Let the Building Begin

Well, it happened.  The building began this morning.  The post holes were dug and inspected (yup, officially inspected).  The work crew arrived about 10:30 or so and when I arrived about an hour later, they were already working. 

The idea is to frame in the building today and tomorrow.  I am not sure the plan of attack after that but will keep you informed.

It was a beautiful day here today.  Nice and sunny.  We didn;t need coats through the afternoon but by about 4 pm we did.  They are still out working so there might be some px later as well.

Photo one is about noon or so today.  The second photo is about 4:15 pm.  The bottom photo are Angie (Alpaca to left) trying to nonchalantly hide behind a pole and Vera (llama right) pretending not to notice while being highly annoyed. 

Pictures of Trusses

Yes, this is the truck that showed up outside my door yesterday.  I wondered how they were going to get the trusses off the truck...Our first delivery on the new driveway!

Not what you are expecting

I know I told you all that construction was to start today.  I truly believed it would (wait, aren't I a card carrying skeptic??).  Somehow, wires were crossed and only the roof trusses were scheduled to arrive today.  And as a bonus, the insulation arrived as well.

It is never as simple as all that though.  Craig let me know the insulation, which we were not expecting, had arrived and being the wonderful person he is, was already tarped and safe from any weather that might occur between now and the end of the week. 

We both have lots of outside work to do with the change of seasons:  I own four huge maple trees between my house and the street; Craig has many acres that house 40 plus alpacas.  So we were both out enjoying a warm fall day serenely prepping for winter while calmly awaiting the delivery of the trusses and subsequently the rest of the building. 

Ramona the mail lady parked her little mail truck where she always does.  And our street is really only about 1.5 lanes.  A huge truck with "Oversized" markers on it pulls up and the driver gets out.  I figure he wants to know when the mail lady will be back so he can get by.  Then I realize he is attempting to deliver the 48 roof trusses...not to Craig's in 84, PA but right here in Bentleyville.  At my house.  So I have to figure out how to turn him around and get him out safely.  So far, no one has come beating on the door to tell me that plan of attack failed. 

The trusses did make it to Craig's about 20 mins later and have been unloaded.  Craig promises to send me pictures later so I can post them for you. 

And apparently, the insulation was also scheduled to be delivered here but he managed to get that truck to him before it arrived here.  And being good, he called the appropriate people to let them know to send the next truck to him.  But somewhere, the message got lost....

Why all the confusion?  Because I own the building that is going up at Craig's (long story) and they are having issues with the whole "billign address" versus "shipping address" issue.  Oh my. 

Site prep basically done

The site prep is basically done.  After many trucks of clay appearing yesterday and graded out, they put down landscaping fabric and mill slag in the driveway / parking lot.  Later they will bring in the stone for these areas.  They also buried the drainpipe for us.

They brought the "little" machine to deal with the pimple.

The entire peanut gallery (except me):  Craig in front.  Left to right behind him are Bill, Brigid, Tim and Zoe.

The end of the day.  Mill site closest, drive and parking farthest.

And for those of you enjoying the published comments, JoAnn is my mother!  Thanks mom for following our progress!

Clay and Rock

At 8:00 am this morning, huge trucks of clay started arriving.  Because of the amount of topsoil removed, the excavator wanted to build the site up with clay before adding rock or say a building. 

I love watching construction.  I have no idea why.  I love watching demolition.  I have no idea why.  I hate the cold but I have been outside watching, clutching my coffee cup (I am inside at the moment though). 

 

I will add some of Craig's photos later.  I also have a video of the cherry tree coming down I might try to upload  (I promise to plant more trees and shrubs.  Really.  Really really). 

The pimple is popped!

Despite the cold and the intermittent rain / hail on Friday afternoon, the site prep began.  There really was 12 - 24"  of topsoil that had to be pushed aside. 


And apparently, this really is a pimple of a job because it did not take much time to push that topsoil around (when you have the right equipment, the works always goes faster!). 

The px to the left shows the amount of topsoil removed near the road (and this is the lowest spot in the field).  The second px is the site where the building (closest to camera) and the parking lot (farthest) will be.  

Now, I mentioned that it was raining / hailing.  It was in the upper 30s or lower 40s.  Earlier in the day, I decided to try a sauna and swedish massage.  The stress from Wed and Thurs really got to me.  I had spent a lovely morning in a 132 degree room.  My daughter pointed out that there had been about a 100 degree temp change in my day.  Very depressing....Luckily, the site prep happening relieves a great deal of other stress.

84 Alpacas at Linwood Farms website

First things first.  Here is the website for Craig and Bill's farm website:

http://www.84alpacas.com/Site/Welcome.html