Making the Grade

Today began with drenching rain but ended with sunshine.  We'll get a lot of that over the next few weeks.  It's autumn!

The first order of business today was to remove two poppels which infringed on the 600 square feet we need for the septic field.  Kyle got out his chain saw and went to work on the first tree.  When you cut down a large tree, it's hard to predict how it will fall.  It may twist, turn, even go backwards — that's what makes cutting trees exciting, and a bit dangerous.  In this case, as the poppel started to fall, there was a loud "crack" and the lower 30 feet of trunk split in two.  The upper section swung on the "hinge" at the top of the split, which allowed the upper section of the trunk to fall behind the stump.  Kyle wisely went running.  Happily, the tree did not take out the power lines along the road.  The tree split because the lower section of the trunk was hollow at the center and full of ants.  I'm glad it's gone.  It would have come down eventually, possibly on my garage.

The lower section of the poppel's trunk (left) was rotted
and hollow.  A strong windstorm could have brought it down.

Kyle uses his chainsaw to remove the limbs.

Next, R.J. knocked down the second tall poppel using the arm of his backhoe.  Kyle cut the trunk into sections, and Bob, R.J.'s assistant, hauled it away for firewood.

"Timber!"  R.J. uses his backhoe to knock over the second poppel,
as Bill and Kyle watch from a safe distance.

The second poppel also was rotted, hollow, and infested with ants.
My property just isn't the best environment for trees!

With the trees out of the way, R.J. graded down the area on the north and east sides of the house and spread this material into the area to be used for the garage and driveway.  This will expose more of the basement wall.  R.J. was definitely unhappy with the way it looked.  However, the only alternative would have been to bring in truckloads of fill to build up the garage/driveway area.  R.J. estimated it would take 500 yards of fill; Kyle guessed 1500 yards.  That much fill would have added thousands to the cost of the project.  I think the house will look just fine, even if it shows a bit of ankle.

That done, R.J. dug the trenches for the garage footings, with Kyle checking depth using the laser.  This $3,000 gadget makes setting elevations much easier, but it's all Greek to me.  Toward the end of the day R.J. filled the trenches with sand so that Jim can pour the footings on Monday afternoon.

Kyle uses the laser to check the depth for the garage footings.

With the trenches dug, R.J. brings load after load of sand.

The framers start work on Monday! •••