We worked under the house this weekend, digging 4 of the 14 1-foot deep holes for the cement pads that will interiorly support the second floor. These 4 will support the stairs so they overlapped quite a bit. The final space ended up being 6’x7′. When last we were digging under the house, we learned that it was extremely difficult work to remove the dirt from under the house through the single access point on the West side (even though we had significantly enlarged the opening. We were piling the dirt on tarps and dragging the dirt half the width of the house before removing it.
So we took some time to cut 2 new access points in the existing foundation. This was tough jackhammer work, but Dad brought over his newest toy, a recently acquired Makita 1 1/2″ rotary hammer. While this didn’t make cutting the concrete out easy,
it made it easier. We had to move a big camillia bush from the back yard
where we wanted to access point. In the previous post, there was a picture with Max
standing in the raised planter. That is where the camillia bush was transplanted.
As usual, Lucy slept through all of the banging, including the 5 or so times I hit
my head on the floor joists in the 18″ crawlspace we were working in. But on Friday,
about 4 pm, Toby asked us that we take a break from jackhammering to allow Lucy to
fall asleep in the room above where we were working (apparently, the noise will keep
her from falling asleep, but not wake her up once she is asleep). So we trekked over
to Dad’s favorite Carpinteria watering hole, Island
Brewing Company. We walked (the whole 2 blocks) over and had pints of Jubilee
Ale with pretzels for munchies. New east side access point where the camillia
used to be rooted.

New south side access point under the current master bedroom.

Under house excavation. Notice that the sewage pipe has been wrapped
to protect it from the stress of the concrete. Also, you can see the depth of hole
from the grade at the base of the cement pier.