Had a long weekend at Critical NW last weekend. Came back ready to form some footings on monday. Turns out my footings are not dug out deep enough all the way around. There was some miscommunication there so now there is a bunch of dirt that has got to go. About 6″ to even 10″ in some places. I can’t get my excavator back here for just that, heck I can’t even find him. So I kinda gotta make it happen otherwise. It took Monday to get that figured out. Tuesday was about doing what Monday figured.
After stewing on my options (including just making the house sit that much higher) I went with digging it out by hand and getting a dumpster for the dirt. I ordered the dumpster for Wednesday, got Buphalo on the plan and spent the rest of the day setting up batter boards at the corners to layout the footings and later the walls. A plumb laser helped that out real nice to get it all spot on under the house. But I still really wanted a rotary laser level for getting depths right in the trenches. I could use the one I already have, but only after dark. So kinda limited in application. I figured the batter boards will be good enough to get elevations off the strings. Worked till the wee hours to get everything from the laser level I had marked off. Four hours of sleep until the dumpster gets delivered in the morning.
Except, real quick after I closed my eyes I was startled awake by, what’s that sound? It’s rain. Real rain. Real, hard rain. I ran outside in my underwear like I was going to be able to hold my hands up and just hold that downpour up in the sky. Instead I just witnessed the torrents pouring off from my 20′ high gutters pounding onto my uncovered, un-shored dirt embankments. I had visions of all my dirts slumping into a goopy mess under my house.
Dumpster came around 7am, no digging today. Instead I go shopping. It seems as soon as I started this project a lot of the tools I have been using for years decided to up and quit on me. So call up Buphalo for some guy shopping time and we start at the pawn shop, ’cause might as well give it a shot. There I score not only a miter saw and worm drive skill but lo and behold, a rotary laser for the same price as renting one. We finished off at Lowes for a job box and ladder.
That’s about the jist of it. More rain for tomorrow. I get to write a blog!