Septic Tank Is In!

The septic tank is in! One more step forward.

We hired a couple of teenagers to clean out the loose dirt in the lateral lines for the leach field. They didn't quite finish but Russ was real happy with their work. When we are ready for inspection, we will have them back out to finish.

Russ also hired a guy (Mark) to rip out the rest of the sheetrock on the other side. He didn't want me covered in insulation again. So Mark finished that and helped Russ set the poles for the biginning of our deck. The cool thing about that is that he will be able to start the steps as soon as he gets some decking material on.

This will probably be the last post for a few weeks. We are leaving for Michigan on Friday and won't return until mid-August. My dad will be back at the end of August and we hope to put him to work on the plumbing! (Are you ready for that Dad?)

The Septic System is Dug!

We have gotten a lot done over the last several days.

I have finished gutting one side of the building. I removed the center wall, two closets, paneling, sheetrock (on the ceiling), and all insulation. I also removed all the nails on the outside walls and almost all the nails in the ceiling joists. Then I took all the usable 2x4 wood, and removed all the nails from them. I also removed the siding where we are putting the addition.

Russ rented a backhoe this weekend. And what a weekend it was! On Wednesday, he started a second story deck with a roof underneath . He and his crew were supposed to be done on Friday. But leave it to the lumber company to make sure THAT didn't happen. The first lumber they needed, the 6x6s, didn't arrive on the truck Wednesday morning. Then didn't arrive until around 5 pm. Russ was "fit to be tied." He thought he had a few hours left on Saturday. It ended up taking until 4 pm. Meanwhile, the backhoe sat here with no one to run it.

When Russ arrived from the jobsite on Saturday, he took the backhoe to the back and dug holes He got the hole dug for the 1000 gallon tank and started digging the lateral trenches for the leach field. Russ was concerned that he wouldn't get it all done before Monday when they are scheduled to pick it up.

Sunday, I took his dad's tractor back there and started moving the dirt that Russ was digging out. It was a LONG day. But we finished. I feel like someone has beat me up. Bouncing around all day on that tractor is hard on the body. We finished up around 7 pm. Russ put 10 hours on the backhoe.

The sand and gravel are due to arrive on Tuesday. And the septic tank is schedule for Wednesday. But Russ is going to have to call and push that back to Thursday or Friday.

Good news/Bad news...

The good news we received the last post - that our power had been released - was wrong. Bexar county had released it. But then, the ETJ declined it. Yesterday, Pat (Russ' dad) got a list of things that have to be done for it to be released. Some of this stuff costs money that they don't have. So I don't know what is going to happen next...

But we are pressing forward anyway...

We worked hard on the house this last week. Russ got the floor in on the addition. And he dug the holes for the deck around the addition. Once he gets the poles in for the deck, he can start building the deck and, more important, the steps up to the house. That way, we won't have to use a ladder to get in and out.

I worked Saturday and Monday on tearing up the inside. All the paneling, sheetrock, interior walls, etc. need to come out. And then, all the nails holding that stuff to the outside walls and ceiling need to be removed. I can see a BIG difference, but the photo doesn't do it justice.