Week 4, Day 23 - Things Are Forming Up Nicely

So I went up to the ridge today to take a few pics of the footers, just to have them. Since the basement walls are 9' tall, and the company that is putting the forms up was using them on another job, I was expecting to take a few "unique" shots and be on my way.

So I shoot a few shots...

And I hear a truck come rumbling up the driveway!

Once the truck is turned around and in position, the driver uses the cool crane on it to move the 'packages' of concrete forms down into the basement.

Soon the form containers are all down in the basement...

...and the gentlemen begin setting them into position.

The pattern on this stack struck me as interesting...

Lots of forms!

Locking the spacers in place.

I can almost imagine the walls...

I stopped back up a little later in the day, and the forms were almost completely done!

Another angle on the completed forms...

It's looking like we will be pouring the foundation walls tomorrow!

Week 3, Day 20 - The Footers Rest

They laid all the footers yesterday, and today was the first chance we had to dodge raindrops and go see what it looks like now. It's lookin' like a house!

And here's the basement layout superimposed... :-)

Week 3, Day 19 - Footings are Poured!

So today it all "felt official" The workers laid the foundation to the house! {cue crowd roaring}

Lots of pics, so I'll get on with it.

Still a pretty wet jobsite, but that wasn't stopping anyone!

Laying out the forms for the concrete footings...

The first truckload of stone for under the basement floor...

The jobsite - 10/30/2009

The further he backed up, the more he sank!

The forms, aligned precisely.

The drain

Lines and forms...

Putting together the forms for the
change in height from basement wall to walkout.

Aligning the form

Our front stoop! :-)

Doublechecking the measurements

Slinging stone... (Jen: I want one of these for Christmas! I am drooling at the thought of all the things I can "sling!" Compost, mulch, hay, leaves, recalcitrant seed- oh yeah!)

This truly was a very cool sight to see. One of my favorites so far. (Jen)

Making sure the stone is where it needs to be

First cement truck needed a hand with the hill- a bulldozer tow!

Making sure the forms are secure...

I am amazed at the reach of the cement truck!

The vertical forms get poured first,
so they can set up a bit before the rest is poured.

The reach of the conveyor on the cement truck fascinated me. It's looking like a real house, too!

Pouring the pads that the posts will rest on.

Shoveling and leveling

The footers being poured...

Look how far the cement truck sank into the wet ground!

We were pretty sure the cement truck was going to slide right into the basement. Probably wouldn't have been the first time a cement truck fell in the basement... :-)

It was quite a busy road frontage!

The final cement truck climbs toward the jobsite...

Week 3, Day 18 - Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Snow...

Well, ok. Not snow. Yet. It's in the forecast for next week though. Anyway, Mike and Ron dodged rain clouds and laid out the basement.

Jen, ever so patiently waiting for yours truly to finish taking photos... :-)

Still a wet day, but Mike and Ron were not to be deterred!

I wager they were thinkin' about hip waders... :-)

Checkin' the measurements...

It really says something about Mike and the folks he works with that they all feel free to express their opinions and argue their point, if need be. I LOVE the fact that they discussed at length the measurements and layout to make sure all was exactly right.

And when questions arose Mike had no problem calling Barry back out
to double-check that all was where it should be.

It's so readily apparent when they interact that all of the people Mike chooses to work with are professionals and respect each other's expertise.

More slogging through the mud to
get it all set up for digging the lower section of the foundation...

One last check and then the lines all get laid out.