Week 11

This week was spent on final preparations for the concrete pour.

They finished the forms:

And completed fixing the neighbor's missing basement siding, which Mr. Bunkport is doing as a courtesy:

Living in a construction site is wearing pretty thin at this point. To get the dog into the yard to take care of business involves a gymnastic routine under the stairs & around a bunch of debris:

After the pour is finished & the forms are removed, it should get a lot better. Maybe.

Meanwhile, the back neighbor's project is getting underway. The view from the back porch:

This week, we have two inspections scheduled -- one on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday. Then, assuming all goes well, as soon as Mr. Bunkport can secure street space permits for the cement truck, the pour can finally happen!

Week 10

Another slow but steady week!


Monday & Tuesday

Rebar & other related materials started coming in:

And more vinyl siding came off:

In this picture, you can see clearly that the porch was built later than the kitchen:

Wednesday

More rebar:

And more stuff everywhere:

They are actually making an effort to put at least some of their trash in the trash cans:

Styrofoam isn't compostable per se, but we appreciate the effort. The rats were having a field day with the half-eaten burritos left by the plumbers.

But how are they heating up those Cup Noodles? Oh, must be this:

Odd week for wanting hot lunch -- we had freakish 90 degree weather for the first half of the week. Poor guys, having to work in that heat!

When they weren't eating hot soup in hot weather, they were putting gravel in the giant pit, smashing it down with a machine, & covering it with yellow plastic:

Thursday

Rebar complete in the main section of the room:

And the forms for the terraced stairs are in progress:

Friday

Rebar now complete in the patio & stairs:

This week, they will complete the forms, get the electrical work done, & then comes the concrete pour. Eventually.

Week 9

This was a bit of a slow week, but still, the project marches on.

Monday & Tuesday

The plumbers spent the first part of the week completing their work & getting ready for the city inspector to come on Wednesday.

The mountains of dirt started shrinking, as some dirt was filled in around the pipe in the trench:

The washing machine drain was hooked into the main sewer line:

The bathroom pipes were finished, & wrapped in a plastic stuff for some reason that has something to do with the concrete that will be poured later:

Dirt was filled in around the line coming from the French drain system:

Wednesday

Plumbing approved!

Thursday

Trenches filled in! Goodbye dirt mountains!

This is the remaining pile of dirt. I think it will go into the last bit of trench that remains in the sidewalk:

The garage is starting to resemble a garage again!

Friday

One of Mr. Bunkport's guys started to remove some more of the vinyl siding:

Not sure why he left halfway through, but sure, whatever.



Saturday

Suddenly, on Saturday, AJ attacked the front yard, putting her long simmering master plan into action.

I didn't take a photo of the yard before she started, but it looked more or less like this (except that the hydrangea was fully in bloom, & the parsley in the back was about to go to seed):

Goodbye Monster Italian Parsley:

Goodbye hydrangea:

By the time she was done pulling the parsley, the hydrangea, and a ton of grass and weeds and scrappy looking lilies, she had filled our 32 gallon compost bin.

Throughout the day, she was also visited by just about every neighbor on the block, stopping by to chat. Irene, the neighbor who had built the white picket fence originally, wasn't very pleased that AJ removed the hydrangea -- she said, "oh, that's disappointing." Um, sorry..?

Sunday

AJ spent Sunday planting all the various succulents that she has -- some she's had forever, & others she's been collecting for a year, for just this very purpose.

Here she is, hard at work, covered with dirt:

Here's the final product, from above:

And from the sidewalk:

The white posts remaining from the old fence will go away during the renovation. After that, it's just up to nature to take its course.

Coming up this week: the guys will be putting in the rebar, and the electrician will put in some kind of crazy ground wire. After that, the concrete!

Week 8

We got back from our short trip to another milestone: the bad sewer pipe replacement is complete. Mr. Bunkport said the old pipe was all cracked & busted up, so what a relief to have that done!

Here's what we found on Thursday, when we got back:

Sewer replacement complete

Busted up 100-year-old pipes

The dirt got higher...

And higher...

And higher...

And higher. And in the case of this one (at least), it has also become a public litter box. Just fantastic.

Here is the sewer line passing under the house's foundation on its way to the street connection.

Passing under the foundation in the rear of the garage

A hole under the foundation for the washing machine connection

Some kind of crazy tool

New sewer pipes under the existing bathroom

Washing machine drain in progress

New bathroom plumbing in progress

Some kind of drain box for the French drain system that will keep the room dry, even two feet below grade

This walkway looks like a great place to throw stuff, but, um, we do need to actually walk there

Oh my. Poor Pickles.

This is the inside of the neighbor's basement. 

There's no siding there. No wonder they have problems with rodents.

Oddly, when I mentioned the missing siding to Mrs., she didn't know what I was talking about. Mr. Bunkport wants to fix it for them for free, as a courtesy to make up for all the disruption. They are delighted.

Friday

On Friday, they pretty much wrapped up the plumbing:

Left to right: toilet, sink, tub

Sewer connected to the French drain system

Washing machine drain complete

On Monday, they'll test out the sewer pipe to make sure it doesn't leak anywhere, and then wait for the city inspection on Tuesday or Wednesday. If that goes well, they'll do the rebar & the inner concrete forms next week, & hopefully be ready for the concrete pour the week after that.