Houston, we have a hole!
The excavator came out this morning with the intention of starting to dig the hole for the basement.... the problem was that it was raining.
So he decided to come back after the rain stopped.
In the early afternoon, after the rain ended, I got the call that he was starting! So I ran out there to get some pics of the progress....
Here's some shots of the "first scoop" when he was beginning the hole.
After he got going, the dirt really began piling up as the hole got bigger and bigger...
Terry is the guy running the bucket, while Larry is the guy holding the long stick...
Larry's job is to measure the depth of the hole at all times and in all areas of the hole. They need the hole to be at a certain depth (determined via GPS) and completely flat on the bottom.
All the above photos were taken in the afternoon. The next few photos were taken after work... it's amazing what a difference a few hours can make!
You can see the laser level that they use to set the depth of the hole. Larry told me that due to the slope of the natural grade on the lot, the hole they're digging will be about 7'-8" on the front side and nearly 10'-0" deep on the back side.
They were still digging when we left the lot at about 5:45 for our meeting with the plumbing sub-contractor.
There's rain in the forecast for tomorrow afternoon, so the excavators figured they'd get a good start on it today and finish in the morning. The concrete trucks are still scheduled to arrive Friday to begin pouring the basement footings and walls.
There's a massive amount of dirt piled up around the hole, alot of which is going to be used to raise the overall grade in the front yard. (there's roughly a four foot difference in grade from the back of the house to the front of the house, and it slopes downhill more yet from there to the roadway)
More to come soon!
Paul
