The House

Getting the Foundation

We had a new well dug when we first moved out here. The drill company hit water at a little over 8 feet and bottomed out at 13 feet. Because of this bit of information our original plan for a full basement had to quickly be rethought.


We decided to go with a 4 foot deep crawl space and move the “basement” into the attic. What a concept. It brought the house up above the grade by several feet. Which should help if (Heaven Forbid) there should be a massive flood. Our lot was above the high water mark, even during the “500 Year Floor” that happened shortly before we bought. But you never can tell, what with “Global Warming” and all.
Lucky for us, we bought a used BobCat Skid Steer from Northern Tool Company. This machine has saved us several times since beginning this project. Ed used it to dig the foundation, and then to back fill too.

Ed and I took the time to build our own foundation form boards. We used 4×8 sheets of OSB plywood, coated with a mixture of diesel fuel and used oil for a release agent. We’ll reuse the plywood on the roof with the coated side up towards the tar paper and shingles. It’s not just because we are cheap. It’s mainly because Ed wants the results to come out just right.