Closet -August 9

The floor joists are done (except the ones that need the bolts we need to buy) and several pieces of the flooring are cut to fit. We can't nail them in place until we get the bolts in the floor joists.

Closet - August 8

The floor joists are in place...sort of. The bolts we bought aren't long enough because the poles they gave us are bigger than we ordered. The joists at the poles are nailed into place until we can get longer bolts. The last joist is sitting in place and just needs to be nailed. It got too dark to finish. It all went together really fast and easy since everything is perfectly square....NOT!!!!!! Working with pole construction guarantees that it won't be square!

Week 4 August 7, 2009

It rained so much yesterday and last night that the gravel crew was afraid of getting stuck in the mud! The rest of the rock delivery is postponed until Monday.

Week 4 August 6, 2009

Yesterday there was no work. The truck they needed to use to shoot the rock behind the wall needed repair. They arrived bright and early this morning. It was pretty amazing how far they shoot the rock!!!! The guy had a control box around his waist to adjust the direction and speed. When it was shooting pretty fast he said it was running at 1200 rpm! It took 4 truck loads to fill in the area they dug out under the current house and the basement under the living room. It will take another truckload to do the kitchen basement. They will bring that tomorrow morning. Then they will top both basement areas with smaller rock to smooth and level it for pouring the cement next week. The weather forecast for Mon-Thurs next week is warm and sunny. That will be good for the concrete work.

Week 4 August 4, 2009

More dirt was moved today. The east yard still needs some help but the south yard toward the creek is much more level. We may even be able to have a garden party and play croquet and bocce ball!

Week 4 August 3, 2009

Wow! They moved a lot of dirt today but there is still a lot left!! The crew did a rough backfill around three sides of the addition. They didn't fill under the current house yet. They easily took down the dog kennel and moved it away since we don't need it at this point. We had planned to rebuild it but probably wouldn't have gotten to it until spring. Now it is out of their way for cement trucks, backhoes, etc. They also gave us more parking area next to the road and a turn-around spot in the driveway. Looks like Dave will stay home tomorrow morning to talk to the guys about where to put the rest of the dirt, where we want the yard more level. We have been trying to take the old woodshed down all summer but just haven't had the time to get it finished. The workers said they could take it down when they have smaller equipment so they won't disturb my flower bed that is on one side of it.

Tomorrow they will fill areas in the basement floors and prep to pour the cement slabs. Hopefully the cement truck(s) will be here Wednesday.

On the closet: We didn't actually do any work on the closet yesterday. We spent the afternoon/evening making two trips to Home Depot to get our lumber home. With just a small truck, it wouldn't all fit in one load. As it was, the first load was so heavy the front tires barely touched the road!!

Closet- August 1

Yesterday the crew came out to do the backfill on the addition but it was raining too hard. They postponed it until next week.

Today Dave got up early to start work on the closet. He was so sweet to let me sleep in. Neither of us have slept well this week, possibly because of losing Hickory. We bolted up the beams that will support the floor joists. There are a few more bolts to put in but we want to replace the drill bit first. We marked the spots for the floor joists in preparation for tomorrow.

After church we'll make a trip to Home Depot for a new bit and more lumber. It will probably take two trips to get it all. With the pile of dirt from the excavation taking up most of the south yard, we aren't sure how we are going to get around the house to get it all unloaded!!!

When our neighbor died in March, several of his cats started hanging out here to eat. Only one has become friendly. Here's a photo of Dave with Kitty Kitty. She is very affectionate and loves being petted almost as much as Hickory did!