Moved Out

This is all that is left in the house, 1/2 a couch and some boxes in one bedroom

Do you always forget how to hook up the stereo, computer, etc? I do! Take a picture for future reference :-)

The Kitchen is now..........gone! I saved some cabinets for the future garage, The orange "S" means demolish the sheetrock only on this wall. Fun times ahead!

Snowing on March 9th

Unbelievable weather for this time of year!

Doing some final packing, I don't think Q fits but he sure likes getting in boxes and bags:-)

I'm a List Guy

Today is a snow day; catching up with paperwork, revising and clarifying the plans, and planning what to tackle next, etc.. I have come to the conclusion that I am a list guy. I always have some sort of "To Do List" that I am working from. It keeps me organized and on track. Plus it feels good to check things off, especially when you feel like you aren't getting anywhere:-) Here is what I have learned over the years:

• Write down all your things to do as they pop into your head
• Organize and prioritize them after you have got them down.
• Break down complex things into multiple steps to tackle individually
• Check things off, cross them off, IT FEELS GOOD!
• I keep my list in the same place always, a Steno legal pad that I take notes in also. That way you don't lose it.
• By putting together a list I clear my head so I can focus.

I am pretty sure I wouldn't get much done without my lists! :-)

My Latest List

Cover the Drive in Snow! (and plastic)

Another wintery day in Kirkland, 2-3" of snow overnight!

Drive covered in snow plus I covered the compacted area with visqueen to minimize erosion and help the compacted area dry out.
Got an additonal 25 yards of topsoil material for free! This will go in the garden area that needs filling in along the retaining wall

Driveway Compacted

We hired the dozer operator to spread out the fill and compact it yesterday. This was the guy who drove the dump truck, Tight Quarters Excavation & Trucking, great guy! To do this they respread the dirt in about 1' lifts then compact it with a special vibrator. This will minimize major settlement over time, especially because of the overall depth of the fill we are doing.

The driveway area is now filled evenly and compacted. It will need some additional final fill by the wall but this will work great for now.

View from the side. I have some rocks to dig out and move further out of the way ;-(

The fill is packed smooth by the compactor machine. I need to cover this with visqueen so the frequent Seattle rains don't make it into a muddy mess :-)

MORE Fill Dirt

Another 5 truckloads today. It's starting to look like a front yard/new driveway.

I might be able to get a couple of more truckloads tomorrow and then we need to get this all properly compacted and spread out. This should be enough to lay the base for the whole drive area which will provide good construction access as we move forward.

Fill Dirt & Craigslist!

I have been keeping an eye on Craigslist for some clean fill dirt and last night I found some. What a great deal, only $30/truck load! That's about 12-14 yards of clean structural fill super cheap. I got 7 truckloads today and still need some more but this got us well on the way to filling in the front yard. I will need to spread and compact the dirt next. Considering the slowdown in construction I feel lucky to get so much fill for such a great deal. Gotta love Craigslist!

Seven Truckloads or 85-90 yards of fill so far.........

Ready to be spread and compacted under the new drive area.

Still need a bit more but you can start to visualize the new front yard