The Torch Will Be Passed

We Didn't grow many, and we would be laughed out of any county fair when it comes to size. But I believe we finally after years of losing to Wille and Peg, could be taking home the trophy for the largest pumpkin. Wille and Peg have already conceded the contest this year.
Ken and Dale have not even attempted to grow anything and I can understand how intimidated they must be.

We look forward to taking possession of the trophy and we will proudly hang it in our home when we get back in.

As a last ditch effort to retain the trophy, Peg and Willie tried to pass off a butter squash as a pumpkin. This is something I expected from Ken.

The OL Willard Co

When it came time to start ordering building materials, I believe everyone of my contractors involved on this project recommended Willards. I was told you can't beat the service,the quality of products and pricing is very competitive.

I took a ride over and started to explain the project when Richard Swart Vice President walked in and told me he had heard about this project, and three minutes later I had an account set up.

The OL Willard Co has been around since the late 1920s and when you walk into the Willimantic location, you get a feeling of walking into a real hardware store/lumber yard. You don't feel like you are walking into one of those big box stores.

It was very important for me to do business with a local family owned business that has such a great reputation with all the pros.

And to prove my point... On Thursday, I called in a order of lumber, screws, nails, and 16" Sona tubes ( Sona Tube is a trade name for a round heavy duty cardboard like tube, that will be cut into 48" lengths and buried 4' into the ground then filled with concrete, this will be the support for the porch, and nobody carries 16" sona tubes), I called this in around 12 noon, and the truck was here around 4pm the same day. The lumber looks great, I did it all by phone, and I didn't need to personally pick through stacks of bent, twisted, bowed lumber like you would at a big box. and I think the boy will have fun with the Sona Tubes until I use them.


I am thankful so many recommended Willards to me. not only have I found a supplier of quality materials, but a great resource of information. Any company that has been around for seventy years must have, at least once or twice, answered all the rookie questions I will have.

Foundation Complete

Sept 22nd and the foundation is done, and I think it is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. OK, maybe that is a bit of a stretch.

Next in line is adding new pressure treated sill plates and bolting them in place. Then the house can be lowered back down and the rebuilding can begin.
Once the house is lowered, the basement will be filled with gravel and a new floor will be poured at ground level.

I know if I continue to say out loud, how smooth this project is going, I will jinx it.

New Week Day 2

Like last week, this week is off to an excellent start. Doug Cates from Made And Formed Foundations and his crew, finished installing the foundation forms. And today Tuesday all the walls have been poured. Tomorrow he will return and strip off all the forms and reveal the masterpiece underneath.

We had a number of visitors today inspecting the project. John Jackman and Fran Raiola from the town of Mansfield, Doug Glowacki from The Connecticut Dept Of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, all came out to tour the project. Ben from Souza Engineering was here, along with Matt and Joe from Towne Engineering.

The meeting went very well and Doug Glowacki was pleased with the project and where we are at with the budget. Ben, Matt, and Joe were here to answer any question on the engineering end of the project. My understanding is we are the first in the State of Connecticut to participate in the Severe Repetitive Lose (SLR) program and everyone is pleased with the way Mansfield is managing the project, and how we are progressing.
Doug Glowacki worked with John Jackman from the Town of Mansfield, and Sam Bell from FEMA to secure the SLR Grant for this project.


I am very grateful for the great contractors we have on this project, and the the guidance and support from the town of Mansfield.

To make a really great day better, Jeanne gave me permission to pick up Tommy early from school so he would not miss all the cement trucks delivering concrete today. He knew I was coming for him at 12:45 and I arrived a few minutes late and the look on his face and the hug I received was icing on a really good day.

Forms all in place.


Concrete Truck pouring concrete into the Pumping truck


We needed a concrete pumper because of the limited clearance between the house and the forms, and the house being in the way, the pumper could reach over the house with ease. It was very impressive to see this giant arm reaching over the house.


The camper is getting smaller. Kopper likes my side of the bed and the other night instead of fighting with him, and because he looked so sad, Jeanne chose to sleep on the fold down kitchen table. I really believe Jeanne knew Kopper had gas that night. He slept like a baby and I was close to being asphyxiated and blinded.
Camper life is such a joy..

10 Day Report

We are looking forward to the upcoming week and predict we will continue to make large strides in the project.

In less then 10 working days,

We demolished the 17 X 22' section of the house that will be rebuilt. We loaded it in the dumpster. Emptied all personal effects from the basement including taking out the stairs. The above was done with the help of Ron, Peggy, and Willie.

