We’re slowly discovering how complex home building actually is and the number of people involved. Going through this process and seeing it first hand made me realize how scary it is that some builders toss up houses in about 3 months or less.

Excavation for the foundation started today. However, we found out that city inspectors are not working on Veteran’s day and do not perform inspections on Friday, so footers can’t be laid till Monday. This set us back about 4 days. This week was beautiful and sunny forcing the foundation to be poured next week. Downside is it’s supposed to rain 3 days out of the week. Service is always important. Michelle’s mom has stopped by the lot a few times over the last two days. Mike took the time to walk her through what’s happening and the plan over the next week. Building around holidays: We received word that the builders will most likely disappear when Thanksgiving comes around. Apparently they all go hunting. Just something to note. The people who build your house have a life as well.

The depth of the excavation is determined by a structural engineer who considers the soil, the frost line and the height of the water table (the depth in the soil at which you find water). Surface soil is removed to expose soil that is compacted enough to bear the load of the home. The excavation must be deep enough to place the top of the footers below the frost line. This prevents the concrete from cracking due to the freeze-thaw cycle of the surrounding soil. The excavation cannot be so deep that it’s below the water table, however, because that can cause a chronically wet or flooded basement.

Excavation starts.

Today we went and saw the lot for the first time since they started digging. This is by far the most expensive hole in the ground we’ve ever owned!!

The builders will mark off the lot (stakes, paint, etc…) at various stages of building. This time it was just with stakes in the ground and lines painted to show the outline of the house. When we visited the lot, I couldn’t believe how small the house outline looked. A few days later they dug out the lot and suddenly it looked enormous. Granted, the hole they dug was actually larger than the size of the house. The builders will need the extra space to get all the wall forms, drainage system, etc…in. We were pretty lucky that there was an empty lot next to us. I can’t imagine how builders can get all this done in between two existing homes.

We are finally under way!