June 5, Week Two, The Foundation

So this week, we're watched two things closely - the weather and the parking spot in front of our house.

The weather because of the cement. It needs clear sunny days to be poured, and to set. Lucky for us, we have had a rain-free week. So far, so good. We're making progress.

And then there's the parking spot. Turns out the street parking spot right in front of our house is the most critical aspect of this whole project so far. The large trucks, cement mixers (see photo above), back hoes etc. that need to creep onto our narrow city lot need to do so from the curb. The husband has had more than one every early morning call notifying us that someone is parked exactly where they can best block the trucks. We lived in that house for three years, and nobody ever parked in front .... for some reason, it has become the hottest spot on the block. We even have these pylons -- huge, orange and black striped pylons. And still they park. I have now taken to swerving wildly down our old street at any opportunity, so I can heave those huge pylons thingys in place to block the evil cars.

The husband informs that the cement was poured to form the footings, which are the slabs of cement that form the outline of the house. Then they placed the wrongly named "weeping tile" which as far as I can tell is a bunch of hoses snaking through the basement floor. I get the "weeping" - the "tile" is where is falls apart for me. The husband and his BFF had an incredibly boring conversation the other night about the weeping tile. I can tell you that I was near weeping after ten minutes of that.....

It was strange to see the house outline and I can't decide if it looks larger or smaller than I imagined. Strange, but kind of cool to know we will have laid eyes and stomped around the house from the ground up - literally. We're walking around the pit of our new foundation, imagining the rooms, the view. The lot looks large (by downtown standards) but the trees look lonely. Don't get me started on the kids' play structure encased in weeds at the back of the lot.

Next week: the forms and basement walls. And I think we have to order a whole pile of windows.......