill is complete.

That little silver maple on the left may not last the summer. I'd hate to lose it, but I know accidents are bound to happen...

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