Breaking Ground!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010   Ground breaking day! It's hard to fathom that a building project could begin so early in Minnesota...before Easter even! But we did. Unfortunately, we were unable to be present for the momentous occasion, as our work schedules didn't allow it. But Ivan assures us that he took a few pictures for us to capture the moment! It was a beautiful warm day in the 50's.

Here is Doug with Ivan Pazdernik, our excavator (in the middle) 

and Josh Dyrstad, our concrete subcontractor (on the right)

Wednesday, March 31, 2010   Footings were formed and poured. Josh and presumably a crew (again, we weren't there!) from Dyrstad Concrete did all the work. Although we had planned to do everything but the pouring of the basement floor, Josh was able to do it for us for a great price that would save us many weekends of work, which is also a big money-saver in the long run.

Thursday, April 1, 2010   The ICF's (insulated concrete form) were set in place. This is a great way to get a poured foundation wall with the insulation already in place on the inside and the outside. The forms look like giant white lego blocks! Once the forms are "snapped" in place, re-rod is placed evenly throughout the interior for support. Then huge braces are placed around the exterior of the wall to keep it secure as the concrete gets poured in from the top. However, because of the threat of rain on Friday, April 2nd, the pour was postponed until Monday, April 5th. Doug and I were hoping to build the weight-bearing wall in the middle of the basement and the exterior wall on the walk-out side on Saturday the 3rd in preparation for putting the top plates on the foundation and then capping it next weekend. But we are experiencing the first weather delay in what will probably be many. Still, we are way ahead of schedule.

Friday, April 2, 2010   Good Friday. The name always seemed a little strange to me...It is a sobering day as we remember the agony and suffering Christ paid on the cross of Calvary on our behalf. But it is "good" because...it's Friday, but Sunday's a comin'!

Saturday, April 3, 2010  We woke up really early to get started because we were so excited to see all that had changed since we were last on the property!  It was awesome to drive up and see the white structure standing in place! After so long of picturing it in our heads, it was great to see where the walls actually were and the angle we turned it and how far from the lake it really was and how it fit into the trees! And the driveway, wow! That looked even better than we had hoped. It was not so high as we had imagined and there was a wonderful sloping grade, leveling it off to the flat area near the road. We just wandered around for awhile, ooing and aahing! Before we left last weekend, we had dropped two more large trees whose trunks we were unable to cut or move. Ivan had indicated that his machinery could just pick them up and move them easily out of the way. We jumped at that offer. Sure enough, the huge logs with big claw marks were tossed like pick up sticks into an out-of-the-way pile! Our stump pile in the front was moved over to make room for the driveway. And one of our massive brush piles was moved across the property into another one we had going. It is incomprehensible how long it would have taken us to have done all of that! I guess it's true what Doug always says about the value of having the right tool!

            Here's the view from the road