What Is This?

Day 39

Sorry if you were expecting a post yesterday.  I'm posting when things are interesting and since things have been plenty interesting you might have thought that this was turning into a daily post.  Sorry, not so.  Yesterday's pictures look almost exactly like the day before.  Boring.  Today I have what I would call a mystery picture.

It's a mystery because I have no idea what they're doing.  I imagine it's some sort of waterproofing along with drainage so that water doesn't collect and sit next to the foundation which would probably eat out the concrete.  But this is how it is going to stand over the weekend.

The Word "Forms" Can Mean Many Things.

Day 37

But in this case, they are the things that hold up concrete until it hardens.  And also, they were all removed today.  They also built structures to hold up the pipes to pour the concrete.  Those are all gone too.

 

 

Of course, we shouldn't neglect the inside of the house.

 Also, there is a big pile of gravel out front.  I have no idea what it's for.

Finally, there used to be a big pile of dirt under that tractor. 

I'm going to have to tell them I need access to that garage before my next gig or I'm in big trouble.

Concrete, Part 1

Day 36

After watching all the forms go up and rebar go in, the concrete arrived!  They filled the forms and the trenches.  See if you can see the difference from yesterday.

Here is that bit of foundation that is in the house and connects to the old foundation:

Here is part of the outside:

Here is the rest of the outside:

I wish I could have watched them pour.  By the time I got home, they were done.  I wonder how long they need to wait for it to cure? I guess they could do other stuff like dig and prep for the slab around the outside.

It's Raining.

Day 35

Yeah, it's raining.  But it doesn't matter.  They still worked!  Nothing exciting to report.  Just more rebar.  They did some of the middle trenches and connected them to the rebar that is inside of the forms.

They did some work inside the house where the new foundation will join the old foundation so I supposed they did manage to get out of the rain a little bit.

Poor guys.  All their tools are wet.  It might rain again tomorrow but it'll clear up on Wednesday.  I don't anticipate big delays.

I See Walls

Day 32

OK.  Things don't look much different from yesterday but now you can see the outlines of the base of the walls of the extension.

So you can see the channels where they are going to pour the concrete.

It goes all the way around.  I think they still need to lay more rebar on the ground where they will pour the concrete that will be the floor of the downstairs rooms.

  

I'm always happy with the amount of work these guys get done everyday.   They definitely don't stand around all day waiting for someone to tell them what to do.  I hope we can maintain this pace.  Maybe it'll all be done by August.  Fat chance.  Okay, maybe October?  Fat chance there too.

The Word of the Day: Rebar

Day 31

Now that the trenches have been dug, they're putting rebar in.  You know, those solid steel poles.

They did about half of it today.  I imagine they'll do the rest tomorrow.  And once the rebar is done, I will summon the cement truck!  Okay, I won't do it but the contractor will.

And I Thought Yesterday's Invasion Was Bad

Day 30

The have encroached further into the house.  I was not expecting it this soon.  What we have here is a failure to communicate.  I wonder if I'm going to start feeling like the Bubble Boy.

There's also more trenches BUT there are forms as well.  I overheard them saying that there will be no cement truck this week but I did hear mention of a plumber.  My guess is that has to do with the drainage.

I'm a bit concerned as to the process.  I don't know if they pour all the concrete one day or if they do a couple of rounds.  They are supposed to pour a slab down at some point but they haven't even dug out the plants.  I hope they don't make a mistake.

The Invasion

Day 29

So it looks like they put up some wooden supports.  I'm guessing they are for the concrete nozzle/trough as they ain't gonna be driving no cement truck into our back yard.  Perhaps someone with more expertise can chime in.

At least they are still working outside.  Or so I thought.   Then I saw this:

 

And this:

Just to refresh your memory, this room used to look like this:

 

They are making their way in.  I'm still curious about how they are going to be able to save the carpet and the flooring.  They said they would.  They'd better.

New and Creative Ways to Store Dirt

Day 28

So nothing much to report except more trenches.

 

Q: Where do they put all the dirt that they get from the trenches?

A: In my driveway!

 

Trench Warfare

Day 25

Dig dig dig.  That's what they did all day.  Here's what the backyard looks like now:

A look in the trenches:

 

All that's missing are the terra cotta warriors.

And one from inside the house:

 

It is the weekend so it is unlikely there will be another post, unless a tractor falls into one of those trenches.

The Moat.

Day 24

Okay, not really a moat.

Just two big trenches.  When the engineers did the soil report they thought the soil was too moist and therefore a bit unstable so those trenches are probably for the foundation.  They spent all day doing that.  When they were digging, it looked like they were trying to be precise.   Maybe I should surprise them by filling both trenches with water.  They'd probably get a kick out of that.

First Attempt at Video

Day 23.5

Here's how our driveway is being used:

Clean Up Crew! Sort of.

Day 23

Here's what things looked like at the end of the day:

They managed to clear away all the concrete that they smashed up yesterday and a bunch of dirt.  I think it was two truck fulls.  They dug deeper than I thought they would.  At one point there was a mound of dirt about 10 feet tall.  Though they do clean up after themselves daily, there sure is a lot of dirt everywhere.  But why clean up thoroughly when it is only going to get dirty again tomorrow, and the day after, and probably into next week.

And I Thought Yesterday Was Crazy

Day 22

Get a load of this.  And it is a load.

 

 That patio is GONE!

And now this is what the backyard looks like:

 

I never thought I would have TWO tractors in the back yard.  It's a veritable tractor parking lot.

The kids both had fun watching some of the demolition today.

This crew is excellent so far.  They had to remove a bunch of paver stones but I saw them stacked neatly in the corner so that they can use them when the rebuild the area from which they were removed.  They also put a plywood barrier up at the end of the day so that vagrants and robbers can't go traipsing into the yard.  I guess the workers want to protect their microwave oven and mini-fridge.

 

This just - got - SERIOUS!

Day 21

Some real work got done today:

There used to be a fence here:

The patio will never be the same:

 

And that there's the small digger.  The big one is still up on the street.

 

I think there will be posts every day this week.  Exciting!

New Drumset? Please?

Day 19

Remember when I suggested Mika patch and paint the holes from the surround sound speakers?

Now if I can just get Mika to buy me a new drumset . . .

(Do you think it'll work?)

Now You See it . . . Now You Don't.

Day 18

What is different about the two pictures:

 

Yeah, I hear you.  Weeds are taller.  Sky is bluer.   Whatever.

Watch out for that first step.  It's a doosie!

 

Surrond sound no more!

Day 13

I finally got rid of one of my pet peeves in this house.  I got rid of the surround sound system.  It came with the house and was unsightly (along with a large but very outdated, low-def, flatscreen television that doesn't have any HDMI inputs).  Besides which, I'm not big into 3D whether it be audio or visual.  I think it will be a while before movies really understand how to utilize this in an effective manner.  Anyway, in order to accomplish this task, I had to do this:

 

To get this:

And then I had to go here:

To get this:

 Now if I can just get Mika to patch and paint all the holes  . . .

Where Am I?

Day 12

No building. Just preparing.  We have moved our bedroom to what used to be the living room.  I will now be sleeping next to the front door.  Please don't knock on my front door in the middle of the night.  Not unless you want to be greeted by a guy who looks like he just had a heart attack.