It's us vs. the ledge

The forms sitting on the ledge

The good news:  the land is clear, and there is a huge hole where the house will be. The bad news: the excavation crew hit the ledge that runs beneath the lot. Back on the good news side, they were able to dig to the necessary depth, so no blasting will be required. It turns out that it is not a terrible thing for the house to be situated on the ledge, it just complicates things (and increases the cost!). The crew spent the morning uncovering the ledge with shovels and brooms so that the foundation guys would be able to start their work. As of this afternoon, we have some of the forms for the footings in the ground, but as you can see from the pictures, there isn't a level surface beneath them. The foundation crew will have to spend some time custom-making extensions for the forms before they can pour in the cement. Hopefully by Tuesday the footings will be done. The house is due to be set and delivered on Saturday, August 28, which is only a week from tomorrow! But there is so much still to be done that we're not quite convinced that they'll be able to keep that date. We have some video of the clearing process, and if we can ever figure out how to get it off the memory card and into the computer, we'll post some of it so you can see for yourself. Plans for the weekend: packing!