The drilling rig showed up last Thursday and got right to work. It appears they are going to have to do more drilling then we had anticipated. But with any luck we may be blasting by the end of the week. I most definitely will be posting video of that. There may be multiple blasts, depends on how well the first one goes. Stay tuned!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MByeBO6rQ0M&feature=youtu.be
It looks like we may not need as much blasting as originally anticipated. Excavator has been making great progress in pulling apart exposed ledge and making big hunks of rock into smaller hunks of rock. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wHxfdonX04&feature=youtu.be The plan now is to export all the ledge he has been digging up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BUNELn33fo&feature=youtu.be
Dave and his lady friend did an incredible job cleaning up the site and stock piling and covering all the recovered framing lumber. Chris and Dana Lowe are building a stone tree well around a very nice dogwood which is adjacent to the new septic field. Without the well the tree would be smothered by the overfill required by the new septic.
The structure covered by the blue tarp is the old basement bedroom, boiler room, and bathroom which will be the new pool house, assuming we get through the Conservation Commission permitting for the pool. Jeff Struble of Struble Engineering was at the site today to evaluate the existing walls for a new concrete roof for the pool house. Akerley Blasting was by the site last week and mapped out blasting depths for the new basement. Bumped into their survey team on Saturday making the rounds of the neighbors. Big machines are scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll have a building permit this week!
As of yesterday all the deck and floor joists are gone too. went by the site today, Saturday, June 1 and the final clean up has begun. Next week the heavy machinery moves in to take out the foundation and knock down the chimneys. Then assuming we get our building permit, the filling and blasting begins. Have a lot of folks who want an invite to the blasting party.
I’ll admit it, I was a Whole Earth Catalog baby. Ever since I lived on an off the grid old farm for two years in northern Michigan I have been enamored with renewable energy. My wife and I have embarked on the fulfillment of that dream, to construct a NetZero home, a home which creates as much energy as it uses. This blog is intended to share the experience of the trials and tribulations, and hopefully the realization of that dream. First we had to remove the 1950’s ranch house on the lot. We were fortunate enough to find just the right guy to deconstruct the existing house, David Giese of Piece by Piece Deconstruction. http://www.piecebypiecedecon.com/ We were able to sell and donate most of the fixtures, windows, and doors. All the plaster, shingles, metal, and wood were recycled.We have saved all the framing lumber to re-use in the new house. I shall attempt to update the progress as often as warranted.
Cheers!