Day 9-14- Pouring the Footings (foundation)

The concrete truck arrived this week, with plenty of room to park, now that the corner has been sculpted back by the excavator. The weather remains warm and clear.

Below are the workmen are pumping the concrete into the footings. It looks like very hard work. These guys have worked very hard in some very warm weather. 

Footings for the "storage room" (man-cave). Doesn't look like 10' X 30' here, but it is. The floor will be level with the garage floor which will be at the right of the picture below. There is a crawl space under the storage room, vs the garage just poured directly on the ground ( maybe it will have some type of water barrier). 

Near the top of the picture below is the front of the upper garage. Concrete will eventually be poured over a wooden floor for this garage. 

Below is looking toward the house from the upper garage and down at the lower garage. Note the garage is as big or bigger than the house footprint. 

The roofing man came to discuss what we want for roofing. The house needs it as well, and we were hoping to save a bit of money by doing them at the same time, but the roofer doesn't want to do a "living in" house during the winter and possible bad weather. Probably wise.... but we want to investigate roofs before deciding, so we don't repeat the debacle on our current house Cemwood roof- the roofs failed, the maker went bankrupt, and we are trying to get some money out of "the settlement".

Next week... will be a continuation of pouring, another inspection and then the Labor Day holiday. 

DAY 9-14- Awaiting pictures

The contractors have continued building the forms for the foundations this week. (awaiting pictures from Philip). The progress won't be as fast and dramatic for a few weeks while the cement cures.

DAY 8- Footings are Started

The daily progress isn't so rapid, now that the excavation is temporarily completed. With all that dirt moving, the landscape became a moonscape in a very rapid time frame. The excavators will come back for backfill once the footings have cured.
The guys re-marked the footing lines and started building the frames for the concrete.

The plumber came and put in an outside spigot for water (here goes our water bill), and Craig put in an  electrical outlet on its own circuit for the construction workers to use (here goes the PG&E bill).

Form building will continue through next week, then await the county inspector to okay the forms before the concrete is poured. The house next door isn't really as close as it looks here.

Day 7- Excavation Completed for Now

Today was a quiet day for construction. The excavator was moved away until it is time for backfill around the footings. 
So off I went with sister to a Soroptomist luncheon, stopping for a committee planning meeting first.
I will let sister in her blog http://travelingsardineclass.blogspot.com/
explain the remainder of the day... but the picture below gives a clue.

Sister

DAY 6- Looks Like An Archeological Dig- Digging the Trenches

Our visitor today was Craig's (our contractor) dog.She is a rescue dog whose fostering was done by a dog trainer, so she is well behaved. However, she is an adolescent and curious, so for her safety,  she was quickly banished to the truck.

With trenching discussion, I soon learned about "bucket size" and trenching. Danny has 4 buckets- 1 foot, 1 1/2 foot, 2 feet and 3 feet. Trenching seems to be all about which bucket you use on the excavator. He is an expert at using "the finger", picking up the smallest of items, and digging into the hardest of rock.

Buckets

Here we see the trenching going on, with manual dirt throwing as well as digging with the bucket.

The Rock

We have been very fortunate about big rocks NOT being in the ground, with the exception of this one at the end of the lower garage wall, and one in the base of the lower garage. In fact, this one will provide somewhat of a natural retaining wall. Danny chippped away at it for quite a while to enable enough space to build the retaining wall that will go along here. 

 

Man Cave trenches

At the end of the day, all the trenches were dug and ready for the footings (foundation) to have  their forms constructed. We now await supplies for this next task.



DAY OFF- Hetch Hetchy Trip

We have been wanting to check out Hetch Hetchy for quite awhile and never have made it. I gave husband a book on the railroad and building of the O'Shaunessy dam several years ago, and a booklet has been lying around Mt. House on the building of the dam. As there was no construction today, we headed out in the Beemer with top down for a round trip tour. Sister had warned us of iffy roads, so we didn't take the Morgan and almost took the 4x4. The Morgan would have made it just fine, with Cherry Lake and Prather roads recently repaved and in very good shape, in fact a fine Morgan road. Returning, Evergreen Road wasn't in as good a shape, but still ok.
The weather was warm, a bit muggy and hazy, which didn't make for the best pictures.

