The Big Dig

big pile of dirt!

Well after MONTHS (around 7 actually) of waiting, construction on our project finally started yesterday.  It was quite an exciting day.  Our son Jackson loved watching the trucks start to excavate.  The dogs felt a little differently though.  They worked through the entire day and got about 2/3 of the way across.  It might be a little hard to tell but the hole is a good 10-12' deep.  I guess we could always put in a swimming pool instead.

facing the house

from the house looking out

The guys were back again all day today and finished digging the width of the house.  We ran into a few snags, like an old buried terra cotta pipe that apparently runs through our entire yard to the house.  breaking that up caused the hole to slowly start filling with water.  They also discovered that the portion of our existing basement that runs underneath the concrete back steps (shown above) doesn't go all the way down like the rest of the house.  So they had to stop digging against the wall for fear it could erode and collapse.  Oh joy.  All totally fixable but an extra ordeal none the less.

Tomorrow the architect comes out to inspect the foundation situation and if he gives the thumbs up, they will start framing out the footings.  

And so it begins...