Fortunately, I was off work last week on vacation, and was able to be around to watch them dig and to answer questions.
It's been quite the process. They started last Tuesday, and would have finished up today except that the weather turned cold and snowy and the concrete companies wouldn't deliver any mud. It's exciting, after the long, cold winter, to see progress. (The last piece that needs to go in is the foundation around the crawl space under the kitchen addition. The slab for the garage, the rebuilt front steps and the side of the house next to the drive are all finished.)
First, they dug out the trench footing for the garage addition. It's 18" wide and 3' deep. If you could get a semi into my back yard, it could safely park on it, I'm sure. Yes, it's overkill, but it's what was required for me to get my permits, so overkill it is. At least I'm sure it'll all stay put.
After that, they dug the big hole next to the house for the addition and laid the forms for the footing. That was fun to watch - though I must admit I jumped back from my vantage point at the back door a time or two when it looked like he was about to drive through the wall.
After all the hoopla I've heard about nightmare inspectors coming by, I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised by that part of the process. You call, they come by within the next two hours. As long as you've more-or-less followed the plan (and we have), they sign off on the work, and you're good to go.
It's been a little dusty, a lot muddy. The contractor showed up at noon, hung-over, the second day of the project, and was obnoxious to work with to boot. (If I hadn't had such trouble getting someone in here, I'd probably have fired him - how unprofessional!) Fortunately for him, the guys actually doing the labor were here on time and good to work with. Also fortunately for him, it was just the one day, and he was fine to work with the rest of the time, or I might have fired him anyhow.
I've had some second thoughts and had to take some deep breaths and go back through my (still good) reasons for buying this house and taking on this mess before my stomach would quiet down.
The framing will start next week. I like and trust the contractor who'll be doing that part of the project. He's a rare gem, and I know my stomach will be happier with this next piece.
It's spring!
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