For some reason, we hadn't expected the Yosemite entrance stop, but  fortunately we had brought our Golden Age passes.

Not fully understanding the parking situation, we parked at the first opportunity, and then walked 1/4 mile to the dam. Our doctor would be proud, as he has encouraged us to get out and walk, so we did despite my painful heel. There was parking on the other side of the top of the dam that had little walking.

There always has been much controversy about building/keeping the dam.
Below is a picture taken in 1911 of Hetch Hetchy before the dam, and I took one today (and made it B&W) for comparison.

and here is a different view in color showing the 1 of 2 waterfalls- the other is dry at this time of the year.

Husband, the dam builder, needed to walk across the dam to check out the tunnel. The path leads to the waterfall, but I just didn't feel up to the 1 hour walk there and back . 

On the return trip, we stopped at Evergreen Lodge  http://www.evergreenlodge.com/    for a drink and ice cream, and thought what a great place for a Morgan trip. The tavern was great, and the menu looked fantastic. They also have cute cabins, and apparently have about 350 guests at a time.

Returning on Evergreen Road, we enjoyed the few remaining wild flowers that dotted the landscape.

Home in time to move the truck to sisters to prepare for the workers tomorrow.

DAY 5- FOOTING LAYOUT AND REMOVAL

Today the two concrete contractors came to perform the footing layout. They came and set up their card table to hold the plans, two chairs and their theodolite.

Concrete contractors reviewing plans

Again we had a visitor from down around the corner, Anabelle. She too wants to see what is going on. At least today there are not big excavators running around, so she is not in the danger that she was on her first visit. A call to the number on the tag, and her papa wasn't home, so I walked her down to her home around the corner.




Anabelle

By noon time, the markings were done, and they were waiting for the excavators to arrive so they could discuss digging the trenches. On time, Greg arrived and reporting was completed. The excavators went to work flattening out the lower garage pad and wiping out the chalk markings, although engineer husband says they marked it in other ways.

Storage room and bathroom marked. Lower garage chalk marks are gone

After the leveling of the lower garage was completed, husband drove the truck onto the pad. It doesn't look as big as I would think. A discussion had been done earlier in the day how during the process of construction, the size perception changes.
 

Truck in the lower garage

A parking pad had not been in the original plan, but when discussing the removal of 12 trucks of dirt, I suggested that we put a parking pad below the garage to use the dirt. The pad grew and grew as dirt was removed and it seemed possible to widen the pad without the dirt falling in to the stream below. It ended up quite large, although we haven't measured it.



The parking pad- large enough to hold two trucks and and excavator and more

The weekend is here, so no contractor activity will occur. I will plant the removed iris, and a trip to the dump is in order, as well as a trip to Hetch Hetchy where we have never been.



DAY 4- Trenches filled, dirt spread around

Husband arose early to be available for any discussion when the worker arrived. First task of the day was to clear the roots out of the septic tank. As it was pumped yesterday, the task wasn't too bad. However to prime the tank, we had Mexican food last night, but fortunately this cleanout was done early in the AM.

Clearing roots out of septic tank

The next task was adding the "risers" to the tank to enable finding the tank once the hill was built up over it. Husband did measurements from the porch post to ensure the capability of finding it in the future. Instructions were given to add the measurements to the building plan for future use.





Risers

Once the risers were  glued into place, the mightyexcavators went to work again, lifting, compacting, sculpting  and moving dirt all around the yard- Yes Patrica, yard- not garden. Originally it had been thought that 12 truckloads of dirt would be moved off the property, but so far, none has, and it may happen that none will. Because of this, we will have a large parking pad behind the lower garage. Neighbors suggested we put a swimming pool at that location, but that is unlikely that will happen.

   

Sculpted corner

 By the end of the day, 2 excavators and one large truck are parked on the new pad behind the to be garage.

