Sept 16: Drilling the piers for the house

Monday, 9/14/2015

A couple of days after a rain we'd hoped would never materialize (but it did), the pier drilling rig which had been scheduled well in advance to arrive early in the morning, did indeed arrive. The path through which the rig would have to descend and  traverse seemed essentially dry. It appeared the drilling rig would still be able to gain access to the site and get the job done. Descend it did...unfortunately, sinking deeply into the clay where it became increasingly engulfed. The rig ultimately had to be extricated using a large track hoe.

Attempting to get drilling rig down into the work site

Drilling rig stuck nearly up to the axles...it dug in deeper before it was rescued.

Video showing only one portion of the process during which the track hoe removed the drilling rig from the work site.

Wednesday, 9/16/2015

Two days later, after much of the clay had been physically replaced by dryer clay and then allowed to dry further, the drilling rig returned and was successfully able to gain access to the area where the drilling of the piers was to be done. This time the drilling was successful. Rebar cages were introduced into each of the holes and, ultimately, each hole was filled to a designated level with concrete. Next Monday (21 September 2015) begins the work on the footers in the lower area, followed by foundation walls and then onward.

The drilling operation can be seen...but with an assessment along the way in which the operators determine by how far the auger has pierced through any given limestone shelf. In order to establish optimum stability, once through the limestone shelf the drilling was to continue another 5 to 6 feet.

Measuring the level of the concrete in relation to the defined grade.

The majority of the pier holes, after having rebar cages introduced into them, were filled with concrete only up to a specific level well below established grade, as can be seen above.

For the four minor piers which will only have to be able to support portions of the decks, they're brought above grade and can function properly,

A panorama shot of the work site as seen from the west, following the drilling and filling of the piers.

The overall work site as seen from the south.

Feb 22-24, 2015: Keith's walk through the destroyed house

The first video will show you the walk starting in the living room and into the bedroom and looking outside. Even now when we see it, we wonder how we survived and are shocked.

This one shows the master bath where he was in the shower with the big glass doors. In the video, you see the wall between the garage and bath was completely blown apart, the back wall on the shower is blown out onto the deck, the ceiling is down, the water heater is in the bathroom now instead of in its closet in the garage. He got through this space with no clothes and no shoes through the broken glass, nails and debris.

 Here's another of the shower area where the brownish tiles are:

sept 13: view of contractors' electric service

Just finished...

Sept 13: mud from big rains...monday pier drilling....

Still muddy

Sept 3: removing another tree where the back wall will be

A few pictures showing the progress...

Sept 2: markings on ground

I forgot to tell you the other day that we found different colored signs on the ground pointing towards the excavation site last week. Red, orange and yellow, each saying OK. I didn't know if you'd seen this or not.

Aug 26: Just after 6 month anniversary of blast

Barbara Houghton shared her photo.

August 26 at 9:14am · 

6 months ago this past week, Keith cleaned off the roof of our house after a big wet snow fell and within a few hours, our house was destroyed by the gas explosion. Whenever I see this picture, I sigh. It was a wonderful place to live but not without a huge TO DO list. Yesterday, the contractor, folks drawing the final plans and Keith Farley placed the back wall of the new house in the site. Never did we think any of this could happen in our life time. We are incredibly lucky to have made it out alive with our health, our cats, and much of our artwork. Our new home will not have the pool you see beyond the deck rail, but it will be situated in the landscape to have the best views of the woods and land. Timothy West designed the new house and gave it his loving care to use the spaces to bring what was wonderful in the old house into the new house.

before

after

Sept 9: excavation

Keith Farley uploaded a new video.

September 9 at 8:24pm · 

A view of the excavator working from another portion of the building. In this case, the remaining foundation wall, the rock wall with fireplace, and the concrete slab connecting the two can be seen beyond the excavation.

Sept 9: beginning site work

Keith Farley uploaded a new video.

September 9 at 8:20pm · 

Finally...another update. As of the middle of last week the final drawings were completed. Since then I've been attempting to prep the building site by way of several methods...the most notable being the taking out of several trees that present numbers of problems. I arrived at the building site a little after 9:00 this morning, not expecting to see much going on. Our contractor, Jim Stegman, was already on site working and shortly thereafter the excavator arrived as well. After discussing with the excavator what was detailed in the drawings associated with the concrete portion of the new building, he set to work making the rough excavation happen. The video I'm attaching here is only one of several which describe the process. In any case, although I wasn't aware that we were to be off and running today, today was indeed day one of the construction process. It's finally happening!

Aug 6: Yoyo trying to move into new house

Barbara Houghton added a new photo.

August 6 · iOS · 

Yoyo is trying to move into her new house.

Aug 25: placing back wall of new house

Barbara Houghton added a new photo.

August 25 at 2:13pm · iOS · 

Placing the back wall of the new house with Keith Farley.

August 5: taking down some trees so the house can be built

Barbara Houghton added a new photo.

August 5 · iOS · 

Keith and Marty Meersman take down the walnut. Marty will make something grand out of it.

August 12: the dressed house model

Keith Farley added 16 new photos.

