Digging is complete

next step - pouring footers and laying blockwork and putting in new steps.

this rock is from that hole above!

Excavating!

So, the second phase of the project has now begun...while the basement renovators continue to toil away, the builder has now started to come on site to start the excavating. I will post a bunch of pictures from the last 2 days in sequential order.

holy trashed yard!

A peek into the craziness

A LOT has happened this week!

they installed the forms to pour the new concrete footers

the plumber was here and removed the old sewer pipe and installed new ones (along wall instead of along floor)

they installed some water drainage system and started pouring concrete

just a few shots of around the property (including a lovely shot of the toilet that is still in our yard!) - you can click on pics to see them bigger

the removal of the walls around the entry and the steps down to the basement (they will dig farther back so the steps are not steep and then build new interior steps - this part of the house will be closed in soon)

Jon removed the balcony railing since the builders are arriving next week

and last and certainly my least favorite, is that we had to rip open the dining room wall yet again (3rd time better be a charm) to replace the sewer pipes up to the bathroom. This wall has to stay open until we are ready to demo the bathroom upstairs as the pipes have to be replaced up there and connected here. It's going to be a long couple of months!

Half-way??!!

I have to take some time out from all of this construction blogging to document the half-way mark of our baby girl growing up. Ever since my girlfriend Bethany told me how she was sad on her daughter Eden's 9th birthday because she was half-way done raising her, I had kind of been dreading this day. Of course, I do want Sophia to grow and flourish at a natural rate. Yet, it is hard to accept how fast it is flying by! I know it is so cliche to say this, but it seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating her first birthday!

(she was a very serious birthday girl!)

I have always loved celebrating Sophia on her special day and here are pics of her from over the years...

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old (not from her party but a couple weeks later)

7 years old

8 years old

9 years old

What a beautiful girl we have been blessed with! Everyone who knows Sophia knows what a delight she is to be around. I am looking forward to the next 9 years (and perhaps beyond) of having her in our home. And I know that when she does leave, it won't be the end, but just a new chapter in our relationship.

I love you Sophia Elle!

The Dig-Out is Complete!

I know it still doesn't look very impressive but this was a huge milestone. That huge pipe used to be below the floor!

Now they are starting on the footers and it will all move fast from here.

2 days of serious activity

after Tuesday's work

after Monday's work

The last two days we have had a crew of 5 show up and they are starting to do some damage (in a good way)!!! A few more days of the laborious digging and then things will start to move pretty quickly - or so we hear...

A week later....

hmmm, this picture looks oddly like the one below. this was a very frustrating week as the crew only showed up 2 out of 5 days...I know renovations never go as planned, but it's still maddening!

Progress?

Well, the hole is bigger...that's something right?

WOW

One of these days, it's going to start looking better...today was not the day! The crew is amazed at all the rock - they usually deal w/ dirt under the concrete.

Basement Dig-Out

The crew showed up really early this a.m. and continued to jackhammer the floor. They started taking out loads by the BUCKET - yes, you read that right! They took out one of the windows and just started passing buckets out to a guy who would run it to the truck and then another guy would dump it in. And at one point, they were carrying out pieces by hand! They filled up two dump trucks today. And as you can see by the pictures below, there is still a long way to go.

I'll say it again, I am having a hard time envisioning a cozy family room out of this mess!