Sump pump and fill

On Friday, we got word from the weather guy that we were in for a string of warm days. Long overdue and just what we needed to help evaporate the week's worth of rain trapped in the new basement. To help get things on the road to dryness, we borrowed a sump pump from some friends. Mission accomplished. Soon after hooking up the pump, bobcat guy returned to fill around the foundation wall. We've now queued up the framers, who we expect to make an appearance before Canada Day.

Exxon Valdez? Not exactly.

In between bouts of rain, tar guy came by to spray the foundation with, well, tar. They call it damp-proofing, I call it an environmental wasteland. Things might not have looked so bad had we not had rain shortly after. With the damp-proofing complete, the city inspector came over and signed off on the foundation. So far, so good. In the next few days, bobcat guy will return and backfill the deep moat around the foundation and our nasty oil slick. I give it another twenty years before it bubbles up to the surface. We'll be long gone by then.

Pink Floyd ain't got nothing on these walls

Last week, on schedule, concrete guy returned and set up the forms for the basement walls. It's hard to believe that you can pour concrete and have it dry while it rains.
The downspout for the roof was draining into open pit - creating a moat of water around the footings and sea of water on the inside. A day or two after they poured the foundation walls, they removed the forms - the cement looked very wet, but we have had a few dry days (despite a forecast for four solid days of rain) and the walls have become lighter in colour - a clear indication that they are drying.

Once the walls are fully dry (fingers crossed for no rain) they will return to apply the waterproofing on the outer surface. Then it's a matter of getting the proper drainage installed and backfilling the dirt. It will be nice to return the mounds of dirt to their rightful place. Lord only knows what the state of the grass will be once the dirt is gone. It couldn't be any worse than it was before.

Houston, we have footings

Not that this picture does the situation any justice, but we have footings - on which they will build walls and place the floor. Hooray! Out came the sun and dried up all the rain so the itsy-bitsy.... you get the point. Concrete guy showed up today and did his thang. Don't hold your breath for much new in the next few days - concrete guys says he won't be back until next week.