It was Friday, May 13th,
when the backhoe arrived to remove the rest of the mudroom and dig the hole for
the pier necessary to support the house when the old foundation is removed to
make way for the new basement.
The slab and it’s foundation in the
above picture must be removed and a hole about eight feet deep needs to be dug
at the left back corner for the pier.
The backhoe reaches out and tears
off a piece of slab and the short wall underneath it.
The slab and its short wall is gone,
but underneath was this monstrous foundation that didn’t want to budge. The
backhoe wiggled and jiggled it and said, “I know I can, I know I can” and soon
a groan was heard and the foundation separated from the old house. You could
hear the sobs of pain like from a calf being removed from the mother cow after
several weeks of nursing. The foundation was no match for the determination of
the backhoe and it surrendered to its strength and was dragged away to a new,
temporary resting spot.
With the foundation gone the end of
the house is suspended over a growing hole. The original part of the house is
very old. Its foundation was made out of large stones and the floor joists were
formed from small logs. A smooth strait surface was formed on the floor side,
but the rest was the round tree.
The blue tube in the above picture
is eight feet long and contains four ½” re-bar. The concrete truck is on the
way with one cubic yard of concrete. The pier is overkill but was quick and easy
to build. After the concrete cures in the tube, jacks will be placed under the
house and a support built between the house and the top of the pier. Once that
is in place a basement will be dug, both outside and under the old house. There
is much soil to be removed.
The old and newer construction is
seen in the above picture. Once the support is built above the blue tube all of
those big stones will be removed to provide a doorway into the old basement.
The old kitchen is above the new wood. To the right of the picture is a
sub-basement. A skid loader will be used to dig out the soil to the same depth
as the new basement to be dug to the left of the tube.
The concrete truck arrived and
filled up the tube. All of that earth to the right of the tube will have to be
dug out from under the old house. The wall around the basement window will be
removed, making room for a new wall I have designed to support the old house
and the new addition to be built.
The concrete truck is washing up and
getting ready to return home.
To keep unwanted creatures and
weather out of the basement, a tarp was hung up.
Plans are to dig the basement and
lay up the block walls while I am still here in China. When I finally arrive
around June 13th they hope to be ready for me to start framing. My
job is to get the frame up and enclosed before I return to China the end of
September. This should be an exciting project; one I am sure you will want to
follow.
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