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| Looking from the rear corner of what will be the house to the southeast |
I just returned from a couple days up north to check on the building project. It has begun! Neil couldn't come along on this trip so I had to be his eyes and ears. It was exciting to show up and see a whole new landscape now that the building site has been cleared. The footing trenches had just been dug and, oops, they were 5' off on the porch footing due to a miscommunication but quickly fixed it when discovered. Glad we caught it at this stage!
I spent the day working with Dean Berneking and his partner Doug Finn, of Grand Marais, who are digging and moving dirt around; such professionalism. I was also impressed with their patience with my questions and ideas. They took extra time to make sure things were the way we wanted them. We'll have some natural retaining walls between the house and back "yard" as well as from the back "yard", up to the dog yard due to the topography and excess of big boulders.
Digging two feet down with the machinery appeared to be no problem, however, once beyond that, it was some of the worst digging that they had encountered. I guess the house won't be moving and we'll have very little chance of frost heaves. Might be awfully interesting when we get to the point of digging holes for dog kennel posts.
I also met with Jay from Jay's Heating in Hovland. We spent some time laying out the utility room rough ins and discussing what will occur in phase one versus phase two. We've enjoyed working with Jay and appreciate his input on how to make things more efficient.
John Skadberg from Skadberg Masonry in Grand Marais is installing our footings and slab floor. We chose him because he had done such good work for me in the past on the original Points Unknown cabin foundation. He had not yet begun his work when I had to return to Watertown. Thankfully, we've got friends in the area that have planned to stop by to take some photos for us so we can continue to capture the progress before we are able to make it back up at the end of the month.
To see more photos of the build and some of the beautiful scenery I captured, please click here.
Thank you, Jerry and Kay, for your hospitality and thank you, Kristen, for staying with the dogs so that I could get away for a couple days!
