Garble, garble, garble?

I am soooo making a print and hanging this in the house!

Two posts in one day!

Based on last week's PM update, framing would have started on Wednesday or Thursday.  Because we couldn't get out to site during the week, we were looking forward to this Friday's weekly update and this was waiting for us on the machine:

Garble, garble, garble, garble, permits, garble, garble, garble...

The Earth Moved ... a little

We were out and about on Saturday and decided to make a detour to get a few quick pictures. Maybe it was presumptuous to think that the crew would have completed the backfilling by Friday evening but we were a little surprised.  The good news is that the dirt was pushed around a bit (by the stoop) and we have rocks in our drainage ditches around the foundation.  There's a layer of black (not sure if it's tar, liquid rubber, or asphalt emulsion) on the foundation walls that are directly opposite the living spaces and will be touching earth but no rubber wrap yet.  Hoping on Monday.  (edit:  they won't be wrapping)

Judging by the black, the right side of the house will have a pretty steep grade, which we expected but the left doesn't look like it starts sloping until beyond the garage.  I wonder if it's higher because of the holes they patched (recall the dots from Tuesday's post).  We'll add this to the list of questions for the PM. (edit: the slope of the tar will be the grade)

Pushing Dirt

With this heat, I certainly feel for the crews out there!  I haven't made it out to the site since Tuesday (perhaps this weekend) so photos will be forthcoming!

The waterproofing is complete!  At the time of the afternoon update, they were getting ready to backfill so that portion should be complete as well.  They are hoping to have everything prepped and ready for inspection on Monday or Tuesday which means the basement slab could be poured on Wednesday.  No ETA on the lumber yet but the framing should start soon!

In light of my confusion earlier this week, I finally reversed the floor plans.  I don't have any excuses now!

Dungeon but no Dragon

We were kicked out of the office early granted paid leave so we headed back up to the house to find all of the forms stripped and no trucks--Yes! Another POR shot! Looks like we're on track for waterproofing on Thursday.

timid foundation walls peeking over the dirt

It's a good thing the exposed external walls will receive a coat of paint/sealant that mostly matches the siding.  Otherwise, we'd be out there with sidewalk chalk playing a game of Dots! 

i haz wallz

That little notch on the right is my sole basement window.  Let it be known that the other two windows shown in the floor plan are only available when you get a finished basement.  Oh well, lesson learned for the next house!  We'll just have to put extra lights in the dungeon basement when we finish it.  The good news is that our media room will be nice and dark without an escape hatch a window and we won't be blocking all of the sunlight when we put up the deck.  Lemonade, anyone?

wee window

insert door here please

Seeing how much space the double patio door is consuming on the longer of the two side walls below the morning room made me wonder how much of a wall will remain on the shorter wall in the morning room itself.  Again, I am grateful for the 'Last Courtland' because they have a similar layout (MR with family room extension) and there's really not that much space between the exterior walls.  Definitely doable but it'll be tight.  There's a longer interior wall that separates the MR from the family room extension so it won't look odd from the inside. 

For a glorious few seconds, I thought RH had surprised us by moving the walkout to the other side wall so it would align with the morning room doors.  Reality hit as I remembered we have a reverse plan.  (note to self, flip the floor plan images so I don't confuse myself again)

The patio door ate my wall!

rising from the dirt  #zombiehouse
 grr! argh!

Long Lunch ...with the Boss

I hadn't planned on visiting today but the hubs and our boss (Thanks, boss!) convinced me otherwise.  

Road Trip!  

Having anticipated a full day at the office, I was mildly disappointed that I would be making a trip without my trusty camera.  (Fortunately?) there was a truck parked in front so I wouldn't have been able to get a good POR shot anyhow.  I did, however, have my camera phone which actually takes quality images, even with the post-processing to downsample for optimal web viewing.  

Lesson of the Day:  Travel with a camera in case of impromptu visits to the site.

Barefootin' in the Dirt

Of course, we made another obligatory detour to the playground again, which had received a nice new layer of mulch.  With the recent unpleasantly hot weather, there was little time for baking in the sun playing; however, playtime was cut even shorter as the little one needed a bathroom and the model home had not opened yet.  So... down the street we went to the horrid stench box conveniently-placed portable toilet.  The heat shimmers were a good indication of the intensity of the pungent aroma we would encounter inside.  For the sake of the guys working on site, I surely hope a replacement comes soon...