OMG!

Day Eight - Wednesday

Oh my goodness ~~~ today was an "uplifting" experience! Thought we had felt/seen it all ... but oh, no ... there was more! Crew installed push piers beneath living room foundation today. A lot of shake-rattle-and rolling going on, I actually felt a bounce! The last push pier will be installed tomorrow in furnace room. We will be without hot water for the next two days - but that's okay we'll pretend we're camping! Interestingly enough crew members are: Foreman Matt (who steps in where needed), "chislers" Dillon and Jake, "installer" Dustin, and "capper" Mitch. Nice that all crew members are names we are familiar with! Shouldn't forget Phil who is the owner and whose foot appears in laser picture below.

 

Late this afternoon we got to observe the actual hydraulic lift on the garage. It was a good and a bad experience. Totally amazing actually. Hydraulic manifold looked to small to handle such a big job. But it did it. They used a laser light and the good old tape measure to watch how lift was going.



After pictures are disturbing ... alot of foundation damage because of deterioration of concrete blocks.

Also noticed how concrete pad at garage door was "lifted" leaving a noticeable gap which will be closed once soil is returned to hole. Another indicator of how much lift was done is soil in hole had separated, an eerie feeling.

We've also noticed that garage door opener struggles opening the door. After all the work is completed a service call will remedy that ...

Thanks to our little chrysanthemum I'm still reminding myself that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That we will soon be through the installation process. We can begin the "clean up" phase and get back to a near-normal.



Duds for my machine!

You can kick me out of my sewing area, but you can't keep me from projecting!

My BabyLock Quest sewing machine sits out without a cover. I decided my current quilting down time was perfect for this machine cover mini-project. Quilted fabric was just perfect ... brown circles on a black background with a reverse of smaller circles on black AND it was already in my stash. Perfect!!!

Day Seven

Today was pretty much the same as yesterday (Monday). Foreman thinks that the garage is ready for "the lift" tomorrow (Wednesday). Goal is to still be finished on Friday ... living room lift on Thursday, with basement on Friday. Somewhere in there will be the installation of four wall anchors on west basement wall and possibly three on north living room crawl space wall. Each day there are more "sounds" ... so far they have been "friendly".

So until tomorrow ~~~

Week Two; Day Six

Today I awoke to an overcast and misty morning. I wondered how wet the ground was and whether the holes were dry enough to work in. Foreman Matt calls every morning to let us know they are en route ... today that call came in at 8:46 a.m. Crew set right to work ... chiseling away at unneeded concrete ... hydraulic ram installing push pier pipes. It was a very noisy morning, so no t.v. viewing for me, I sewed instead.

After their lunch break they began setting pipes in crawl space beneath living room. The room really started doing alot of creaking ... gave me the heeby-jeebies. I immediately stopped sewing and cleared out of the room. I had convinced myself that the brick face of the fireplace was indeed going to fall on me! Talk about a sissy ... nothing fell, no new cracks appeared, but my grandfather's clock had been removed from the mantel ... because, well, you never know!

No pictures to post today ... if you've seen one hole, pier bracket or installed push pier ... you've seen them all.

So tonight I'm enjoying the "peace and quite"!

"Slash-a-Stash" Quilt ~~~

On one of the many riverboat cruises I did with my sisters I purchased a quilt kit at the "Follow Your Heart" quilt shop in LaCrosse WI. To be honest I don't remember the year. I do remember that it was aboard the American Queen (or was it the gaudy Mississippi Queen?). IF I remember correctly it may have also been the trip when Michael's family brought nieces and nephew to see their Aunt Debi after we had docked there for a shore tour. I digress ... at any rate I remember a river, a big boat, some kids, my sisters and a quilt shop visit!

My next big project is the t-shirt quilt for Ty. I wanted to "warm up" on a smaller project so decided to "whip" this one out because it was so "simple" ... slash a block, mix and match the pieces/parts, and off you go! Of course, in the interim we had the heat pump/furnace replacement, then the foundation issues, and I was forced out of my sewing room(s).
Hmpf ~~~

I claimed a corner of the living room for my sewing station ...

... and was able to complete the quilt!

As I was preparing the fabrics, labeling, cutting, etc., I was thinking "I thought the shop sample had more pink?" However these colors/fabrics work just fine for me. Goes to show you when enough time elapses you don't remember some things as well ... and I don't think it has anything to do with age either!

(tried a different type of label for this one)



TGIF!!!

Day Five, Friday, October 19th

Today we saw something new!!! Crew are still prepping each hole to accept the push pier bracket - which needs to be bolted onto the wall. Still alot of "dust" ... but not as noisy. Today it was the actual installation of a push pier system ... exciting!!!

prepped hole

peeking in through basement window ... Dustin has begun the installation of the first push pier

installed wall bracket

hydraulic ram - pushes pipes through surface until it hits bedrock - about 40 feet

two installed push piers - 27 more to go!!!

As push piers were being installed we could "hear" the house talking to us. It was not the gut wrenching sound you hear when it's settling. It was more of a sigh - like it was telling us "thanks, I needed this"!



... the promise of hope ...

At the end of the fourth day I was feeling a bit low. It's been a noisy, dusty four days. I had just walked around outside the house, surveying "conditions", taking pictures ... noticing the piles of dirt, the multitude of holes and all the contractor gear ... and I became even more "blue".

I looked out the front living room window and this little chrysanthemum had survived ... a reminder that everything would be okay.