2006 House Addition - August 21st


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Trenching and site clean-up

Jeff's first task was to uncover the footer drain tee and to locate the existing house sewer line where it exits the house. Here is the sewer line. Notice the holes which were made by the excavator shovel. The six inch clay pipe will have a tee to the new sewer line (with clean-out) by the new crawl space. All the sewer lines for the addition and the existing house will exit from the new crawl space. The footer drain trench is dug and runs from the house to the street (left photo). In the photo on the left, you can see the laser level which was used to get the proper drop all along the trench. On the left, trench being completed and on the right, Jeff, in the process of backfilling. Jeff uses a sideways motion of the excavator shovel to push dirt back in the trench. My neighbors, Bill and Ada, get loads of dirt from Jeff, placed in their wagon which Bill used to fill a low spot in their backyard. Jeff wanted to help me drop the second Norway Spruce, although I felt it might be better to cut it down. After some discussion, we decided to let Jeff give it a go. He dug around the roots then pushed it over. Down she goes! It did not fall the way Jeff planned, but no harm was caused. Jeff picked up the tree and set it over to the side so I could cut it up and dispose of the branches and trunk. Hey, maybe I'll get a job as a lumberjack... Jeff removed all the roots from both trees (left) and moved the larger sections of trunk to the edge of the property in the woods. Jeff's assistant, Joe, lays in the gutter drains as Jeff trenches. Jeff's company truck on left and, on the right, some of the old bottles, china and other relics found buried under the spruce trees. There must have been a dump or outhouse there at one time. The items are being cleaned up for display. I put the top of one of the trees back in the ground to show one of my gulible friends how we just pounded the tree into the ground! Jeff's longest task of the day was to reduce the piles of mud and debris in the back to a nicely sloped hill with a flat top. The big pieces of concrete, block, tree roots, etc were placed in a deep (10 ft) hole, shown on the right, and buried. Jeff did a nice job cleaning up debris and creating a nicely sloped rise. On the left, Jeff backfilling the gutter drains. On the right, the job completed. Here is the side yard at the end of the day. What a difference from this morning!!!


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