Pour me.. Part 1

When I last left you, the porch was finally gone - in it's wake was a holy mess.

I didn't even want to look at the front yard.  I kept trying to remind myself that this was demolition and demo is messo! (bad rhyme - I know)

After spending a weekend trying to make the yard look somewhat presentable and level so it wasn't a total muddy mess we would be able building the form for the footings for the block to sit on. All cleaned and ready.

We had to dig, fill and build the forms.  Took all day.  I'll admit, I didn't do much of this part.  I left the digging in the mud to the boys and went shopping.

It was as if I waved my magic want and they appeared.

And then it rained and rained and rained. We had a weekend trip planned to Roanoke to visit Black Dog Salvage (my Valentine's Day, Anniversary and Birthday present) and guess what, it rained here while we were gone.

So the following weekend the boys had to redo all the forms.  (I shouldn't say boys - Trevor is quite the man now - he's been such a big help and this work is NOT fun).  Oh yeah - I went shopping again.

But the weather stayed clearer and we got the inspector's blessing and we can pour!

Hidden Secrets

One of the problems with "demo" is that you often find hidden secrets - things the original builder did which you don't know about.  You see it all the time on renovation shows like Property Brothers and Fixer Upper.  Those hidden "gems" usually mean more work and more bucks.

And so it is with the front porch.  The burning question we had was "What is under there?"  We couldn't let it go.  So we stuck a camera in the little hole we created and we got an answer.

Now even with my limited knowledge of construction techniques, I knew this wasn't good news.  This HUGE slab of concrete was sitting on cinder blocks (they are not really supposed to be vertical!) and brick and wood.  NO WAY was this going to pass inspection and the guys at the city confirmed it.

So the simple "pour a new slab" became take it down, pour proper footings, and build a new front porch.  Cha-ching!

We had to get rid of the whole thing!  And that one little hole took HOURS with a jackhammer.  So we did what we rarely do - hired a contractor to do the demo.  (So much for "demo is free"!)

So on a Saturday morning the guy shows up with a bob-cat and a dump truck and goes to work.  This slab is VERY stubborn and very heavy and after some initial success with the planter and the sidewalk, disaster strikes.  The bob-cat breaks and none of the places that sell a replacement part is open.  Okay - well he can take what was removed to the dump and come back Monday and finish.  BUT - the ground is wet and the dump truck is stuck in our front yard!  Even dumping the load doesn't help.  And it has been there all week!

And of course the porch is still there too.