Rain Rain Rain

Right before Christmas we attempted to put in the underground plumbing pipes but the fill had not dried out enough so we decided to wait until Tuesday after Christmas.  Where the fill was not covered the dirt soaked up a lot of water.  Wouldn't you know it, we have been in a two year drought with 1600 homes burned in Bastrop and 32,000 acres burned in Sept and now in December, we have too much rain! Notice the sunny skies----well it didn't stay like that over Christmas....more rain

Here is the trench they dug around the perimeter for the outside beams.  They were engineered to be 12 inches wide and 24 inches deep with 6-12 inches going down to solid undisturbed earth.  The boards are 2x6 which looks like the beam is dug to be about 18 inches deep so they have to dig it out some more.

Lots of water standing and not much evaporating but it does look like it is staying on top of the plastic so maybe the fill is dry.  This was taken early Tuesday morning before the plumber showed up.

The plumber pulled the plastic and they drove the trencher onto the fill and immediately sunk in.  They were stuck for about 30 minutes and after totally messing up the smooth surface left to try again in a couple of days.

I have my doubts we are going to get these plumbing lines in before New Years but that is the joy of building in Texas in the Winter.  

WE'LL WORK IT OUT

Forms for Foundation Going Up at Last

Sunup on December 21, 2011 and the guys have already put out the batten boards for the perimeter of the house.

Notice the generator by the tree.  No electricity yet so they had to bring their own power.

Not much talking going on - real professionals who knew what they were doing.

They used the transome and the plans which can be seen laying on the soppy ground.  Much rain the night before but it didn't slow them down.

First actual edge of foundation is now visible.

Once the outer perimeters were obvious, it was also obvious we needed to take out a couple more trees.  Good ole Jose happened to be on the place taking out Cedars so he pushed over and carried out the oak and elm trees.  Looked easy but in 5 minutes the trees were gone and the ground was smooth.  Aren't machines and terrific operators wonderful!

Now they are getting close with the edges and supports.  It was interesting to watch the process they have of putting in the supports.

This was clearly the head man and he continually checked back with the slab plan laying on the ground near him.

This shows the process of putting in a stake at the corner of the string corner and checking level, 

He kept adjusting until it was true on all sides.

Out comes the 16 lb sledge and forces the 2x4 into the rocks and earth.  Wasn't easy since many times the rock was hard to get through but in spite of that the stakes were put exactly where they were required and without a drill...just brute strength.  The Super said the wet ground actually helped them move or break the rocks.

Then he nailed the side of the form to the stake.

One guy seemed confused with the plans but  here comes the boss..

After a committee meeting, with the boss telling them how to read the plans, they were back to work.

They moved the string with the help of the transome to whatever edge of the wall the were currently framing.

Side wall with many supports and notice the size of the rocks that were moved out of the way.

  Dennis and I checked the measurements for accuracy and they were within 1/4 of an inch on all the outside edges and also on the cross checks we did for square----just amazing! 

All the forms were complete with the area cleaned of debris and waiting for the fill.

And HERE IT COMES!

They brought in about 20 loads and only one truck got stopped by TDOT.  I didn't ask him if he got a ticket but I think almost all of them didn't speak any English.

There was lots of traffic on the site.  There was even a truck that brought in the portable john.  The construction road received some good compaction.  Good thing because it rained and rained that night.

This is how the site looked the next morning.  The slab guys had taken the precaution to put plastic on the fill to try to keep it dry.  If you look closely the beam trenches around the outside of the foundation had also been dug.

Worked pretty good where it was covered but right at the front I sunk in to my ankles.

Just as I was attempting to get out of the mud, my nephew, David, showed up to see how the construction was going.  He brought a friend.  The 7-point buck could have been a twin to the one I have seen several times on my place.  But his deer was shot in the Hill Country.

We hoped to start the plumbing rough-in the next morning but the site just did not dry up enough.  So we are delayed until next Tuesday after Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL...AND HOPING TO GET THE SLAB POURED THIS YEAR.

Construction Road---Finally

SLOWLY....we are beginning to make progress.  Even though it threatened rain all morning, we were able to get the big trucks onto the site.

Notice how foggy it is.  The ground was damp but the trucks could still move around without sinking in.

This guy is Jose.  He is a genius with a bobcat and I think could peel a banana with it.  He is responsible for all the clearing of dead trees, brush and cedars on my place and now the construction road.

I think they dumped about 100 tons of road base.

Still very foggy and beginning to drizzle but the road is down and the light rain was actually helping to make the packing better.  This is Bill Stocklin who owns the company doing all this work...great guy.

The final leveling brought the road to about 300 ft by 10 to 12 ft wide.

Jose then moved to clearing the rocks and cactus from the slab site.  I was surprised how level he was able to make the site since there were lots of rocks sticking up but it seems they were just laying on the top.  Still foggy.  Jose went on to do some additional clearing of cedar until it really began to rain and he called it a GOOD Day.

Several places the markers for the corners of the house (pink flags) can be seen.  Jose scrapped all around the flags and never pushed any down..just amazing.  He loves his job and his toy and was very proud when I bragged on him.

Bill told me he enjoyed working on my place.  When Bill told Jose where he was going to put in the road. he said," The lady with the gun?"

I wear a holster and gun when I know I am going to be on the land with these guys I don't know and most of them can't speak English.  I doubt any of them are legal.

Electrical Highway Easement

Yea.  I received approval for the easement over the 5-lane highway in front of my property.  I had been waiting for this approval for almost 5 weeks.  The bad news was PEC told me it would now take 4 to 6 weeks to get the poles put up and electricity hooked up.

While I was out at the property yesterday talking to foundation contractors, I noticed a guy marking the driveway with paint.  He told me he was hired by the utilities to mark locations of phone, electrical and water.  I said, "But, there aren't any utilities where you are marking."

He said, "Yes, that is true but there will be electrical within a day or two when the pole is installed, before rain has a chance to wash away the markings."

So I may get electrical before we start the slab and not have to pay for a generator.  That would be less expense.  I am always looking for ways to reduce those expenses.  One guy told me that a "pumper" would be needed due to all the rocks.  The concrete guys would not drive on them since they could pop a tire--increased expense.

Talking to all these contractors is certainly interesting.  One guy gave me about 15 references to other local contractors that he was either friends with and would vouch for their character or knew they had good reputations.  He even went so far as to ask me if I had problems with any of them, to LET HIM KNOW.  I asked him what he would do if there were problems and he said, "I'll quit recommending them.  They hurt me when they don't do a good job."

I like that.  Good ole Texas Boys. Once you tap into that network, it really can be beneficial.  Several of them asked me who owned the cattle on my place and they knew Danni Cranor and spoke well of him.  Danni is a great guy and had put up all the fencing and the double gate on my property.  One of the contractors had just returned from Las Vegas and the Rodeo where he had a friend in the roping contest.  REAL TEXANS.