Basement Plans!

Dad wanted everyone to be able to see the plans for the basement of the new house. While it looks like there will be a full basement across the entire house, it is actually a partial. On the right is the garage, in the middle is the crawl space and the far left, where you can see windows, is where the full basement will be located. The front porch is the rectangular spot up front and the back porch is where it logically should be...the back of the house! Enjoy!

Permits!

This weekend while we were in New York, Dad and Diane had some important house business to take care of. It was time for the building permits to be signed! Once the septic plans are in, David will be able to take the papers to the county and get the permits. As soon as that happens, the digging for the basement will begin.

There Are Still Trees Standing!

Don't worry, Grandma! There are still lots of trees left! Here is what you are looking at: The first picture is of the new top of the driveway. It had to be rerouted slightly for the septic but is turning out to be great! You can see the original driveway to the right and the truck is parked in the new section.

The second and third pictures were taken from the top of the driveway looking towards where the house will be located. That is Zachary driving the CAT. After today's rain, he was having fun doing donuts in the mud on Papa's "lawn."

The next picture is of the logs being loaded. Some were from the original clearing and the rest were from yesterday and today. Too bad they decided against a wood burning stove!

Finally, there is David (after wrestling the CAT key away from Zachary!) taking down some of the smaller trees with the CAT. They worked hard today. It was rainy, hot and humid but not nearly as humid as yesterday.

Good Bye Trees!

David and Wayne have been working hard to clear some of the trees on the property. They cleared the back of the land to square it up and got rid of the trees that had fallen. When I took the pictures, they were on their sixth truck load of debris and still have several to go. This should make a VERY good bonfire! Tomorrow they will be rerouting the driveway.

Taking Down Trees!

This is the part that Diane hates the most...

cutting down trees!

Tomorrow, David and Wayne will be getting the final cutting started. When the initial clearing was done, they cut down only the trees that were absolutely necessary.

Now that they know where the septic needs to go, some trees have to come down so the path of the driveway can be changed, slightly. There are also some pine trees that need to come down on the far side. Taking down a few small trees in the back will help to square off the clearing.

They will also be taking away the few trees that have fallen during storms this past year. (Better now then when the house is up! :)

This past weekend tropical storm Hanna was supposed to bring Central Virginia lots of rain and strong winds but we only got about 3 inches of rain here.

Dad is going to have to find a new spot for his bird house, that pine tree is coming down!

As you can see, Zachary is ready to get things started on Papa and Grandma's house! I'm sure all the boys will be a HUGE help in the coming months!