There comes a time in any project where you stop tearing things apart, and start putting them back together. Last week marked that point. The excavation is done and the oil tank is out, so it's time.
First, I borrowed Pete's awesome pressure washer. Both Erik and my Dad offered the use of theirs, but they're fairly anemic compared to this thing:
It runs on a 9HP gas engine, and generates 3600 PSI. This ain't my daddy's pressure washer. It made short work of cleaning the crap of the foundation, while sucking my well dry in short order.
Action shot:
Clean on the left, dirty on the right. Clean obviously being a relative thing.
You can pressure wash your clothing, too. In this case, it was the only thing that got my boots clean.
Next, it was time to apply a new coat of foundation sealer. Naomi really wanted to help with this part, for reasons I can't figure.
Mixing it up...
Like paint. Really, really thick, sticky nasty paint.
Rolling it on...
Naomi wearing my old boots to play in the mud...
Child labor rocks!
The artiste at work
Free hugs!
The next day, I put up dimpled membrane over the exposed part of the foundation. This stuff relieves hydrostatic pressure against the wall and provides good waterproofing.
Oooh, presents!
Sadly, I didn't get paid for this blatant plug:
It's easy. First you roll it out...
Using your first hand, you hold the stuff up against the wall. Using your second hand, you measure where the plug goes.
Using your third hand, you put the plug into the membrane. Using your fourth hand, you load the Ramset and hold it against the plug, and using your fifth hand, you swing the hammer. Easy!
Until you miss. Then, the "unbreakable impact-resistant handle" of the Ramset helpfully breaks off.
Cut to the proper height
And apply the molding on top. This will be buried just below grade.
That pretty well wrapped up the membrane installation, so it was time to start moving stone around. I borrowed my neighbor's tractor for this task. I was going to rent a Bobcat for this task, but John recently bought this tractor with a loader, and he was kind enough to loan it to me. Good neighbors rock. And I really, really want a tractor now.
Look at this gorgeous hunk of man meat driving this piece of machinery. Just look!
The view from the seat:
Dumping the load...
Repeat 427 times to move 18 yards of crushed stone. This took longer than I thought it would, but I was imagining what it would have been like to do this with a wheelbarrow and a shovel. A few hours later, I managed to backfill the hole where the oil tank was and move all 18 yards of stone from the driveway to the backyard. Pretty soon we'll be able to lay the perf pipe around the foundation, woohoo!
What happens if you repeatedly run over a broom with a tractor:
Next, we'll be doing the same trick with 18 yards of coarse sand.
