Trees and Dirt

We ended August with a building permit in hand and immediately started tree removal and excavation. 

City ordinances establish how big the front and back yards must be when building.  We had to cut down three beautiful, mature trees to meet the requirements.  It was a sad day for us to see them come down.  The good news is we have new trees planned for the property - a combination of spruce trees, arborvitae, apple trees, and birch trees will compliment the new landscaping nicely.  


All the pretty trees - it's a shame they had to be removed.

The trees are gone.  It's time to start digging

The stack of wood Jared gets to split.

 

With the trees down, the excavation crew got right to work. They hit sand seven feet into the dig.  This unexpected, yet welcome discovery means we have a good base for putting down foundation footings and the basement and garage floors.  It's our first cost savings find of the project!

The dirt from the new house is used to fill the hole of the old house.

 

Alycia standing in the basement utility room.

 

Jared inspecting the frost footing excavation for his garage.

 

Two of four enormous dirt piles to be used during backfill and final grade.  AND, the footing forms have been delivered!

What we learned:

• Sometimes you get lucky - hitting sand saved us a few $$.
• Sometimes you have to adapt - a few of the footing had to be placed deeper to get past the roots of the trees that were removed which cost us a few $$.
• A good contractor is worth gold - Kev's Trucking out of Plymouth is a gem.  He performed demo and excavation for us, provided sound advice, and was always willing to go the extra mile.  He seems to enjoy sharing his 30+ years of construction experience with a couple of newbies!