PROGRESS!! YES!! FINALLY!! Yes I'm a bit excited. And tired. And proud. My fill material was delivered yesterday afternoon. 10 tons of screenings. 3 tons of sand. Somehow 10 tons of screenings doesn't make as big a pile as I envisioned.
So far so good. This morning at 7:20 as I was about to leave to go to the rental yard to pick up the Bobcat I got a call from them. I appears the previous days renter has failed to return said Bobcat. They went to retrieve it. Previous renter is using it and won't get out of it. They say he'll be done with it at approx 8:00 and will get it to their facility to change the bucket. Fill with fuel. And get it checked in. About 8:45 it was ready and I headed over. All good. We go to hook up the trailer and discover the truck I borrowed from the car dealership I work at has a factory hitch which is bigger than the usual 2" receiver which is normal. I call a friend who manages our Dodge/Ram dealerships parts dept. He says there is an adapter usually found under the rear seat or by the jack and tools which adapts the 2 1/2" receiver down to 2". Cool! Lift up rear seat. Add-on sub woofer. Check. Adapter? Nada. Look under both front seats. Big amp. Check. Adapter. Nada. So I burn down to the local farm and ranch store Atwoods which I know has a good selection of hitch and trailer items. Woo hoo! An adapter!! $20.00? I gleefully pay for a item I woke up today not knowing I needed but managed to find. By 9:30 I'm on the road! Finally. 2 hours late. A honking headache trying to come on as my type A personality planned and got up early to get my day started before the heat of the day came on. I remind myself of all the rainy days I sat glumly looking out the window like the picturesque child perched on a window sill elbows apart and his chin resting on his hands as he sadly looks up at the evil clouds. I'm blessed. And spoiled. Pass a church and it's sign says something to the effect of "Spend more time counting your blessings instead of your complaints." I look in rear view mirror to see if God has tattooed any other "helpful" advice I might need to remember today. LOL. So I arrive energized to work from my new found gratitude! And from the stout coffee and Monster I consumed on the way down.
So in short order my boss, my friend arrives and we get to work. I get a bunch of gratitude having a friend who will come over and do this for me! And did I mention he's my boss at a car dealership? Not a construction firm or a builder. He
used to build churches all over the country for a local person. He just got tired of being gone a lot. This guy knows his stuff. It shows time and time again. A quick adjustment to the layout and dirt movement begins.
And this is a shot when he just finished or was in the process of finishing step 1. Digging and scraping dirt is not an exact science. It's about like cutting a table leg out wit a chainsaw
and it still require time on a lathe and much sanding. This ground has been worked before as the difference in loam and clay was present. (Along with a few "presents" leftover for us. Like buried cement blocks) But he knows when is good enough. Keep digging and that in-ground pool we all dream about would materialize right in front of our eyes!
This handy transit level (which is said to have built prob $500 million worth of churches) passed down from his late father made quick work of this tiny project by finding our grade and getting screeding rails level and ready to screed.
So now we need the material from the front driveway to the backyard. Time to take down a fence? Nope! Go through a 3rd garage which the previous owner had the foresight to have garage doors on both ends so we could drive right through!! I really appreciate them for that!
Awesome friend driving alert!! Very little fell out of the bucket while passing through the garage and will need cleaning up.
It starts like this.
And works like this.
End of day 1.
Two indispensable items. Screed board and the plate compactor.
Some side fill in and getting the sand into the back yard before I have to return the Cat tomorrow morning. And we call it a day. I'm proud we got this far. And how remarkable it feels under foot and looks. Having someone who knows where the stepping stones and alligators are is an immeasurable asset. Like not bringing too much screenings onto the area at once. After all you have to drag the stuff to move and level it.
Up early tomorrow (12:26 a.m. now I guess it's today!) to return the rental. and get back after it. 1st order of business is lay out the rails and figure where I have the pleasure of sinking 16 blocks in grown and making sure they match our grade. (eventually I get to sink 10 more for the patio) I expect well get the frame up and side panels and work on the slim layer of sand on the bottom and lay the pink foam. Shooting for a liner install Friday!! Woot woot!! Off to a much deserved bed!! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
