Lots of Progress

It was 3 weeks since we’d been to the house site. While we were gone, foundation waterproofing was completed, peripheral drain lines laid, and most of the backfill placed. Before the backfilling, the foundation felt like it stuck out of the ground like a big sore thumb. After backfilling, the foundation blends into the terrain and it is almost invisible as you approach from above.

The house site is gently sloped and the covered patio starts at grade level on the uphill side. On the downhill side, the patio is about 6 feet above grade. There will be an open railing so the view will be unimpaired. I shot a panorama today from the where we think we’ll have a large patio table. The view is pretty amazing.

The view from the covered patio.
(Click on the picture for an expanded view.)

Water and its drainage has always been one of my main concerns. At our Oakland house, getting rid of water has always been a challenge. What I’ve learned is that you have to think about drainage up front, not 40 years after the house is built. At the new house, we hope to catch the runoff from the slopes above the house and from the roof and use a large diameter underground pipe to carry it to a spot well below the house. The backhoe operator was there today digging one of the trenches for the drainpipe. Watching him is a real pleasure; he controls his backhoe like a concert pianist. Remember the kid's book “Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel”? I can’t help thinking of it as I watch him. His corners are all neat and square…

Annotated panorama looking up from downslope.
(Click on the picture for an expanded view.)

Annotated panorama looking from upslope.
(Click on the picture for an expanded view.)

The shop foundation

The next things to be completed are some retaining walls and the slab parts of the foundation. Since these slabs are actually the finished surface of the covered patio, main  house basement, and walkways we have to decide on what color we want the concrete to be. (This isn’t a choice between colors like sky blue or chartreuse, the choice is between subtly different shades of brown and grey.) The color is put in the concrete at the supplier so the color is not just on the surface. For some reason, this also makes the color somewhat variegated and it changes with different light.

Looking farther out, it is now completely apparent that we are going to have a huge landscaping job. Susan has been thinking in terms of a designing a new garden but that will only be a small part of the work. We hope to start talking to landscapers soon.