This weekend we had our contractor, the excavator, electrician and well driller all out to the site together to finalize where everything will go and start the process of estimating what the site work will cost. We were only missing one person, the planner from electric company.

We have four major items to figure out before we finalize our budget.

1) The house. We know where we would like the house to sit, but there are several issues to consider. Such as, can we get a hole in the ground there? There’s a lot of ledge, and we can’t afford blasting, so we need a relatively soft spot to dig the foundation. And how well does the site drain? After all, we’re trying to build a basement, not a swimming pool. To figure this out we needed to do a bit of exploratory digging. This is where our excavator Joe comes in with the backhoe. To everyone’s amazement, he was able to dig a 9’ deep hole near the back wall of the basement. And to the continued amazement of the crowd, it was dry. So at least for now, the odds are good that we can get a full basement in the ground where we want it. Check.

2) The leech field. This was actually the easiest out of the four. We had a perk test done before we bought the property. I just wanted to make sure we had enough room for it and it was close enough to the house. Check.

3) The electric driveway. Big one. I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights thinking about the driveway. The driveway is not just the access to the site, its also the pathway for the electricity. Unfortunately the planner from the electric company did not show up. They are the ones that determine where the electricity will come onto the site, where the transformer will go and the disconnect. They also give you a price. But fortunately Joe was on the case and mapped out the path of the drive. It pretty much follows an old logging road. But we will have to wait for the planner to bless the path before Joe can start. Tentative check.

4) The well. I wasn’t really sure they would be able to get their truck up the hill, and if so, where they would most likely want to drill the well. But Clarence assured me, this wasn’t the worst site they’ve ever drilled. Even if it meant having a bull dozer pull the truck up the hill. He also suggested a nice easy spot to place the well. Hopefully we won’t have to trench through a lot of ledge to get the water to the house. Check.

I still have a long list of items on my to do list, but we are on our way!