August 12 · 

Just finished defining more about the exterior portions of the house we're still attempting to get underway which was designed by Timothy West. The original stone wall, the fireplace and concrete slab have previously been noted as being essentially all that remains of the original house...and that it will function as a patio. Just experimenting with one of many options we've looked at as a possible surface to be applied to the slab, Barbara Houghton produced an expanse of a particular version of pavers. We're not necessarily convinced about the colors...at this point simply attempting to examine possible color combinations. Much of the front of the building will consist of a smaller version of stone. The remainder of the siding for the house will most likely be made of horizontally oriented corrugated siding, most exhibiting a slate gray color...with the two areas where decks occur having a terra cotta, the color of which will contrast with the essentially charcoal gray color of the bamboo decking material we've selected. Please don't expect the specific color seen in the pictures to be exact...the printer we have available is far less than accurate and/or consistent. I'm including quite a number of images which will do a better job of conveying what's being planned. We meet later today with Jim Stegman and Mike Studer to work through the details prior to the final drawings. The baby steps are growing larger...

from front showing remaining stone wall with fireplace

on the screen porch, kitchen living room side, deck and patio

 

from the back

August 4: Finding Keith's tools in the house storage

89 boxes of stuff from Keith's studio to find the tool he had to have to make a jewelry model...

Barbara Houghton added 3 new photos to the album: iOS Photos.

August 4 · iOS · 

Keith trying to find some jewelry tools from storage.

July 19: Keith's first fly over video: seeing the site from the sky

Keith Farley uploaded a new video.

July 19 · 

I made my way to Alexandria this morning, partly to cut what's left of the grass. Somehow it hardly seems worth dealing with since it will soon be under construction again and more than likely torn up further when that happens. And as long as I was there, I opted to try out a drone with a mounted camera which we plan to use to document the process of rebuilding as it takes place. With this, I'm uploading a video clip from this first flight. Unfortunately, the wind was just picking up which caused the drone to flip over just upon landing. In any case, I feel the flyover video was a success. Enjoy, if you like...

July 14: More big storm

Keith Farley added 5 new photos.

July 13 · 

Very strange day...mid-morning the fire alarm went off in the building where we're currently living. It ultimately turned out to be a false alarm. However, it was just a bit too close to the reality we faced last February and its many memories. Then this afternoon, I made my way back to the former location of the house and the garden to check out the garden and harvest as needed. As I approached the last mile or so, the sky VERY quickly darkened. As I pulled onto our street, a bolt of lightning struck with an immediate report of thunder...it was very, very close by. Heavy rain immediately began pouring onto the car I was driving (actually, all around me but, since I was in the car, that's where I was focused), along with an array of branches from the trees above. Sensing danger and that much larger limbs were likely to fall, I immediately departed to get away from the trees that soared above me. At that time an emergency announcement came across the radio naming Alexandria as the site of a tornado giving orders for people to seek and take cover...IMMEDIATELY. A not dissimilar message came through my phone at the same time, which I simply ignored at the time since I already knew what its message would be. As I made my way back along the half block to the adjoining road, I saw several tree limbs fall and my tomato cages, each containing a thriving 5-6 foot tall tomato plant, entirely toppled. As much as I wanted to protect them, I opted instead to make my way to the Alexandria police department to dig in as the storm passed by. Being located in the essentially basement portion of the city building, the police department was the first and likely safest destination that came to mind as I fled our street. Within two or three minutes I pulled into the police station parking lot and made my way inside. It took another five or so minutes before an announcement that the most dangerous portion of the storm had passed by. I waited perhaps another quarter hour making phone calls before heading back to see what had happened to the streets along the way as well as damage done to assorted properties. As I approached our street, I saw that the main connecting street was closed with fire vehicles and LOTS of firemen attempting to deal with the many fallen trees and limbs in order to be able to open up that street which carries quite a lot of traffic. Other fire fighters were heading back up our street after having cleared away quite a number of limbs and fallen trees. Having seen my tomatoes and their cages blow over as I made a quick exit earlier, I expected to encounter the worst as I approached the garden. To my amazement, most of the fallen tomato plants were again upright in their cages. The cages definitely weren't in the same positions as before and there were other signs indicating that they'd definitely been reconfigured. Not that I saw the fire fighters retrieve and replace the fallen cages, I feel certain one or more of the firemen will have attempted to remedy the situation. In any case, many thanks to the Alexandria fire department for their assistance. The garden definitely took a serious hit from the wind and assortment of weather-related elements. Most of the pepper plants were nearly flat on the ground and the assorted squash plants appear pretty messed up. The eggplant seem as intact as any of the plants...largely unaffected by the storm. I'm including a few pictures I shot in the aftermath of the storm. I suppose I'd concede it's been an overly exciting type of day...just not the type of excitement I'm up for. It all seems just too close to the edge of what we've been living lately. Also, despite the chaotic weather, I did harvest two eggplant that were definitely ready, more squash which I left with neighbors as well as a few ripe tomatoes. Assuming the tomato plants didn't take too hard a hit, I expect serious ripening will be taking place during this next week.

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