Up In the Air

Chris and I hovered around the edges of the roaring machinery listening for any changes in the noise that would alert us to the fact that something was wrong. There was so much large equipment racing around the house that we didn't dare to get too close. But every once in a while we would chance it and move in for a picture. It took most of the morning for Mr. Sylvester and his crew to position the girders onto the cribs and through the holes in the foundation. Then towards the middle of the afternoon we were informed that "lift off" would be in about 5 minutes. Chris and I stood in front of the house, watching intently and silently willing the house to levitate off it's foundation in into it's construction place. Eyes watching for any movement, we heard a creaking sound as it ever so slightly was removed from the concrete blocks it had been resting on for over 50 years. Chris and I held our breath, lest anything happen at this critical moment. And up and up it went.  Then all the machines were turned off, blocks were reset, hydraulic jacks were repositioned and the crew got ready for another round  of lifting. They lifted the house about 16 inches at a time until they raised it to about 8 feet above the old foundation. I commented to Mr. Sylvester that I thought this was a little extreme and couldn't he lower it down a bit. But there needs to be enough space for the foundation crew to be able to work under the house. Then when that work is completed the house will be lowered. We couldn't believe that this herculean effort was accomplished in just  two days. Mr Sylvester told us that it was only possible because of the modern hydraulic lifters and the aid of a laser level. When all the machines were quiet, Mr. Sylvester rode off on his big Harley chopper and all we could hear was the song of the male cardinal who had been watching the proceedings all day from a nearby tree, Chris and I stood in front of our summer cottage and wondered "What the hell are we doing".

Excavation May 5, 2011

Paul Pacella called this morning to say "Hurry Over to the Neck you're missing a great photo op.
All the excavation machinery has arrived." Choking down our oatmeal, grabbing our hats and cameras we dashed over to the scene. Peter followed with chain saw because he still had to take down the 2 ornamental crab apple trees in front of the house. By the time we arrived huge machinery was already crawling all over the property. There was a powerful little bobcat on tank treads and a heavy duty CAT backhoe scrapping the top soil from the yard and storing it on the other side of the garage to use later for back fill. Once that was accomplished trenches were dug next to the foundation for heavy timber cribs that will support the lifting girders. There was nothing for Chris and I to do but stand by and watch. And it was sobering to see the landscape change before our eyes. Suddenly it didn't look like the place that we know and love. But there were 3 moments of excitement. The first came when the 20 ton dump truck narrowly missed collapsing into the old cesspool. Chris rushed to the scene to warn the driver that he was close to a disaster. Fortunately he was able to back up and  drive away avoiding the hazard. The next problem was the discovery that the level at which the engineer had specified placement of the crib was into the water table. The digging came to a halt while the foreman called Paul to find out what to do. It was discovered through  a quick call to the engineer that we could relax because  he had put the crib 10 inches lower than it needed to be. So that 10 inches put it above the water table. Finally we got a surprise visit from the gas company who we thought might put a stop to  the excavation work because they were having to dig so close to the gas line. But he simple put another yellow warning flag in the ground, sprayed some yellow paint and was on his way.  When Chris and I left at 5 o'clock the excavation team was close to being ready to install the jacks and girders. Tomorrow will see the building levitate.

As an aside over the years we have struggled with ant infestations. This trench should take care of it.

Timberrrrr!!

My brother Peter and his chain saw blew onto the Cape yesterday afternoon from Vermont. He loves to cut down trees so we knew he was the man for our job. We had 10 designated trees within our work line that had to come down to make way for the new septic system. The moment he got out of the car he strapped on his helmet and revved up the saw. Within and hour and a half he had all those trees on the ground and mostly limbed. Chris and I hustled as fast as we could to drag the branches to the brush pile. In no time that pile became mountainous. Now the challenge will be to locate a chipper so we can 'repurpose" that wood  to our paths leading down to the river. Fantastic job Pete!

Interestingly there were no trees on the neck in 1962 after hurricane Carol.  But it didn't take very many years before the area was covered with oaks and cedars.

Down Comes the Chimney

We got the phone call this morning. 

Chris and I were eating a good breakfast so we would have the strength
to get through the day when the phone buzzed. We thought it would be one
of you but no it was a phone call from our builder. He wanted
to update us. The house mover had a couple of huge projects off Cape so
he wanted to fit us in next week. OMG! And the mason was going to meet
him at our house in a couple of hours to discuss taking down the chimney
tomorrow. No Way!

We rushed over to the cottage just in time to hear a huge truck turning
down our dirt road. We thought it must be for a landscaping project at
the end of the street. But no it turned right into our driveway and the
driver hopped out. We just couldn't believe it. Our project was really
going to begin.

Soon we found ourselves talking to the mason, our builder and a framer.
We've never had so many construction people on the property. After a
look at the scope of the project I had an incredulous expression on my
face as I waved good-bye to them.

Then Chris and I had to get cracking. We still had stuff in the house.
Now there was no time to decide whether this should be recycled, go to
the swap shop or should we keep it. Everything went from the house right
up the ladder to the second floor of the garage. After that we took all
the door handles off and any other metal we could find. I just love that
electric screwdriver. Next we started to take all the kitchen cabinets
down. Then we took down the towel fixtures  and lastly the mirrored
medicine cabinets in the bathrooms. Last act was to disassemble our
canopy bed that a Cape Cod friend made for us almost 40 years ago. What
an exhausting but exhilarating day it was for us.

But tomorrow promises to be even more exciting. The mason will start on
the roof taking down the brick piece by piece. And Chris and I will
carry them across the yard and pile them up. We are hoping there will be
enough of them to use in a landscaping project.

Well, I am off to bed and will probably dream about stacking bricks.
Sounds great! We're finally on our way.