Building The Footer Forms

All Day:

The concrete crew continued the painstaking work of determining the exact position of the outer perimeter of the foundation footing. Garret arrived in the afternoon and checked the foundation forms. With the detailed layout positioned, a more exact indication of the footer placement showed that there was more digging to do since the trenching was based on the preliminary layout. Forms were being developed for an 18" wide footer to accommodate placement of the stem wall forms since they will be done with even more precision.

The House Footer Perimeter Starts To Take Shape:

Living room with fireplace bump out	Master Bedroom 1 with shower bump out
Garage	Art Studio

Completing The Detailed Layout

Morning:

The two worlds of construction - the guy in the field with string and tape measures and the guy in the office with a computer - finally came together this morning to resolve the issues with the original plan showing a measurement to a block wall with foam on the outside, versus the revised plan (to meet Washington code) showing a poured stem wall with foam inside the wall. A phone call this morning resulted in a workable plan that everyone was satisfied with. Burt at Topsider Homes will continue to work with the construction crew and keep everything on track, making it easier for those out here in the field.

Amid The Light Rain, The Crew Works On Forms:

Afternoon:

As the afternoon started, Wilson, Anthony, and Garret worked in the rain. Garret opened the first crate from Topsider Homes, and we inventoried the anchor bolt shipment. The covers of the two crates are the templates for setting the two center posts of each octagon.

Working On A Rainy Day:

Assessing Guideline Placement	Wilson, Anthony, And Garret Working In The Rain
A Precision Batterboard, Guideline, and Reference Stake	The Anchor Bolt Package

Later, Garret spoke with Burt, who reported he had received Garret's revision for the foundation stem wall, had it drawn in their CAD system to calculate all of the measurements to the new wall face, and had new drawings sent to Garret. They are much simplified and should be of great help.

Marking The Detailed Layout

Noon:

We arrived to find Garret and the concrete crew at the site working on measurements and trying to lay out batter boards and guidelines. A focused talk with Burt at Topsider about measurements ensued. During the call, Burt offered to send updated drawings to Garret's email right away to help clarify the measurements. Wilson (from the concrete crew), sensing our concern, told us that stuff like this always happens with exotic houses, that we shouldn't lose sleep over it, everything will work out, and you'll have a great house. This helped us feel better.

Wrestling with the Topsider Plans

Beginning The Detailed Layout	Reading The Plans
Contemplating An Approach

Garret explained to us the problem with Topsider's numbers. The foundation design did not reflect Washington (Clallam County) building codes for the stem (foundation) wall. To get the permit issued, Garret had to modify the plans, showing a poured stem wall in place of the concrete block wall in the original drawings. New measurements need to reflect that change. Burt requested that Garret send them the modified stem wall detail drawing to be incorporated into the building plans, which Garret did. Burt called back to say he had sent the new drawings, and Garret went over the measurements again. Garret said he was going to the printers to get the drawings Burt had sent him.

The Missing Details
Establishing The Center Baseline	Marking The South Wall Of The Living Room

Marking the center baseline and one wall were about all the concrete crew could do with some certainty. They left to return in the morning when hopefully the measurement issues will have been resolved.

Reviewing The Foundation Trenching

Time of Day:

In afternoon we drove to site with Ruff. Dan or Martin had excavated the eastern driveway approach but were gone, along with the large excavator. Walked around the site. Ruff enjoyed running around the freshly exposed dirt and was in and out of the foundation trench. He even jumped into the borrow pit!

Ruff having fun at the building site

Trenching The Foundation

Afternoon:

Dan dug a wide foundation trench based on the preliminary layout. It took about 2 hours. When he finished he went and got a dump truck load of crushed basalt and dumped it in the garage area. Martin bucketed it over garage area while Dan spread it around with a shovel. Later the rock was tamped down and measured with a laser level until it was at the desired height.

Trenching The Foundation:

Measuring The Initial Foundation Trenching Depth	Trenching The Foundation Near The Art Studio
Trenching In Earnest	Observing A Well Dug Trench
Dan Watches Martin Level The Crushed Rock For The Garage	Martin Tamps The Crushed Rock In Tthe Garage

Evening:

The north lobe of the moraine had the best dirt yet, nice gravel and large deposits of good sand. Martin dug a borrow pit to get the good dirt that will later be filled with less desirable dirt. The sand was moved to the driveway. Later, Martin moved some of the less desirable dirt back into the borrow pit behind the cedar.

Digging The Borrow Pit:

The Borrow Pit	Borrow Pit Closeup
Partially Filled Borrow Pit

Afterwards, Martin moved the logs that came from the north mound of moraine over to the east with the logs that were harvested earlier. He cleared the rest of the unwanted vegetation and rearranged it with previous vegetation into a giant burn pile which was pushed to the northeast exposing the area for the septic drain field. A large cedar and hemlock were left on moraine.

Clearing The Second Moraine

Burning Restrictions Require Us To Save A Large Burn Pile For October

A Cedar And Its Dark Hemlock Companion Stand Proudly On What's Left Of The Second Moraine

Martin moved the original duff pile (vegetation layer) they had previously scraped off to the north side of driveway making room for the accumulation of logs from all the clearing. The logs will be cut up later for firewood. When Martin left, he stated that tomorrow they were moving the big excavator to another job. Tommy will start developing the footer layout on Wednesday, 8/28