Sand, Cement, and Swans

Once Ed and his helper got the darned ICF wrap to stick he wanted to make sure it stayed stuck, so he got some kind of tar-goop (a technical term) and painted all the seams. That stuff isn't going anywhere now! It is water sealed at the bottom, tacked at the top, and ready for the exterior perimeter drain.

The drain is a big perforated tube, covered by a fabric sock, that should let the water in, but keep the dirt out. Over the drain goes gravel, then another sheet of filter fabric. Once that filter fabric is on, there shouldn't be much that gets through but water.

We had a crew come in to deliver the rock and dump it in over the drain. The kid on the skiploader was fearless. Doesn't he know the edge of that dig is just waiting to crumble in? Apparently not because he whizzed around like a kid on a skateboard. But whiz he did, and they got rock all around. Ed got the fabric on top of that and they were ready to start loading sand into the inside of the basement for the floor.

   Ed decided to put the same type of drain down in the inside of the basement to vent any possible radon gas or other nasties. Radon is not common in this area, but it's not unheard of. Since the basement has no windows we thought it was easier to just cover all the bases now. If we found a problem after construction, it would be a monster job to fix. The sand they brought in is dredge sand from the shipping channel in the Columbia River, and it is very clean.. Ed did happen to spot and retrieve a very nice yellow agate though.

Once all the sand was loaded into the basement, they moved a cat inside and began moving it around. They compacted it down and screeded (is that a verb?) it level, and their job was done.

Wednesday, Ed got inside and put down water barrier plastic,  and with his helper, got the screed boards for the cement down. By the time they were done with that, evening was becoming night.

     The cement guys were due first thing in the morning, and darned if they weren't on time.  The basement floor took 26 yards of cement. That took a pumper truck, and two and a half cement trucks. We had locked up the cats in the barn, and Abby, the dog was subjected to a leash. The worst thing that could have happened was a squished pet, but the cement guys wouldn't have been very happy with a  cement covered dog. Frankly, I wouldn't have been thrilled either.  They worked on the finish until about 5:00 p.m., a hard day's work. Now if the rain will just  hold off for a few days...  Rain now will make the finish go all wonky.
     Ed says. " I need to sweep the debris off the top and tighten down those j bolts."
    "Ok," I replied, oblivious, "I've got some stuff to do inside the house." I was inside hearing the sound
of debris hitting cement. "Wow," I thought to myself, "He's really energetic about that sweeping."

  Then I looked. Sometimes it's just better not to. With the Grand Canyon on one side and Devil's Slide on the other, he's humming and as happy as a pig in mud.

  At this point there is the feeling that the immediate pressure is off. Ed and I took a day and drove over to the coast. We've been able to cast our eyes in a different direction and focus on the beauty around us. Sometimes the process of building can get so consuming that we forget to enjoy this wonderful place where we live. I saw wild swans for the first time. We're a little further from family than I would prefer, and we still have a lot of building to do, but we couldn't have found a more beautiful place to do it in.