More rock, more gravel, more dirt...

For the past three weeks we have been finishing the driveway and parking area around the shop. Harvey did a great job widening the tight curves in the driveway, and grading and graveling the area surrounding the shop. I finished grading and smoothing the gravel with my tractor and rear blade. Susan was excited to finally get all the stuff off the hill in front of the shop. We moved our little camper trailer, my three trailers, my M37 fire truck, the firewood, the communications shelter we were using as a storage locker, the fencing materials and all the miscellaneous items that had found their way onto the hill over to the rear of the shop. I also returned the crane truck that I had used for the shop construction to its owner. I will likewise move the tractor implements to the graveled area as I use them. I must say that it does look a lot better.

The bathroom in the shop is almost finished. The room has been sheetrocked and painted. I built a small cabinet for the sink, and covered the countertop with laminate. The fixtures, water heater, light and fan have been installed, and the door has been hung. All that's left to do is paint the door, door trim, and cabinet.

Our next project was to install a product called "Battle Drain II" on the outside walls of the daylight basement. This product has a plastic backing, honeycomb center, and felt front. It is designed to channel any ground water that may come in contact with the basement walls down to the French drain that will run along the base of the foundation. The picture shows the first roll installed. We will install another roll above this one, making the coverage eight feet high. As I reported in a previous post, we have already applied two coats of waterproofing to the walls, so this might be considered overkill. That's OK with me. If we don't have any water problems, I'll consider it a job well done.

With the first course of Battle Drain installed, we will now install the French drain and backfill the first four feet of dirt. Once this is done, we will install the second course of Battle Drain, and lay out the piping for our outside water hydrants.

In the meantime, we are coordinating with the well pump guy, the HVAC people, the electrician, and the plumbing inspector to get their respective jobs done so we can pour the basement floor.