Radiant Floor

I was mistaken on the timing. 

Today they were out to lay the tubing for the radiant floor.  Basically a plastic tube that will run in the cement that will have hot water running through it during the winter time. One concern in looking at it, i'm wondering if they put the connection in the wrong place.  It is mounted on the wall on the south side but our in-line heater and hot water pipes are all on the north side of the house. 

We'll see. Hopefully they concrete crew does not pour the floor before this is resolved!

Foundation Walls

The walls are all complete for the back foundation and the front frost wall.

In the last couple days they took down the forms, slathered the outside walls in black tar and put thick foam insulation panels in place.

On the inside they've put in a plastic sheet over the stone bed and then a metal wire mesh that will help strengthen the concrete floor.  Don't know why they put down the plastic. 

Only two sections left to underpin under the back wall of the old foundation. 

We expect them on monday to pour the floor in back and front.  They should be all done with the cement work by wed or thursday of next week.  Right on schedule. 

Ready to Pour

Yesterday the concrete crew finished installing all the forms for the back foundation wall and the curb under the front porch, which includes a 4' deep pier for the front of the house.  They also dug out two more sections under the back wall to underpin with a new foundation. 

They also installed the well for the sump pump and foam insulation under the gravel that you can see in the photos. 

Today the Village came to inspect the work so that the cement could be poured this afternoon.  No such luck on the pour!

Around 11 am we had an intense mirco-burst thunderstorm that dumped 3" of rain in 45 minutes. It as so small that it didn't show on radar and covered perhaps a mile square.  The neighbors say the streets ran like rivers and yards were completely flooded.  Lots of downed limbs and a few trees.  A silver maple crushed a car across the street from us. 

Someone, i'm guessing Drew our general contactor, came an installed the sump pump.  It has been running off an on since we got home some 5 hours ago.  I can only imagine how much water was in the hole that is our new basement area.  

Hopefully they can pour the foundations tomorrow.  

Foundation Forms

Under the blazing sun and high humidity they dug out two more sections of the foundation underpin. The forms for the foundation wall are up with the rebar installed. The Village has to come and inspect this work before the concrete can be poured but we are planning to pour tomorrow.  

The first photo is hand digging under the old foundation at the door to the basement. The red tile in the basement is sitting on this nasty plywood.  I don't know if the new cement will fill the space below or not. 

The second photo is the rebar going in to the old foundation.  The cement in the old foundation does not look good and i could see a stream of ants moving out of it; having been disturbed by the digging. 

The last photo is the mess that is our back yard. 

Drain Tile

The new portion of the basement is lower and so it has a sump pump and drain tile system. 

In these two pictures the crew is pouring rock over the plastic drain tile.  In the second photo you can see where the sump pump will sit. It's on the inside of the foundation. It will eject the water out towards the sidewalk where we'll direct it into the rain garden. 

They'll also be putting in more of the underpining foundation in place.  The walls and rebar should also be going up today for Village inspection. 

First Pour

Turns out that the Village inspector came by yesterday and signed off on the cement forms for the back.  Then today the inspector was back and approved the front. 

Despite the massive thunderstorms the crews poured all of the front frost wall, the footer for the foundation in the back, and the back wall underpinning in two sections (the corners). More than i expected to see finished.

In the front they were able to reuse one of the old piers. It is now part of the new frost wall, tied in with rebar. 

A mess in the back yard. Need to pick up the plastic water bottles a bit of random garbage and free from plants from under the dirt spoil.  

Perhaps we'll be able to get into the basement soon.

Foundation Forms

Today the crew did the final excavation of the back yard and installed the forms for the base of the foundation wall. There is also a well to install a sump pump. In front the trench for the frost wall has been dug.  No forms here so i wonder if they'll just pour the concrete right in.

Supposedly the village will be here tomorrow to inspect the forms. Hopefully that will be early enough so they can pour the concrete.

Found Treasure

Kanohi and i were watching the bobcat dig down in back when you heard it hit what i figured was some more foundation. After many tries to get under the object this is what appeared... a massive rock.  

The operator asked if we wanted to keep it and i said absolutely!  

It was buried about 8 feet underground. I'm sure it was deposited during the Wisconsin glaciation; which ended some 10,000 years ago!

Blows my mind to think that it has been in that spot for at least 10,000 years as the ice receded and various ecosystems came and went, most importantly the tall grass prairie which created the 5 feet of black earth over it. 

We'll be figuring out a place to put it once the construction is done. Of course we've yet to try and move it so it might just sit where it was pushed for another 10,000 years. 

June 17 - no work

Talked with the concrete guy this morning on the way to the germ factory with Missy J. 

Too wet and too much water in the hole for them to safely work.  They should be back tomorrow to begin hand digging the foundation under the front of the house. 

Front Porch

Ok, now to the front porch. 

On monday, they finished removing everything but the 2x4 supports for the front porch area. 

Today they installed beams to support the load of the house.  They used LVLs as the main cross load bearing beam. The LVLs were held up by various 4x4 and 2x4s sitting on concrete blocks.  Then using a saws-all they cut away the old 2x4 supports.  Some of the old supports they used to cross-tie the LVLs to provide additional stability. 

The old 2x4 supports were scary. Most were rotten and were only sitting on another 2x4 that was completely on the ground and therefore rotten. 

Now the entire front portion of the house is sitting on a few LVLs and cement blocks.  I jokingly told Kanohi that she should not jump up and down. 

