I did some trenching yesterday. This is to take water and septic to and from the garage. I also plan to put a couple of electrical conduits in the ditch so that I can add switching between the house and garage if we want and also pull phone, internet and network cables to my office. I also dug some trenches for the gutter downspouts to feed into to draw the rain water further from the house so that we don't have the water issues in the basement.
I was able to put one of the 4" lines in one of the trenches today and get it covered with dirt. Anytime you dig, there is extra dirt left over. I'm hoping to pack most of it down into the trench, but will probably have to come back with the shovel and wheelbarrow to get the extra dirt up and put in a pile by the garage.
The log work has begun on the house. The new logs are a bit smaller than the original, so there will be a few places inside where we will have to add some trim to cover the open spaces between the new logs and the existing walls.
I also found that some of the wood located on the foundation cinderblocks has rotted along with the logs. I think the log contractor was going to ignore this and just put the new logs in place without replacing the other wood, but I saw it and made him make the repairs. I think I will need to do some further repair to this wood in the future. I will also have to keep a better eye on the contractor to make sure he does what I expect him to do.
I'm also having a few struggles with my builder. He seems to want to shortcut on a few things which I believe need extra effort and work. The plumbing to the garage really needs to be below the freeze line in the soil. He has installed the grinder pump near the freeze line, but part of that tank is at grade. This exposes the tank to potential freezing in the winter. No one wants to have a waterline burst due to freezing. The same goes for a septic line. I guess I'll just call him in the middle of the night when I have a problem. I have told him where I wanted it. He doesn't think it will be a problem. We'll see...
Then there's the issue of the roofing debris. Up until today, the roofers weren't doing a good job of cleaning up. Today, there was a new guy and he spent most of the day picking up all the debris. It looks much better and is safer for the kids to be there. I'm glad they finally got it together on this point.
Tomorrow, I will spend most of the day there installing more drain lines for the gutters to drain into. I need to run my conduits from the garage too. We also need to pick out the rest of the bathroom fixtures and get them on site so the renovations on the bathrooms can continue and reach completion.
My target date for moving in is the week of August 27th. I'd love to have the family and some friends over for Labor Day at the new place. My wife and daughters have laughed at me for mentioning that. If they'd just get busy and help out more, it really can be a reality.
Pray for me. That I will be diligent and hard working. Also that I will be patient with my family as I push for work to get completed quickly.
Updates and pictures coming soon.
The extra shift that I thought I'd picked up evaporated today. There are problems with the generators on site and they will not be testing on Saturday as planned.
I'm still waiting for the HVAC estimates. Hope they come in soon and low.
