Cold Weather --- More Excavation --- Relocated Cribs

I have always hated weather-forecasters who tell you what the "normal" temperature for any given day is supposed to be. Weather doesn't believe in normal. What these people mean is "average" temperature.  On March 21st 2012 west Michigan temperatures were about 80 degrees. Today the temps were lucky to be in the 20s. Thus, looking at two years we have been right on average: 50ish.

I guess what I'm saying is although it is COLD....it's part of what makes an average.....average.

The soon-to-be basement had 3-4 inches of snow in it between yesterday and this morning.

The pictures below show what 3283 looked like late Wednesday.

The crew handled the temperature well. They arrived bright and early this morning and spent a lot of time doing what could be called detailed excavation. The edges of the hole need to be cut back far enough to allow the footings to be installed including extra space so form-work can be built and eventually removed.  Also, the old water well pit was actually deeper than the future basement level. Its removal necessitated filling it -- and compacting the fill material -- so the footings and floor can be built at the proper elevation.

These pictures show this excavation and the machine used to compact the fill in the low area.

To allow the floor level of the excavation to be low enough and to provide room for footing construction the two cribs supporting the west end of the main beams needed to be "moved." Actually new cribs were built inside the original ones that were eventually removed. 

The picture below shows one of the the old and new cribs.

Note that the base of new one is lower than the old one.

You may be wondering where all the excavated sand has gone. [Or, maybe you haven't.] The crew has been creating an impressive sand-pile out in the woods.  Some of this material will come back as backfill around the foundation and to allow for some minor regrading around the structure. But, the rest will stay among the pine trees....creating a berm in a formerly very flat wooded area.

The partially snow-covered sand pile is shown below.