Brick by brick

How does the song go?

"First of all you need a good foundation,
Otherwise it's risky from the start."

from Putting it Together
Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim

A few more pics of pouring the foundation in mid-September. Here you can see the rebar that's laid in the forms before the cement is poured. One of the surprising things I learned as I watched all of this is that once the cement is poured at this stage then the electrician is needed to ground the rebar, and then the inspector has to approve the electrical work before you can continue.

Here you can see the rest of the rebar that will anchor the cinderblocks sticking up through the poured cement

















It never hurts to double check all your measurements before starting something that can't be changed










Pallets of cinderblock being delievered before the masonry work can begin











And the walls begin to arise



















I was surprised how quickly it all began to take shape














photos taken between September 16-18, 2008

Sept 15 - A strong foundation is a good beginning

Once the digging was done it was time to bring in the heavy equipment, litteraly. The local cement supplier, Elmers, came in with several pieces of equipment to pour the foundations for the new areas on the lakeside and roadside of the cottage.


This isn't the greatest shot but if you look closely you can make out the standard cement truck parked behind the pump truck which has it's enormously long arm stretched over the roof of the cottage.



Here you can see that same arm extended out to the lakeside of the cottage where Fred and Mike Lanham guide the cement being poured into the foundation forms.















Here's a better shot that shows the cement flowing into the foundation forms


















As the forms fill up Fred rakes the cement to even it out


















In a final step Chris Lanham draws a board across the top of the wooden forms to make sure the cement is level
















When all the work was done I grabbed a quick shot of the pump arm being folded back up over the rooftop.


















*the first photo is of the slogan on the side of the cement truck.

Sept 5 - A bit more digging

After the brief interruption to take down about ten trees the digging for the foundations resumed. Here you can see the small dozer (bigger than the mini dozer used lakeside) working on making room for what will be the mud hall and downstairs laundry/storage area. The canoe had been stored next to the shed and had been moved for tree removal. Oh, and the small tree that can be seen at the corner of the digging.....it's now long gone.







This is one corner of what was dug out for the foundation. The white pipe is part of the line running to the septic field. And yes they broke it while digging. Luckily it was a quick fix. The front one that runs from the bathroom to the septic tank was broken as well. The good news there is that they also fixed the angle of the pipe so all will drain better in the future. Each time I was without water for maybe an hour or so. Not a big deal.

September 4 - Interruption

In early September I noticed a large branch had fallen by the back corner of the cottage. At first I chalked it up to a windstorm or something while I was out of town. But then the crew mentioned some thing about it looked like bugs. So I decided to take a closer look at what had fallen. The base of the rather large birch branch was completely honeycombed. At this point I looked up at where it had fallen and thought “ut oh, it looks like the top of the tree could come down at any time”. Way up toward the top the entire trunk was encircled with the same honeycomb effect. I got on the phone right away to the tree guys and they stopped by to check it out late that same afternoon. Thank goodness they did. I hadn’t thought about it but getting them in to take out this damaged tree as well as a few other standing dead ones would be a LOT cheaper if done BEFORE the back foundation holes were dug. What timing! A day later and I would have had much more outta my pocket. Lucky for me they were able to come out the very next day and remove a total of ten small birch trees.

Just below the bucket you can see how the trunk is completely honeycombed. The tree guys said it was from a woodpecker, not insects. Now if only the top had crashed through the roof I could have gotten insurance to pay for part of the remodel!













Here you can see where the first tree was located in relation to the cottage. You can also see that the rather large truck is right parked right where the foundation hole was about to be dug.

Diggin' in the dirt

Enough of the decking has now been removed for the digging to begin. Fred is making some final preparations before the mini-dozer sets to work







And the digging begins. Next will come setting the forms for pouring the base of the new foundation.

Photos taken on Sept 3, 2008

Taking things apart

Mike Lanham starting to take out the existing decking to the lakeside door.


















Mike and his brother Chris doing more demolition work in preparation for digging new foundations on the lake side of the house. Fred is supervising as usual.






photos taken Sept 3, 2008