Foundation Excavate

 It was time once again to bring out the excavator. This time I was excavating for the storm drain, sewer and most importantly the foundation. It took about twice as long as I expected, probably due to the small bucket (12" wide), which is all my truck could tow. I love working with these machines.

The storm drain installed

The storm line and dry well excavated

Footprint of the building excavated

Roots from the fir tree that was cut down seemed to be everywhere

Shed

 The neighbor who helped split the wood from the fir tree suggested I built a shed to house all the wood. I was reluctant at first, then realized I could use this shed to temporarily stay in as I built the cabin. It took about 2 to 3 weeks to build but is constantly being added to and improved.

The end result

Adding the 3 posts opposite of the fence that would make the wall of the shed

2x6 roof rafters added

Making progress with plywood walls and a metal roof

The inside of the shed. It kept flooding until I diverted the neighbors roof drain away from the uphill side.

Inspektor Takoda. Very strict and code abiding, until the dog treats come out.

The finished product. Siding by 40 year old fence boards, windows from Craigslist, and wood trim by old fence boards found on the property. 

The inside view with a fire in the stove and a dog resting not in a dog bed, but rather the leather chair.

Electrical Trench

 To get temporary electrical at the property, the Skamania PUD requires underground installed at 3 feet depth. They also require a foot width which meant I had to excavate rather than run a trencher. This would be a new challenging experience for me.

The only way to get to the electrical pole was excavate between the gas and communication line. Yikes! I was able to do it without any tragedies though I did nearly topple the excavator a few heart stopping times as well as exposed the gas line. 

I started with the easy part where I had lots of space.

I had to build "lifts" for the mini excavator to reach across the culvert without tipping.

On the left side of this trench was a gas line, on the right was telecommunications

Success! PUD installed the temporary electrical without and complaints of my crooked excavation skills.

Stump Grind

Rather that pull out the stump with a back hoe which I would have needed to hire out, I decided to grind it down. It went fairly well and now I have more mulch than I could ever imagine.

Planting Grasses

 Since I removed many of the blackberry bushes from the steep hillside, I wanted to add other plants for erosion control. I ended up getting about 5 varieties of grasses which are drought tolerant (hopefully).

Gravel Pavers

 The only access to the property is a gravel road in the back that a previous owner installed. It's a little steep, curvy and the gravel is not packed so non 4 wheel drive vehicles tend to throw gravel all over the place. To correct that, I added gravel pavers at the steep parts and the curve.

Split and Stack

After felling the fir tree, we split and stacked the wood for days. At first we rented a hydraulic splitter then a neighbor came and suggested to hand split it. It was daunting at first, then I loved it. Great exercise and we think we yielded about 3 cords of wood.