Ackert Electric installed a temporary power pole and moved the power from the main house to the pole. They removed all electrical components from the basement and provided the proper 30amp power supply to the camper. I thought Jeanne was going to hug Tim Ackert when he hooked up the camper.

CW Knight Heating removed the heating and plumbing components from the basement. Moved the water supply outside to the camper, and lifted my wood stove out of the basement. "It took me 5 hrs and a whole lot of sweat to get it down into the basement"

CT Portables dropped of 2 Porta Potties. This is probably one item that gets overlooked at many job sites. The cost is small for the service and I have heard that the folks working on the site appreciate having access to them. I personally find the toilet seat a bit cold in the morning.

1-800-Dump-Runs delivered a dumpster when we needed it and removed it when we filled it. Getting a dumpster in and out is vital. I believe keeping the work site as clutter free as possible is extremely important. They dropped it when they said they would and picked it up the day I needed it removed. I can't believe how much I fit in that 30yard dumpster. I think I could be a professional dumpster packer.

Wolfe House and Building Movers were so fast and efficient lifting the house, no one had time to come watch. I know these guys do this everyday and it is old news for them, but for me it was exciting. The site of our house up on cribbing stops traffic and I have seen a least a few cameras clicking away. I thought this would be the most time consuming and complicated part of the project, but they made it look easy.

Made and Formed Foundations was able to start early and because of this, we are a week ahead of schedule. A lot of labor goes into setting up the forms and rebar before you can pour the concrete. Like with everything in life, it starts with a good foundation. We are thinking that we might be able to pour the foundation Tuesday.

Ben Souza from Souza Engineering stopped out a couple of times to check the progress. Ben did the outstanding design work and drawings needed for this project.
We also had a visit from Matt and Joe from Towne Engineering. They did all the elevation work, and will continue to monitor the project so that they can confirm we have the house at the required elevation.

We also have had a number of visits from John Jackman-Director of Emergency Management for the Town Of Mansfield, and Fran Raiola-Assistant Director of Emergency Management for the Town Of Mansfield. I look forward to our visits and working with them on this project and it has been a pleasure. I must say that Jennifer, Administrative Assistant for John and Fran, is so awesome and worth her weight in gold.

Moving Along

The foundation work continues. A lot of work goes into preparing for the new foundations. Before the forms are put in place, holes are drilled into the old foundation every 12 inches and re-bar is epoxied into each hole. Then the re-bar is wired together creating what looks like a thick steel fence. This adds strength to the concrete and strengthens the joint between the old foundation and the new.

I was shocked when Jeanne told me we have only been in the camper a total of a week and 2 days. I thought it was 5 weeks so far. A lot of work has happened in the past week or so, and maybe that is why it feels longer. Or maybe the fact that we are living in a space the size of our living room.

Its all good, and will be worth it.

Let The Cement Flow

Locating a foundation contractor was very difficult until I found Doug Cates from Made and Formed Foundations. The problem with Doug Cates is he does not advertise. You won't find him in the yellow pages, the only way you will get him is if you are lucky enough to have someone recommend him to you. I am grateful Chris over at CW Knight did just that.

I told Doug I would need him starting around the 20th, and I called him yesterday about a week early, and I let him know that we are in the air and ready anytime he was. That same afternoon Doug dropped off a trailer loaded with forms and returned first thing this morning. His crew set and poured the wall that will support the columns that support the center of the house when it is lowered. The main foundation may be poured by Tuesday the 21st.

I know Doug has several projects he is working on at this time, so I am thrilled he was able to squeeze our project into his schedule so fast.

I also called on Towne Engineering who has done our site elevation work. I needed to confirm that we are at the required height. Matt and Joe came right out and met with Doug and myself. They will do a couple of inspections and provide the documentation to FEMA, The State, and the Town Of Mansfield that we are above the minimum elevation of 250'. Can you imagine doing all this work and finding out you missed it by 2 inches? I would be looking for that bridge to jump off.




Watching this truck pull onto the jobsite was a welcome site.

Tree House

The crew from Wolfe House and Building Movers from Bernville Pennsylvania,arrived at 7am for day 2, and using 5 jacks, they had raised the house 8 feet by 9am.

To say I was impressed wound be an understatement. While I sat in a comfy chair at 8am, still with a sweatshirt on enjoying the morning chill, they had worked up a drenching sweat.
Tim, Nevin, Paplo,and Ben did an outstanding job and now our house stops traffic.

