When Williams was here to bid on the concrete removal I asked if they could also excavate the foundation. Dennis replied that his brother, Dale, could do it. First problem was that Dale was on a long term project and therefore could only work on other projects over the weekend. Second problem was that because Williams don't normally excavate foundations they didn't have the right tools, specifically their excavator had only one shovel that was 24" wide. This was OK for the outer perimeter where we needed an additional 6" more than the 15" footing with to set the forms, however with the interior footing the trench was 9" wider than needed which meant pouring lots of extra concrete - $$$ ouch. Later, Mike Wright, the framing contractor, suggested forming up the interior footing and doing two pours, one for the footings, the other for the slab floor. This would allow us to control the amount of concrete in the footing pour and then fill in with more gravel before the slab pour.
Some other problems occurred as well. Once we realized that we were excavating more soil then we needed, Dennis Williams brought in a tractor and large debris box to remove the extra soil. First he lowered the debris box, with the tractor inside out in the street - resulting in a huge bang and bringing out the neighbors. Then he began to load the dirt with the debris box in the street, dropping some dirt along the way, not a lot but enough. One of our neighbors came over and was very upset, so we stopped loading the dirt and cleaned up the street. I should have known better. Following this incident I printed up a letter to all neighbors apologizing for any inconvenience and encouraging them to contact me if they had any problem with the construction.
Layout after leveling
Dale and Dennis working the yard
Me with a water level to check height
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