It's finally happening!

[Tom]

What do you  mean "don't stop now".  Me and woodbowl and bunch of us from around here have been hog-tying him to keep him from making us look bad.  He got loose!!

[DanG]

Yeah, I know about frost lines.  Ours is about 400 miles north of here. ;D

I forgot to mention that we ran out of mud with about 10 feet of trench to be filled. :-[  We had figured the concrete closely, according to the plans, but neglected to consider that the trench walls had eroded a bit, so it took more concrete.  James G scooted into town and grabbed a few bags of Portland, while I dug out the mixer and fetched some sand and gravel from the piles.  We mixed 6 half-bag loads and toted it over in the loader to finish the job out.  We were then ready for the signature.

[Husband]

Hey Dan, when ya done there how about coming down under for a crash course on the way we do it! 
Its simple, we promise beer and food after....man I never knew I had so many freinds. ;D
Bring the piggy roast table though, Tom might have to help you with it to get it on the plane ;).


Looks good. Keep going. More pics!!

[Don K]

I'm proud for you DanG. You've started down a sometimes   :  long road, but a good road none the less.

[pigman]

DanG DanG, mixing concrete by hand in that heat was worse than finishing in the heat.   Be carefull young man, we are too old to be doing that kind of work in extreme heat.

Bob

[badpenny]

   Ok, saw the pic's, so it really happened. Again, good on ya DanG. 8) 8) Sure is a good feeling to see the first steps taken, eh? A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step, and now that first step is taken.

[OneWithWood]

You are right about those friends.  It takes a special kind of person to volunteer to help pour concrete.  Good idea on the pump.  I remember dragging wet mud down a shute to get it to the far reaches of a foundation.  No fun at all.
Have you started sawin' out the framing material?

[Corley5]

Looks good DanG  8) 8) 8)

[TexasTimbers]

I'm happy for ya DanG. You don't get friends like that unless you're a well-liked feller, and ya don't  get to be well-liked feller unless you're a purdy DanG good guy!.

you know what they say . . . . Good thangs happen to good DanGs!

[SwampDonkey]

Hot diggity Dang.  8)  ;)

[thecfarm]

Looking forward to more pictures.What's next to do?

[isawlogs]

Lookin good Dang ,  8) 8) 8)

Now is this gonna be putting the ride north in jeopurdy ???  It bloody well not ..... ;D

[DanG]

Naww Marcel.  After the last few days, I won't be up to doing much else before late Augember or early Septober.

Cfarm, next step is about 800 blocks for the stem walls and piers.  Thankfully, we can take our time with that.  We're not on any kind of schedule here.

Hey, thanks for all the kind words, guys!  This has been a slow process, so far, but I'm fired up and ready to move forward now.  BTW, they hooked up the temp power today, so I'm running real short on excuses. :-\

[Dave Shepard]

BTW, they hooked up the temp power today, so I'm running real short on excuses. :-\

Don't you just hate when you run out of excuses? That's when you have to pull out the top secret procarstination tools. :D


I was always told the journey of a thousand miles started with a flat tire.


Dave

[isawlogs]

 Well give me a call when ever you run out of excuses as I am dang good at finding some . I can call dat boss of yours and give her all those excuses in Français , She never know what hit her um .  

[DanG]

OWW, I'm gonna buy my framing lumber.  It just isn't practical to cut it myself.  I can buy good ol' SYP from a local mill, all kd and stamped for very little more than I'm getting for rough sawn SYP.  I'm also working on an arrangement with Coastal Plywood to pick up my sheet goods directly from their plant in our County.  Most everything else will come from my mill.

Dave, this journey did indeed start on a flat.  I've had those trenches dug for well over a year.  That they held up so well is simply a testament to good soil.  I probably could have gotten away with ten yards of concrete, but would have spent the rest of my days worrying about it.  As it is, I know two things for sure...it ain't gonna blow away, and it ain't gonna sink! ;D ;D  That knowledge is worth a lot more than I paid.

[fat olde elf]

Congrats on the beginning !!!! Ten years ago right now I was midway through our current abode....Moved in in December 1997...Built the place to sell, couldn't get the wife out of here with a stack of dynamite now, I guess we'll stay for a while...My inspectors turned out to be my best friends on the project, they kept my subs in line....... You really have fun, don't you ? DanG good job............

[DanG]

Thanks fat! (I can call ya "fat" can't I?  Somehow, FOE just doesn't seem appropriate. ;D )  You're right, I do have fun.  I think it's the only thing worth having.

I hope the inspectors ain't too hard on the subs, as the subs is ME!

[sawmilllawyer]

Dang, Dang, pictures posted of concrete trucks and all. Looks great, Looks straight, Looks like a running start.  After pumping and finishing that much concrete you and friends deserve a much needed break. My back aches for you.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not making excuses here for any future construction delays "(procrastination); but you can't do anything for while cause crete gotta cure. Just don't want to mess up any green concrete here with to much activity, now do ya?

[OneWithWood]

DanG, I certainly understand the framing lumber buy.  The only thing I found harder than the concrete pour was the block laying.  I am sure you are doing bunches of sit ups and 12oz curls to get ready for that.  ;)

[Blake22]

Good to see some progress going on in Gretna.  ;D You need to take some of that red clay over there and make your own bricks. DanG I think you might be tellin a lie on that 100 degree temperture, it had to be at least 110 that day.

[DanG]

I ain't too worried about the block laying.  The trouble with the concrete was that it all had to be done at once.  With 3 trucks coming at 45 minute intervals, it was a mad scramble for about 3 hours in the hottest part of the day.  With the blocks, I can work at my own pace on my own schedule.  I don't give a hoot if it takes six weeks! ;D

Blake!  Where ya been, buddy?  You need to visit yer Uncle Bill, ya know.  'Course, he's on the wagon right now, so you'd hafta spend happy hour over here. ;D :D

[JAMES G]

now that I got my computer behaving {was using the wrong size hammer} I can tell about how upset I was about working on Dan's job site.

                                                                                                           
1.dan spent most of his time walking around with sunglasses on and a walking cane pointing where he wanted the mud something about coolhand luke and the walking boss.
2.we were not allowed to test drive the concrete trucks, dan said that was his job  >:(                                                                                                                           3.when the job was done dan said he would buy all of us a round of beer. and he did one beer to be shared by all of us

[Dan_Shade]

did he make you carve a bottle opener from a chunk of slabwood?

[Don_Papenburg]

I hope that round was at least a 1/4 keg ;D