Keep your footing...

Keep your footing....

July 6 -- Things slowed down considerably with the July 4th holiday and the concrete shortage, but progress continues, even if it is slow.

I'm happy that my raspberries have not only survived, but they are thriving and here is the proof.  This patch is a type of "ever bearing" variety that includes one crop during early summer and another one in early fall.  There is no better way to beat the summer heat with a bowl of crushed fresh raspberries and vanilla bean ice cream, especially when the raspberries are from the yard.

Although the destruction of the landscaping of my yard has been more traumatic, so far, than the demolition of my house, I have been able to keep some parts of the yard alive.  Here is a shot of the front perennial flower bed with the landscape roses past their bloom, and the day lilies and purple cone flower (or echinacea) in full bloom.

It is so strange not to have my usual large vegetable garden, but at least I have three large pots of tomatoes -- an heirloom variety, black cherry tomatoes, and that good old standby celebrity.  As soon as the tomatoes set, I'll include a few photos...right now there isn't much to show.


On July 5th and 6th, a man showed up and told me that he was there to set up the footers for the foundation.  During the first day there wasn't much to look at as he left some thin boards, set up some metal stakes and  set up some measuring string.  However, when I returned home this afternoon there was great progress.  This photo shows the forms for the footers and gives a good idea of the dimensions of the gathering room addition and to the left, the rear entry mudroom.

This photo shows the footer where the new stairs to the basement will be located. 

This shot gives a perspective of the footers relative to the back of the house and the basement door (that will be moved a foot or so to align with the new stairs).

This shot gives a good perspective of the existing southwest corner of the house, the outline of the mudroom rear entry and the gathering room, especially the distance between the addition and the existing garage. 

As soon as setting up the footers is completed then the concrete truck should arrive, probably in the back alley with a boom that will deliver the concrete into the footer forms.  After the footers are poured, set and cured, then the foundation wall forms will be set up and there should be another round of concrete.  

In the mean time, the challenge of having to select plumbing fixtures for 3 full and 1 three-quarter bathrooms and the kitchen has been a challenge and will soon have its own blog post....that is after I have another glass of wine.

The Big Dig Continues....

July 1st -- I was out of town for a few days and when I came home I found this massive pile of dirt just about occluding the view of the back of my house as I approached the garage.  This will be used for back fill after the footers, forms and concrete foundation is poured.  All that was scheduled for this short holiday work week, but with so much building going on all over the city, the contractor called me yesterday (just while I was boarding my return  flight) to inform me that there is a concrete shortage in town.  Oh well, the foundation will have to wait until next week.

This is a good shot of what will be the three-foot crawl space under the foundation for the addition (along with another view of the back fill pile).

During the last round of excavation the sprinkler line to my raspberry patches was cut, but my wonderful contractor came over every day and watered the raspberries while I was out of town.  Yesterday a sprinkler guy did a temporary fix and I'm hoping that the raspberry patch survives with this sprinkler line staying above ground for the duration of the construction until fall or next spring when it comes time to redo the irrigation and landscaping.

I was thinking that I'd need to mow the lawn this week, but never thought that would require navigating an obstacle course.  So, any excuse not to have to mow the lawn (what is left of it) is OK by me.

Here is yet another shot of the back of the house.  You will have to take my word for it, but the new sewer line is in.  When this house was built in 1903 it was positioned on the lot about three feet away from the property line to the north.  Current code requires at least a five foot setback from the property line.  So, the door to the basement will need to be moved, which will require a highly skilled brick mason to come out and carefully remove about two - three feet of the brick foundation and set new brick so that the basement door will be moved to the south to align with the new interior stairs to the basement.  Steel reinforcements will also be installed around the doorway, so hopefully this is one more measure to shore up that scary brick foundation that keeps this old house standing.

I think I will make a shrine to the concrete god and goddesses to hope that the supply is replenished soon so work on the footers, forms and pouring the foundation will happen next week.