Construction Day 007

Here is an aerial shot of the site prior to demolition. The pier in the center with an L-head to the right is ours. It has a barge with a boom on it tied up to it putting in pilings for the floating dock.

Although the piling sub was supposed to work today to set and drive all the rest of the pilings except for the one that broke Thursday, they didn't show up until around noon. When they had all but one in, they started to drive them and were out of diesel fuel for the compressor. They left about 2:45 to get fuel and I came back after dark to find that the pilings did not appear to have been driven. The framing crew is ready to go but can't until the pilings are driven. Oh well, hopefully they will be finished with the pilings Monday or Tuesday.

Construction Day 006

Not much to see today except that all but 6 pilings have been set. Only the first two rows have been driven in to the proper elevation.

Construction Day 005

Rain prevented a lot of work from getting done this morning, but they worked late afternoon to get three pilings on the third row set (but not driven).

Construction Day 004

Today, January 28, the rest of the pilings were delivered, most of the set pilings were driven down to the appropriate level, and the port-a-john was delivered.

Construction Day 003 / Elevation Views

By the end of the second day (January 27) of piling setting, a total of 15 pilings had been set. These are 22 ft long and are set a minimum of 12 ft below grade.



The surveyor returned to mark the 12 ft above mean sea level (AMSL) elevation on the existing power pole (flagged railroad spike near the base of the pole). This represents the minimum allowable first floor elevation (FFE) for the site. Our FFE will be 16.48 ft AMSL.

Some of you have been asking about the house plans so I'll try to post the elevation views here. The front elevation faces Pages Creek. Click on any image our blog posts to enlarge it (be sure your browser is not set to reduce any images to fit the screen for best viewing).

Construction Day 002

Today (January 26) was THE DAY! We now have a new home coming out of the ground. Start was kind of slow due to needing to get the first piling perfectly set; not to mention 7 to 8 feet of clay beneath the organic layer. There was not as much clay in the rest of the holes and by the end of the day, eight pilings had been set. They still need to be driven, but at least they are in the ground about 12 feet. They will be driven approximately one more foot on this side of the house.

Construction Day 001

Well, today was not as productive as I had hoped. We did get the piling setter out, but he had to leave early and only got the batter boards and level lines installed. He insists that he will begin setting pilings first thing Monday. Well inspection placard, inspection box, well site marker, and inspection checklist are up. The GC says we will make up time with the framers.

Pilings Delivered/Permits Pulled

Wow, what a day! Pilings were delivered this morning and the auger truck arrived on-site late this afternoon. The contractor pulled the building permit and permit for the new well today. So.....construction begins tomorrow!

Corner Survey

In spite of snow today, the surveyors came and marked the corners of the new house.

Demo Day 3

Demo is complete!

The parking pad is gone!

The site is almost level back to the old grade line.

Looks like a good bit of fill will be needed to rebuild the slope.

And the equipment rolls past Ogden Elementary School.

A new well and the foundation pilings are next!

Demo Day 2

Today was the second day of demolition and removal of debris. By the afternoon, not much was left and the operator began to level out the remaining dirt.

The retaining wall around the driveway was the last of the house and shed that needed to be removed.

Once, the wall was down, he continued to level out the surface.

Barbara worked hard to salvage some camellias and sasanqua bushes.

Before shutting down, the operator pulled up a section of the asphalt parking pad.

Still just a little more to go before demo is complete and the county can inspect the site.

Demo Day 1

This morning (January 13), the demo crew arrived early



and made quick work of the house and shed.







It will take several trips with the 17-yard dump truck to clear the debris.



There was still quite a pile of rubble when they knocked off for the day, but they should be able to finish up tomorrow. At least the rain is SUPPOSED to stop tonight.

Demo/Rebuild

Here we go! Finally armed with a construction loan from SECU and a contract with Jim Hundley of Land-NC, we are beginning our demo/rebuild at Pages Creek. This is what the shed and house looked like when we purchased the property in 1996.

This is the living room after we remodeled in 1997. We made more improvements over the next 11 years, but the house was just too old to continue putting money into it.

January 1, 2009 as we begin demolition. Skip wanted the old porcelain sink for a fish cleaning station, some of the cabinets for his shop, and the porch hand rails for his house. Also, the plumber capped off the well and sewer line and Progress Energy removed the utility lines to the house. Hannah and Emma "helped" by knocking images of Bugsey into the wall in "their room."