HFM

This week was spent on final preparations for the concrete pour. They finished the forms: And completed fixing the neighbor's missing basement siding , which Mr. Bunkport is doing as a courtesy: Living in a construction site is wearing pretty thin at this point. To get the dog into the yard to take care of business involves a gymnastic routine under the stairs & around a bunch of debris: After the pour is finished & the forms are removed, it should get a lot better. Maybe. Meanwhile, the back neighbor's project is getting underway. The view from the back porch: This week, we have two inspections scheduled -- one on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday. Then, assuming all goes well, as soon as Mr. Bunkport can secure street space permits for the cement truck, the pour can finally happen!

Another slow but steady week! Monday & Tuesday Rebar & other related materials started coming in: And more vinyl siding came off: In this picture, you can see clearly that the porch was built later than the kitchen: Wednesday More rebar: And more stuff everywhere: They are actually making an effort to put at least some of their trash in the trash cans: Styrofoam isn't compostable per se, but we appreciate the effort. The rats were having a field day with the half-eaten burritos left by the plumbers. But how are they heating up those Cup Noodles? Oh, must be this: Odd week for wanting hot lunch -- we had freakish 90 degree weather for the first half of the week. Poor guys, having to work in that heat! When they weren't eating hot soup in hot weather, they were putting gravel in the giant pit, smashing it down with a machine, & covering it with yellow plastic: Thursday Rebar complete in the main section of the room: And the forms for the terraced stairs are in progres...

This was a bit of a slow week, but still, the project marches on. Monday & Tuesday The plumbers spent the first part of the week completing their work & getting ready for the city inspector to come on Wednesday. The mountains of dirt started shrinking, as some dirt was filled in around the pipe in the trench: The washing machine drain was hooked into the main sewer line: The bathroom pipes were finished, & wrapped in a plastic stuff for some reason that has something to do with the concrete that will be poured later: Dirt was filled in around the line coming from the French drain system: Wednesday Plumbing approved! Thursday Trenches filled in! Goodbye dirt mountains! This is the remaining pile of dirt. I think it will go into the last bit of trench that remains in the sidewalk: The garage is starting to resemble a garage again! Friday One of Mr. Bunkport's guys started to remove some more of the vinyl siding: Not sure why he left halfway through, but sure, whatever. Sa...

We got back from our short trip to another milestone: the bad sewer pipe replacement is complete. Mr. Bunkport said the old pipe was all cracked & busted up, so what a relief to have that done! Here's what we found on Thursday, when we got back: Sewer replacement complete Busted up 100-year-old pipes The dirt got higher... And higher... And higher... And higher. And in the case of this one (at least), it has also become a public litter box. Just fantastic. Here is the sewer line passing under the house's foundation on its way to the street connection. Passing under the foundation in the rear of the garage A hole under the foundation for the washing machine connection Some kind of crazy tool New sewer pipes under the existing bathroom Washing machine drain in progress New bathroom plumbing in progress Some kind of drain box for the French drain system that will keep the room dry, even two feet below grade This walkway looks like a great place to throw stuff, but, um, we do n...