These pictures were taken on Monday morning. On Friday, July 21, 2006, they had added a layer of Volclay Ultraseal over the entire mud slab. Here is a description of this water- proofing technology from the CETCO Building Materials Group website:

"Volclay Ultraseal is a technological advancement in below-grade waterproofing that combines natural sodium bentonite and a chemically resistant hydrophilic polymer to form a bentonite-polymer alloy (BPA). Ultraseal provides exceptional performance unmatched by other commercially available waterproofing systems. The key to Ultraseal’s exceptional performance is the unique bentonite-polymer interaction formed through a proprietary blending process. This process produces a homogeneous alloy with improved contaminant resistance, enhanced swelling properties, and a baseline permeability one magnitude better than natural sodium bentonite. Not only does Ultraseal have a lower permeability, it weighs 50% less than traditional bentonite products, making it easier to handle and install. The active, swelling properties of the bentonite-polymer alloy seals small concrete cracks and works under continuous and intermittent hydrostatic conditions."

The mud slab was poured two days ago and is almost dry now. You can clearly see the indentations for the sewer lines. Along the right side and in the back right corner, you can also barely make out the indentations for the light wells.

On Monday, the plumber will come to lay the pipes. Then later next week, the steel (rebar) goes in, on top of the water protection layer. Brad hopes to pour the structural slab on next Friday.

Here is a picture of that concrete form that was cast by Ferma. They set it in place yesterday.

The first cement mixer arrived at about 10 AM this morning. That's a picture of Brad (on the left) talking to George.

They started pouring the 4" thick mud slab in the back left corner and worked their way to the right. Brad said he's bringing in 4 truckloads of cement at about 9 yards per truck. That's almost 1,000 cubic feet of cement.

Here are a series of pictures taken on Friday, July 14, 2006.

In the first picture, you can see all the gravel has been put down. You can also see the shoring that was done on the right-side of the property. The same was done on the left-side. The reason for this shoring is to prevent the excavated walls from caving in. Normally they would cut the walls at an angle like they did at the back (as seen in the left half of this picture). But they can't do that on the sides because the house is only a few feet from the property line. The large 4-foot diameter round sleeve buried in the ground (the black object at the bottom middle of the picture) is where the sewer ejector is supposed to go. It's the lowest point in the basment. Unfortunately it's filled with water.

The next three pictures show a few of the sump pumps. The first one is near the sewer ejector, in the front of the property. As you can see, the water is just gushing into the french drain. The next one is located in the back right of the property. And the last one in located in the back left of the property.

The last picture is a basement-level view. From here you can better see the trenches for the sewers in the basement.

Brad met with Dennis, Rob, and George from Waterproofing Associates at the job site today to discuss the de-watering issues. The plan is to drop Water Stopper into the sleeve to seal the bottom as much as possible and prevent more water from bubbling up into the sleeve. Waterproofing Associates also suggested using Water Stopper wherever we have small puddles of water, such as in the light wells. They seem very satisfied with the waterproofing technique our contractor is using.

In the meantime, Ferma is casting a concrete form. It will have a 36" outer diameter and a 27" inner diameter. Using a crane, they will place the concrete form into the sleeve where it will keep the water out, while the mud slab is poured. If all goes well, the concrete form will be in place on Monday, and the mud slab will be poured on Tuesday.

We met with Gary (our architect from Focal Point Design), Brad, and Chris (from Argonaut Window & Door) today to finalize the Andersen window order. There were only a few window changes and a bunch of minor updates. We're all on the same page now, so our windows are all set!

Today they started laying a bed of gravel on top of thick plastic. The gravel will serve as the base for the mud slab.

In the third picture you can see the forms for one of the light wells.

In the last picture, you can see we still have de-watering issues where they had to dig trenches for the sewer lines. These trenches are several inches lower so that the sewer lines can slope (1/4" per foot) down to the sewer ejector. The sewer ejector will pump the sewer water out of the basement.

Lea & Braze Engineering staked the foundation a couple of days ago. Dennis, the field foreman for Jim Giancola Concrete in Hollister, and his crew have started building the forms for the slab. The last picture is a better view of the large Baker tank. To give you an idea of it's size, those chain link fences are six feet tall.

Speaking of fences, you've probably seen those red NATIONAL signs on fences (and port-a- potties) hundreds of times before. I never paid any attention to those signs, but National Construction Rentals is a huge company that rents all those things and more. We're also renting a temporary power pole from them.