Day 3: Driveway gravel and a HUGE hole

Today our driveway was graveled and our excavation was expanded to be house-sized. What a difference a day makes! The log I stood on for previous photos has been moved to the northeastern side of the property, the water tank for the first, decommissioned well has been moved to the southeastern side, and there are big hills of dirt everywhere -- including where the water tank used to be. Our stack of geofoam has grown, and there is a new stack at the front of the property among dirt hills.

Day 2: Driveway grading

Grading the driveway (with Cole wielding a pickaxe on the left). 

The hole as it stands on Day 2.

Day 1: Breaking Ground!

And we're off!

Our new hole in the ground -- plus a stack of EPS geofoam (superinsulation) that will be layered into our foundation to keep our concrete floor from feeling cold.

Ready to dig!

Today I picked up the official building permit -- the last of the holdups -- scanned it in and sent it to the bank. And then the bank officially funded our loan. Which means we can officially dig. Today our guys finished clearing the site, and tomorrow we BREAK GROUND!

... and we're off!!

Last Thursday, I wrote the biggest check of my life: We now officially have a construction loan.

On Friday, we met with our Hammer & Hand guys, plus my friend Rachel (our landscape architect) about what was happening next, where things would go, what trees would be removed and where we would put logs, debris, poison oak, and so on.

On Saturday, Peter and a couple other Hammer & Hand guys came out in the morning to take down a few smaller trees and clear some brush. In the early afternoon, John, Eric and Bryan started clearing trees: digging out around the roots, knocking them down with a Cat, cutting them to the appropriate size(s), and arranging them -- branches and root balls on the burn pile (now so massive that we're consulting the fire department), logs in one area, and the root balls and logs we're keeping to play with/on in another area. They worked until it was dark on Saturday, and again from dawn to dusk on Sunday -- and still didn't quite get it all done. A stand of 5 or 6 skinny trees remains, plus a few trees that were knocked down but not staged. Hopefully our new excavator will be able to manage these last bits later this week, so that Bryan and John can come up this weekend and clear them away.

And we'll officially break ground either late this week or early next week. Really.

Delays -- and a new date?

It's a good thing we're not in a hurry. We delayed breaking ground so that we could use an appraiser with expertise in complex and energy-efficient homes -- a worthwhile delay to get an accurate appraisal, we felt. We delayed some more so that we could use the same person to help us knock down our trees and to excavate, the theory here being that it's less expensive to bring up large equipment once than twice.

However, things often don't go as planned. (For confirmation of that theory, read this blog from the beginning.) Although we filed our permit applications more than two months ago, they have not all been granted. According to lead carpenter Peter, our few outstanding permit items should be cleared up by early next week. Our chosen excavator, who is helping Bryan and our friend John knock trees down this weekend, can't make time in his schedule to commit to us -- so Peter is bringing in another excavator.

So even though we thought we were delaying by using a different appraiser and excavator, without the permits we couldn't have proceeded anyway. It just takes time. Lots and lots of time.

In theory, we are now breaking ground next Thursday or Friday, the 13th or 14th. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, we will sign the loan papers (which, Jennifer at Washington Federal tells me, are ready). And cross our fingers. And Bryan, John and Eric will knock down the trees starting tomorrow, after a meeting on the property during which we will hopefully confirm all of this.

Starting finger-crossing now.