Partay!

Since we were building on a big ol' piece of rock, the first order of business was to scrape the topsoil back to find out where the ledge was (by the way, I forgot to mention in the last post, that the excavator came back in the spring, finished the driveway, and put in the septic field.)  Dan had dug a few test holes, so we had a pretty good idea where the ledge was, but wouldn't know for sure until it was all cleared out. The highest point of ledge would dictate the lowest point of the floor.  So, we all met at the site to look at ledge.  It turned out that my Uncle Bob was visiting, and our friends Cheryl and Jean were in town, staying with our friends, Pam and Dave.  Since we were all going out for dinner that night, everyone came along to see the site.  Matt and I had kinda hoped we could smash a bottle of champagne on the side of the excavator or something before digging started, but it just didn't work out.  So, we brought a few bottles of champagne to celebrate.  Credit to Pam for taking pictures:

Jen, Cheryl, and Jean

Jen, Cheryl, Jean, Dave, and (Uncle) Bob  (check out my polka dot boots!)

Dan, Carol, and Matt

As it turned out, the ledge was exactly where we expected it, so no dynamite was necessary.  The highest point was in the garage.  To keep the more dense fumes from entering the house from the garage, most insurance companies like the garage to be lower than the house.  This meant the slab for the house would be elevated a bit.  This was the last time we saw the site without a foundation on it.  Within a few days, the beginning of a slab foundation was already in place.