Movin’ and Groovin’

Movin’ and Groovin’

    Things are really starting move on the cabin! First, WE GOT OUR BUILDING PERMIT!!!!

    Armed with that all-important piece of paper, we got to work on the concrete piers for the cabin foundation. I found out that it was going to cost me about $400 to have the 16 inch x 24” holes for the piers dug with an auger, so I saved some money and dug the holes myself.

     Once the holes were dug, the inspectors had to do a compaction test on the soil before I could pour the footer for the 8-inch forms.

    I got a green light from the county and after double-checking all of my string lines, I set re-bar and poured a 6-inch thick footer in each hole.

     

      

     One added expense was the need to purchase a new wheelbarrow. My old one is pretty beat up and has to many holes to mix concrete in. 

This looks WAY to clean

     Once the footers were set, I placed a concrete form into each hole and centered it up. Each hole got partially back-filled to hold the form in place while I filled it. Soon after I got all set up to mix concrete, my friends Seth and Anthony showed up ready to do some work and helped me out. 

     After each form was filled and plumbed, the last step was to set an anchor bolt into the wet concrete. The bolts will later hold the metal Simpson Tie that will connect the concrete piers to a 6x6. The 6x6’s will then be used to attach the band-board that will be the main support joist for the floor.

    So as of now, we are all done with the concrete and can start building! The only two things that will slow us down now are time and money. Oh well, such is life.

~Terry

Slow But Sure

Slow But Sure

         The work on the driveway is all but done. When the bulldozer work was done and the road access was installed I had two 19 ton loads of gravel brought in. The guys who did the driveway did a great job spreading the first load. They kept the edges neat and well defined and spread it evenly.  The second load didn’t go on as well. There were many high and low spots and the edges look like a mushy hourglass shape.

         At $450.00 per load, I want to make every bit of gravel count, so I had them deliver the third load and just dump it. Little by little I have been spreading gravel--- one wheelbarrow at a time. I have to admit that I’m very happy with the results, but it sure has been a lot of work. The other problem is that it has taken it’s toll on my trusty old wheelbarrow which, if I’m lucky, might finish the driveway but won’t make it much further after that.  It looks like I will need about ½ load more to finish.

~Terry

Wow!

WOW!

         On Facebook, my post would look something like this…..

“That feeling you get when an entire summers worth of hard labor gets done in two days.”

My Brother-in-law Luke owns and operates Piedmont Land Management about an hour north of us. He graciously allowed me to use his forestry mulcher for the weekend, and the results were nothing short of astounding!

         The machine has a cutter wheel that is loaded with teeth and spins

at a very high rate of speed. As you move into the brush and trees, it will grind anything in it’s way into a combination of mulch and woodchips. Watching this machine in action is spell binding. It will chew up and spit out anything up to 6 inches in diameter.

         My Son-in-law Brandon was a willing operator, and in just two days, we were able to clear and mulch approximately 2.5-3 acres of dense brush, scrub, and most importantly Vines.

 

Before

After

        

  

    It will still take some work to get everything cleaned up and looking pretty, but I’m thinking that what we accomplished would have taken me most of the summer to do. A BIG thank you to Piedmont Land Management for the use of this incredible tool.

~Terry—With a big smile on my face.