Sep 9 - the Eger team is ready to backfill
Rick hitches a ride into the foundation
Sep 9 - Rick firms up the bracing before heavy gravel is poured in. That's quite a balancing act -- swinging a sledge hammer while standing on a 4x4!
Rick decides that boots are in order
The Excavator teases the Builder
The Excavator agreed to give the Builder a lift back out of the basement after all
Sep 9 - the mud has progressed from slippery to sticky
Sep 9 - Jeremy hitches a ride into the backfill area
Another weird sight from the garage
Sep 9 - Brian scoops up a load of gravel
Sep 9 - the first shovel of gravel (note the mud flying off the spinning tires!)
Sep 9 - the first shovel of gravel
Sep 9 - Rick and Mike get rid of the broken sidewalk squares. The squares are so old that it didn't take much force to crack them.
Sep 9 - pumping out the accumulated groundwater
That's loud!
Sep 9 - Mike watches the gravel go in by the water line
Joe stopped by to supervise ;-)
Sep 9 - putting the water line through the foundation - digging back a bit to make room for the PVC pipe
Sep 9 - cutting the PVC to length (Mike's withering look is probably directed at Joe)
That's a really slick PVC cutter
Sep 9 - drilling a hole for the water line to go through the foundation
Sep 9 - putting the water line through the foundation
Sep 9 - drilling a hole to put the water line through the foundation
Sep 9 - the blue water line is now through the PVC, and Mike is connecting it to the city water line
Sep 9 - connected and snugged up!
Sep 9 - settling the PVC into place on the city side
Sep 9 - PVC cemented into place
Each concrete-filled "column" has both rebar and a bolt. The rebar is for strength and will be cut off flush with the block. The "plate", i.e., the piece of lumber that lies directly on top of the block, is fastened to the foundation via the bolts.
Sep 9 - another load of gravel hits the driveway
Sep 9 - continuing backfill
Sep 9 - Brian begins placing earth on top of the gravel. In his hands, the skid loader dashes and spins around like a 'Bot Wars entry.
Sep 9 - some of the earth is really hard-packed by cement and block trucks mashing it down, and must be pried up
Sep 9 - backfilling the east wall of the new basement
Sep 9 - finishing touches, part 1
Sep 9 - finishing touches, part 2
