August/September 2017
Having already planned a six-week adventure for the summer and not knowing exactly when we would break ground, we had to get the lot ready for construction before leaving in early June (we actually didn't do most of the following work before leaving, but we ended up having more time than we thought we would before groundbreaking).
First, we had to get rid of the carport and shed. Wanting to save the few minutes it would take the bulldozer to dispose of them, we went the economical and environmental route and listed them on Craisglist. It was actually a bit of a pain sorting through all the responses, but after several weeks, a combination of a few people came and dissembled and hauled all of it away.
Next came the fencing. For reasons incomprehensible, the former owner of the lot turned her property into a high-security compound, complete with 6-ft privacy walls all around the perimeter. One task was to dissemble the 60 ft. of fencing that ran along the front and side of our lot. This would allow room for the work trucks to pull into our property and for our foundation to be dug out from the side. Wanting to save all the materials we could, we used a reciprocating sawsall to separate the panels, and then dug out each post. We will likely only be reusing a small portion of the fencing to enclose the backyard. Anyone need some fencing?
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| Note the crap-ton of fencing. Also note the five huge pine trees along the right side of the fence. We had those taken down too. |
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| Tree 1/5 marked for death |
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| Tree 2/5 marked for death. |
Once the fencing was gone, the pergola had to go. Wanting to save this too, we had to dissemble it and dig up the posts. These stinking posts were buried so deep. My good friend and soon-to-be neighbor helped me dig the 4-ft diameter, 2 ft. deep holes in dry, hard dirt around each post. We then lifted each side of the pergola out of the holes. I would later move these sides to the back of the lot myself by standing them up and rotating them 180 degrees downhill on alternating feet.
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| Massive. |
With the big stuff complete, all I had left were the small items. I took a good amount of large flat stones that were used as a walkway down to the back fence line along with several armfuls of bricks. Finally, I did my best to transplant some small bushes and trees in order to reuse them once the house was built. I put about a dozen of the smaller ones in pots to take care of at our rental. The bigger ones I replanted in the corner of the lot, hoping they would make it to spring. Here is how they looked a few weeks after I transplanted them:
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| Deadest |
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| Dead |
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| Deader |
Apparently trees need to be watered more than just the day that you transplant them.
So, after many afternoons of digging, much of which ended up to be fruitless, the lot was cleared and ready for the real digging to commence.