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Excavation
Finally, we were ready to begin construction in May 2008.
The process started with excavation of our basement, which is being tucked into the hillside.
Dave Monsaas, of High Meadows Excavation, was an expert with his excavator.
He started by pulling out the few stumps in the homesite's "footprint," and we spent several days -- mostly rainy days -- burning them.
Then he began excavating in earnest.
He carved away at the hillside...
...and carefully lined out the locations of the footers, which would support the load-bearing walls.
Soils testing had indicated that the hillside is mostly deep sandy soil, overlying a layer of silty-clay that is closer to the surface at the bottom of the hill.
We were surprised to discover, as he excavated, that there was silty-clay close to the surface on the eastern one-third of the home's footprint. The western two-thirds was the expected sand.
The sand and silty-clay were not separated in distinct layers. Instead there were pockets of silty-clay within the sand. You can see these in the photo to the right, where the clay-sand is wet while the sand has dried.
We called in our geotechnical consultant, who required that a thick layer of rock be laid down and compacted to support the footers.
Repeated compaction was necessary, until geotechnical testing indicated that it had sufficient load-bearing capability.
As Dave excavated, he very carefully separated the sand from the silty-clay. The sand will be very useful in backfilling, while the silty-clay holds too much water.
When he was done, we covered all of the excavated soil with black plastic, secured by staked-down sandbags, to help protect it and minimize erosion in the rain.
Next: Concrete Work...
Getting Ready |
Well |
Milling Wood |
Excavation |
Concrete
Framing |
More Framing |
Plumbing |
Electrical |
Floors |
Roofing
What's Happening Now:
Late Oct |
Early Nov |
Mid-Nov |
Late Nov |
Early Dec |
Late Dec
Early Jan |
Late Jan |
Early Feb |
Late Feb |
Early March |
Mid-April - Done!