I was checking my camera, and when I looked up the house was already a foot off the ground.




On the Chalk Board sat two large pieces of chalk, and nearby an empty coffee cup. The house went up so smooth, Chalk and cup are still in the same place.




The House now sits 8' above the original foundation.




I will be setting up links to each contractor soon. Wolfe has a great one.

I called Doug Cates from Made and Form Foundations to let him know we had the house in the air about 5 days early. By night fall he had the first load of foundation forms dropped off.

More about Doug Cates tomorrow.

Wolfe House & Building Movers

At first I had no clue how to find someone to elevate my house. I talked to a Contractor who told me the money FEMA offered wasn't enough, and I should go back for more money.

While searching online I found a Connecticut company who came up and gave me a estimate. I wasn't real comfortable when he told me it was my responsibility to remove all the sill bolts. I know what a sill bolt is, and I know how to remove one. I just thought it odd that at almost $30,000, it would be up to me to remove them.

Next was a estimate for half of the first, but he wanted to park my house in the back yard while work on the basement took place. I didn't like The thought of my house sitting on my septic system and I would need to massacre my beautiful Chestnut tree.

I found Wolfe House Movers online, a Pennsylvania Company that has done house moves here in Connecticut. They had a great website, but would they come up and give me an estimate, sooner than later.

My first contact with Wolfe House Movers was with Mike, who took all my information and offered a rough estimate over the phone and set a date to come up to look at the project. Mike told me he would be at my house at 2:30 and I was extremely impressed when he pulled into my driveway at 2:30. I have a hard time being on time when I travel 5 miles, never mind all the way from Pennsylvania.

When Mike was here he took measurements, lots of notes, and explained how they would lift my house. I think I chose Wolfe House Movers 10 Minutes after meeting Mike and I was pleasantly surprised when I received the quote. With this being my first time as a acting general contractor, they have been very patient.

I received a call at 7am from Tim at Wolfe explaining his team was on the road and would be here in 4 or 5 hours. I was very excited when their tractor trailer came down the road and parked out front.

When they arrived their was not one second of waisted time. They all started moving equipment onto the site and Tim quickly sized up the project. I would have thought that maybe they would spend the rest of the day putting together a plan of action once they saw the house, but they walked onto the property with that plan in place and worked extremely fast and efficiently. I tried my best to stay out of their way, but this was so cool to watch.

Tim told me they would return in the morning and finish by 10am. I can hardly wait to see our house up on cribbing.



Tim Cutting Through The Base Of The Fireplace

The Heart



They Made Moving A 47 Foot Piece Of Solid Steel Through 2 Small Holes Look Easy.


Cribbing

More to come tomorrow.

Piece By Piece

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Except for a couple of hours of work in the morning, WE ARE READY, bring on the next phase.

I have to say again, Thanks to Ron, Peggy, Willie, Jeanne, and my trustworthy Porter Cable Sawzall. Without all of you I would be much closer to death.

This week is going to be very exciting. Wolfe House Movers will be here Monday, and on Tuesday or Wednesday the house will rise. If you want to watch the action, I will post the best time and day to come watch.

Stay Tuned

Oh The Pain

I never knew I had so many body parts that could hurt at the same time. It feels like all my body parts are competing for the title of most painful.

I will admit, that I have at times wondered what in tarnation have we started here? Is this going to fall into place, or are we heading for disaster? Then the Advil kicks in and I am ready for more pain.

Peggy and Will came out to lend a hand. Peggy cracked a powerful whip and we got far more done then I thought we would today. We are very thankful for the help.
I think I will sleep better tonight knowing how much we got done today. We have one more day of prep work and the House Lifters will be here Monday. I will post more on that when I get feeling back in my hands and fingers.

Bringing Down The Walls

They always make it look fast and easy on TV. When they demolish a house on Extreme Home Makeover, they bring out the big machines to destroy the structure. Two minutes and 3 commercials later they have the house down and cleaned up, and you never see them sweat.

I decided to bring out the GT3000 to assist with the demo work. This is 22hp of pure power, and that wall was no match for my beloved GT3000 and myself.

I proceeded to clean up by hand, and now every inch of my poor body hurts. Jeanne was a trooper when she carried the extremely large pile of itchy insulation up into the attic herself.

I have made a life decision, this is not what I want to do when I grow up.