Kanohi has been saying that the area under the porch is where the horse lives. To which i tell her, yes, but not till the fall when it is all finished.  I'm also telling her that it will be a new room for her to play in.  

The last photo is of the new stairs. Much safer than the improvised one's i had going. 

Dig Dig Dig (pt2)

It's been raining since the late afternoon but it was not too hard to stop the crew from finishing the basement dig-out. Here are three photos of what they accomplished today. 

You can see depth of the nice top soil.  The last thing the guy did before leaving was putting the plastic sheeting over the back wall.  This is to prevent the rain from eroding the soil since the hole is now lower than the foundation wall!  If any of the dirt under the foundation was to give way there's a chance the foundation could crack or even collapse. 

Dig Dig Dig

Amazing what one bobcat can do with a jackhammer attachment.  In no time they broke up the old cement walls and then with the shovel attachment they dug out the old foundation down to the new depth.  The guy is accurate too.  Scraped right up to the old foundation in preparation for the underpinning with new concrete.  Part of me is waiting for the back wall in the kitchen to collapse...ha ha. 

One small bad thing was they removed part of the b

erm and hauled it away with the rest of the soil and debrits.  When right and told them and he said he'd put topsoil back....we'll see. I knew i should have moved the berm myself. 

The tree and plant protection fencing is up all around the yard.  Just have to protect the very front around the entrance walkway. 

The depth of the dark beautiful topsoil is incredible. It must go down 8 feet!  No wonder you can grow anything. No like in the new sprawl where the developers scape away the top soil, sell it to others and put a couple inches back to grow sod. 

June 15

We have new temp stairs - so no longer need to risk our lives entering/leaving the house. And, the mail will start coming again.

All Gone (AM)

Here's a photo of just after the crew pulled down the roof of the old porch. All they used were sledge hammers and some rope. The crew had a good time.  Only one of them is smart enough to wear a dust mask and some of them didn't even bother with gloves. 

Unfortunately my fears about the plants was warranted.  As you can see they really thrashed the crabapple. Several branches just ripped off and a good chunk of bark torn off.  I was quite mad and will be sure to take it up with the crew.  I should have told them to be careful this morning.  Fortunately i don't think the tree will die but i'm still mad at the lack of care and respect. 

The good news is the entire back is now gone and they stripped down the front porch area.  Access is a bit tough as the "stairs" the put up are questionable.  Fortunately the stairs from my old loft from college (thanks Mr. Sauer) were in the back yard and fit perfectly.  Steep but stable for one to walk up. 

Under the porch you can see an old boarded up window.  They will be hand digging an actual foundation/frost wall under the 2x4's so they are not touching the dirt.  There'll be a cement floor and we plan to store food, like potatoes, over the winter here. 

At michele's request i took a photo of the basement wall.  It is an odd mix of cement and brick. For some reason the cement is a bit higher on one side. But, the support timbers did not sit on this, they were behind it, sitting on bricks at the same level as the soil.  No wonder why they were rotted away. No clue why someone built a higher cement wall on the inside. 

Went out tonight and moved some of the metal to the alley for the scavengers.  Also raked the yard a bit to get some of the debris out. Cleaned under the crabapple as well. The yard is not safe for the Jowler.  She and michele might come home tomorrow if the crews are not digging out the old foundation. 

boom! wake up

This morning at 7:30 the demo crew arrived with sledge hammers and proceeded to make quick work of the rest of the back porch.  They knocked out the supports and with a few pulls came down the roof.  It pulled away from the home nice and neat. 

A new roll-off dumpster is arriving today.  Construction fencing is going up and they are working on the front porch.  I hope there will be some sort of stairs so i can get in the house when i return from work. 

A bit worried about the plants.  Most people, construction people especially, are not very aware of where and what they are walking on.  The Solomon's seal was trampled but some damage is expected.  As long as they don't push through the fencing our plantings should be ok. 

There not going to be anything left for people to smash tonight.

Full Demo Goes

It was a rainy morning today and Drew arrived saying that with the rain he was not sure how many guys would show up for the demo and that they would probably just work on the inside. As i sat reading the paper i hear a 'boom' and walk back to see the nice hold in the wall between the two rooms.  He wanted to make sure that when they sealed off the door they would be able to get to the other room.  The wall was little more than a thin fiberboard.

The 2x4 in the wall is a beautiful tight grained fir.  Pains me to see this stuff go to the landfill.  The windows are being salvaged as will the light fixtures and metal.  

When i returned home this evening i was shocked to see just how much they got done! 

All that is left is floor, roof, and framing. The giant roll-off conta

iner is full.  Plywood now covers the door to the basement and two doorway that open in to the kitchen.  Later i'll be putting boards over the window into the pantry.  

Most of the wood is in bad shape.

 Lots of rot. Does not look like we can save any of the old cedar shingles.  I picked though the roll-

off and all the boards are brittle and cracked.  Figure they've been drying for nearly 100-years.  I can only imagine how well the roll-off would burn right now. 

They uncovered the old flooring.  Crazy black and red and yellow tile.  I'm guessing it is 1930's style

Old siding removed and prepared for the arrival of the demolition crew tomorrow.

Most of the original cedar shingles are in very bad condition with both wet and dry rot. The cedar on the north side of the porch is still painted white and is, mostly, reuseable.  We plan to store it for in the hopes that we'll restore the rest of the house...someday

June 6 - Pre demo

This is our last weekend before the demolition crew shows up to begin tearing down the back of our house. We've been gradually packing and moving everything worth saving.  

The following photos are of the house as we've had it since we moved it in 2002.