Flatwork Floors

In early August, Carson and I worked on the flatwork prep for the basement floors and driveway by backfilling several loads of dirt, roadbase, and gravel. The dirt layer had to be compacted first and up to a certain heighth. The road base that followed also had to be compacted and several inches high. The gravel could then be put on top and raked out until it was 4-6 inches above the roadbase for the flatwork.

We were able to get both basement floors done with plenty of sunlight, but the driveway had to be done in the dark. We worked on it until 10:00 pm one night by backhoe light. We were too scared to upset the neighbors working any later with the noisy machinery, so we hoped the gravel was high enough and went home. The next morning when our flatwork crew arrived, the owner let me know that the gravel wasn't high enough on the driveway in some areas, so I grabbed a shovel and got to work. They drove up from Utah and I didn't want to be charged extra for them doing wheelbarrow loads that I could do myself, so I decided to get moving!

The owner told me he could have someone push the wheelbarrow loads for me... Well I didn't want to take their work time, so I decided to wheel it over myself. It was pretty heavy, but with a good heave-hoe effort I was able to get it from the back of the lot around to the front without a problem. As soon as the crew saw me doing it myself, one of them ran over to help me, but t was too late. I had already made it to the dump spot and successfully emptied it. Because he got there a little late, the rest the crew started making fun of him in Spanish. (I think he was the one who was supposed to help me originally.) I was happy to do it myself, besides... I always like a chance to burn extra calories, but from that moment on he wouldn't let me wheel over a load. So instead, I shoveled with another crew member. With two of us shoveling and one pushing over the wheelbarrows, we were able to knock down the loads pretty fast, and soon the driveway was in good shape. Thank goodness Carson and I finished the basement gravel first when we had plenty of daylight, because that would have been interesting trying to get wheel barrow loads through the window. (We rented a backhoe so he could dump the loads from up above.) And as you can see the finished result above! Here you can see the finished grade of the gravel Carson and I had done the night before on the basement. The plastic covering on top is called visqueen. It is a barrier that keeps the raidon gas from seeping through your cement floor and directs that gas into your raidon pipe, which carries it up and out your roof. Another shot of the upper half of the basement where we hope to put a bedroom, bathroom, and exercise room.

Right side outside view of basement.
Yeah! It's done! Carson measuring to check that wall lengths and dimensions are correct.

Upper half of basement finished. We really liked the flatwork crew and they did a great job.

Here's a good shot where you can see the split levels. The lower level is for a future theater room, at least that's what we would like to do some day, but who knows...

Maybe it will turn into a huge room for all that food storage we are supposed to be stocking up on! We will see... we won't start on the basement for a while. Putting the yard in will be a big enough project timewise and financially next Spring/Summer.