It was a very productive week here in Kradolf. It's amazing how long it takes to build a house and how quickly it is destroyed. The excavator came early Monday morning, and I mean around 6:30 am on Monday, the sun was just coming out. Monday was focused on tearing down the addition. This is when Paul and I helped the most. Paul made a deal to lower the cost that we help with the work. Paul helped most days (Monday to Thursday - Friday being a holiday), and I helped mostly on Monday.

The reason for removing the addition is to give room for all of the vehicles and the crane that is coming to build the new house. This means that the addition as well as the grass around the addition needed to be removed. The goal of this area was to turn it into something similar to a gravel parking lot.

Therefore the first step on Monday morning was to remove the grass/top soil around the addition. The exactor filled up a tractor that Paul drove to the mini field we own, to store the top soil in the meantime. We will be using this to fill up the hole were the current house is, once we tear it down next year. Next came the destruction of the addition. Paul and I were then in charge of sorting out the different materials, for example insulation, wires and concrete. We had removed most of the insulation on Saturday, the only other insulation, as a cork tile that was put between the radiator and outer wall. Other than that the house had no insulation, which is crazy! By the end of the day the addition was flat on the ground and I was too. I was exhausted!

Tuesday to Thursday was more or less just moving more top soil, dirt and gravel around.

Tuesday started off the same way that Monday did, but this time is was the top soil of where the new house would go that needed to be moved. Under the top soil there is the dirt layer, this layer the excavator driver collected and made a nice pile of as well, again to help fill in the hole of the old house.

Wednesday morning finished off with the dirt collecting and then moved onto the gravel that came out underneath. Our property has a lot of gravel, which is excellent for us as we get money for the gravel that they take away and we used it to create our gravel parking lot. Wednesday was also the day that Paul helped with adding concrete supports under the garage, as they were scared that the garage would slip away because of the new building going up beside it. So they needed to dig under the foundation of the garage and add some additional concrete support.

Wednesday night we also met with our electrician. Paul and I agree on most things but the biggest disagreement is a light sensor in the upstairs hall. I say no, but Paul says yes. I feel that when I wake up to go the bathroom at night, I don't want to be blinded by the light from automatically coming on in the hall way. Oh decisions, decisions.

Thursday after some gravel moving and making more piles, was the day they started to dig the hole for the new house.

On Saturday, Paul and I covered the attic door (top storey grey door) and the past opening into the addition (covered by yellow wood in the pictures) with plastic. Later this week we will insulate from the inside. This will give up protaction from the elements, and hopefully keep out some heat in the summer and keep in the heat in the winter months.

It was an interesting week, with many changes. It still almost doesn't feel real to me, I'm sure that will change once the actual construction starts. Thanks again for reading.