Looking toward the house

Trucks parked

What a difference the property is now. One can imagine the wonderful garage that will be here in several months. Even the surrounding trees look nice, and while sad to lose the old trees, new ones will be planted in appropriately.

Tomorrow will be excavating for the footings. 

DAY 3- Trenching with a Backhoe

Today was primarily all about trenching, laying pipes and connecting to the septic system.
We had watched the film on the septic tank being originally installed, reviewed the topographical map we had done and still were unsure of where the septic tank actually is buried.
So Greg, the excavator, tried various methods to find it, involving hoses, sticks and a back hoe that gently dug looking for booty ,or the septic tank, in this case.

Digging for the septic system

Eventually the tank was found and 1st change order- putting in long big expensive pipes so you can find it again without so much digging (see the blue pipes in a later picture).
Since we had no idea when it was last pumped, the decision was made to have it pumped this afternoon.


Note the logo.

Other trenches were dug, including putting in a french drain in the area of the "spring" at the lower part of the lot, and a trench and pipes for water, electricity and future phone/cable if needed (in the garage???)





The pipes and part of the new   tube to the septic tank

The parking pad has grown larger as more and more dirt is pushed downhill. There is now room for a swimming pool, if we  would prefer it to a parking pad (not, per husband)

Parking pad grows

At the end of the day, there are many open trenches left, so we hope that no animals or people fall into these trenches before tomorrow.

End of Day 3

DAY 2- Much Progress Has Been Made

I am told that all the necessary trees and plants have been removed. Many more than I expected, including the rosemary along side the of the driveway, and more pine trees than anticipated. I guess since they were less than 5 inches in diameter, no notification was required. It is sad to lose those pine trees that daddy planted so lovingly, even tho' not native to the area, as well as the rosemary.  I shall have to plant new rosemary on the hillsides, as well as lavender so reminiscent of our trip to Provence this summer. I won't miss the deerbrush on the slope, however. Although native, it is wicked.
 I can only find Lavendula, with strange tops on them, not even the Spanish lavender that we have in the front yard. I will keep looking.

The pad for the lower garage and for the storage room were also prepared. Only one large rock was found in the entire digging (so far) and it is not in a bad place. The soil is firmly compacted.

Pad for the storage room- required 18 inch clearance.

I think this is the lower garage pad.

There will be an upper garage and a lower garage, as well as a storage /work room for husband with a storage room over it for me to store "stuff". These guys are moving fast....

POOF- Trees gone

The excavators were very speedy with their mighty tractor, felling the trees and mostly chopping them up today. It is very dusty, and the excavator went to get his water truck later in the day.

.

The Mighty excavator.

The five stump tree- Sadly, but a somewhat sick tree. 

The remaining stump of the 5 stump tree 

Looking toward the house as the lot is cleared.

End of Day One

Although many trees are gone, there are still oak trees around the periphery. Engineer husband must have loved all the fun watching, while I am at home cleaning out his office. 

New Garage At Last

Husband has been "promised" a big garage for our multitude of cars ever since we moved to the current house over 22 years ago. We never built it here. Knowing that eventually we would inherit mom and dad's house near Yosemite, we encouraged them to buy the lot next door to their house for us to eventually build "the big garage". Tomorrow, that garage begins to become reality- the lot is being prepared for a 5+ car garage.

Earlier this year, we started working with a contractor on designing the garage. As it is a very sloped lot, husband wanted to build without moving much dirt, so the design has 2 driveways, with an upper and lower long and very long garage. He also wanted a his "storage area" to prepare for auto working, a washbasin and toilet, and I wanted my storage area. Once he and the contractor designed the building, he had over a 2400 sq foot garage, which is larger than the house. The county building permits and the local homeowner's association permits have been obtained, our contract has been signed and the bulldozer is in place. 

Follow along through our trials and tribulations of this build.

Step 1 is to remove several oak trees. Unfortunately, one black oak is in the middle of the "driveway" and will have to go. 

There are a few others that are worse for the wear, especially of the bad winter, including  a very large, but not very pretty, live oak.
I have also included a picture of Lake Don Pedro which is full of water for the first time in many years.