The Mound is Complete

Next steps, mulch and seed to protect the exposed soil from the weather.  We still have plenty of dirt in piles near the house.

We (Bill, Carol, Brad, Kim, and Glen) installed the hydrant at the garage.  Next step there, is to extend the french drain, grade the dirt for installing the umbrella, install it, cover with topsoil, and seed. That is in front of the garage.  The top of the garage still needs it's umbrella. And the front NEEDS it's stucco.

Meanwhile, next week, we intend to try out the mortar sprayer for interior plastering.  

Rain Caused a Delay on Covering, But LOOK at the West Annex!

We had an inch of rain overnight.  We had one wet spot in the West Annex and as you can see, it was probably coming in the doorway which is wide open.  So we are might happy at the very dry interior.  The EPDM waterproofing on the shotcrete, and the ice and watershield on the end-walls, have proved to be the needed answer.  

Danny has more digging to do to allow water to runoff, but the entrance looks wonderful!

We're Almost There (House Covered)

The house is just a white seam down the middle of the hill of dirt. 

Perhaps TOMORROW will be a day of celebration!

The Field IS a Field Again

Danny has moved all of the dirt out of the field.  These pictures show his last load. It still needs to be placed on the house...

 







Bill is, I believe, cultivating or otherwise tilling the soil, and broadcasting seed to get groundcover to grow as we expect some rain in the very near future.

Retaining Wall at Garage Earth Tubes Completed, Earth Moving Continues

Bill and Damien completed the retaining wall Tuesday the 13th.

 Danny worked well with good weather for a week at putting dirt on the house. 

 See Danny on the West Annex (tried for a long time to get this video uploaded....resorted to a link)

The telephone contractors came and 'sawed' a trench for the underground cable, laid the cable, and let us fill in afterward, which Bill did.

 

 

Covering The House and Earth Tube Retaining Wall

Excavation continues.  Danny took a couple of weeks off and is now covering the house with dirt.  At this point, the tunnel is covered; and dirt is about 3 feet higher than the second floor.  Bill can easily walk across the West Annex.

Northwest backfilling area

Southwest backfilling

East side

East side with tunnel marked

East side looking South

Tunnel area

 The retaining wall at the garage earth tubes is progressing.

Notice the red dashed line.  Miss Utility marked where the underground power line is.  The phone company representative and the contractors have been here to scope the work,  but were not prepared to dig as deep as we require.  They will be back next week to dig the trench and we will backfill and THAT will be DONE!

Insulation Driven by Appearance of Excavator Danny

Danny started moving some of the dirt 'on top of' the house.  Actually, it will take a lot of time and work before he gets to the 'top'.  But he has started to move dirt up the West side and East side of the house.  So, we needed to place the insulation on the retaining walls so the dirt under the umbrella will be insulated from any heat gain/loss thru the walls.  We still need to insulate part of the tunnel on the East side. 

 We used an adhesive to have the blueboard adhere to the concrete, and propped them up in the meantime.  This way we don't need to be in Danny's way to hold the insulation in place and possibly get buried alive.