Invisible Progress

Today Matt got all the requirements turned in for our erosion control plan as well as the driveway permit. He and Tim also met with the man who will be doing the excavation and tentatively scheduled our "ground breaking" for the first week of May. Things are moving along!

New Tub!

Are we doing things a little backwards? Maybe - but I can't wait to soak in this tub :)

Demolition begins...a little.

Nothing is simple about this project. Because our site was once a lake bed, the soil is peat. The people who built the tennis court did a lot of work for us, though, as we found loads and loads of gravel under it (at least 7 ft...probably more like 10-12!). Matt had an engineer and soil expert from Planning (his office) out with Tim Wood, who brought his bobcat for the event. Sam was in heaven. (and Gus was also moderately entertained!) The results were about what we expected as far as what we need to do for the foundation and there is absolutetly no chance of a basement - the test holes rapidly filled with water up to just a few feet below the surface! Our next step will be to submit a soil erosion plan for our constuction, remove the court, and get a driveway started. We then need to surcharge, or "compress" the footprint of our home for a month or two with 2 feet of sand or soil - this will hopefully prevent settling of the house at a later time. Wells (drinking and for geothermal heating/cooling) and septic will follow soon after.