Six or more earth moving machines were
operating at the same time last week.

Taking advantage of the good weather, the past week has been a blur of activity. At times, more than half a dozen earth moving machines of varying types and sizes and several different trades were working at the same time. 

Eight inch green pipe will channel
rainwater to the collection unit. A
tamper carefully back fills along
the new basement wall.

Excavators dug trenches for plumbers who installed a pipe around the perimeter of the new addition that will channel the rain water from the roof to the storm-water containment unit in the rear. A French drain was also installed and the trench was back-filled to grade.

This maze of PVC pipes connects to the
original terracotta pipe using a Fernco
connector visible in the upper left

The floor in the old basement was demolished and ditches were dug in the new addition so that another team of plumbers could install a maze of new PVC sanitary sewer pipes for our three new bathrooms, the utility sink in the janitors closet, the water fountain and several floor drains. 

The orange circles show where the sanitary
sewer pipes will come through the wall.

The pipes in the new addition will connect to the new pipes in the basement through two holes that will be bored through the basement walls where the orange circles are painted, as you can see in the accompanying photo. It's interesting to note that all of the new high-strength plastic pipe connects to a single terracotta sanitary sewer line, which was installed under the floor when the house was built in 1920. The connection was made using a Fernco flexible coupling - like an uber radiator hose - specifically designed for the purpose. Before completing the project, our plumber will inspect the old line running under the house to ensure it is in good working order. Sunnyhill recently hired its own plumber to inspect the terracotta sanitary sewer that runs from the house to the street and found it to be in very good condition with very few roots. We expect the pipe running under the building to be in the same condition. 

Our oak tree would have been planted in the vicinity of the car
to the right in this 1920 photo taken from Sunnyhill's front door.

Our excavator, Jeff Helbig Construction, finished removing the stump of the oak tree and back filled the hole. A preliminary count of the rings of the section of trunk that we saved revealed that the tree is about 100 years old, not nearly as old as we thought given its large diameter. This, along with construction photographs and a 1920 drawing of the proposed landscaping, suggests that the tree was planted as part of the original Olmsted landscape design when the house was built. 

Geotextile and gravel have been
installed in the pit that will be used
to control storm water runoff.

Perforated tanks for the storm water
containment unit

Helbig Construction also continued work on the storm water containment unit by lining it with a water permeable geotextile and partially filling it with stone. To complete the unit, two tanks, an inflow pipe and an outflow pipe will be installed and covered with gravel. The gravel will be covered with more geotextile and topped off with two feet of soil. Once it is complete, the only visible evidence of the containment unit will be a maintenance hole cover.

The surface of this cement block has been
ground smooth.

Masons were also at work on our new home installing ground-face block on top of the foundation walls. This special eight-inch high block has a durable polished surface that will be visible between the soil and the stucco surface of the exterior walls of the new addition. The top of the block seen in the accompanying photo, indicates the height of the floor. Over the basement, a standard floor will be built using wooden floor joists and plywood. In the new addition, which is slab on grade, four inches of gravel will be topped with four inches of concrete.

The top of the concrete slab floor will be level with
the top of the cement block in the center of the photo.

Also noteworthy, two cuts were made through the footings for the HVAC duct, which is expected to arrive on Monday. This specialized HDPE product, trade-named Blueduct, is designed specifically to buried below grade. Excavation for the duct is scheduled for Tuesday and the duct will be installed immediately afterward. The goal is to have the duct in place and the gravel poured by the first week in December when the steel roof support members are due to arrive and be erected. 

About 50 percent of the root ball was
decayed by Ganoderma

The historic Sunnyhill red oak tree has been removed. The tree was infected with an incurable fungus, Ganoderma, that caused the roots to rot and branches in the crown to die. It is the same fungus that killed the Anne Frank chestnut tree in Amsterdam. Weakened by sewage, the Anne Frank tree fell over five years after being infected despite heroic attempts to save it with fertilizer and by building an iron frame around the trunk. Our red oak tree was adversely affected by our parking lot, which covered a large portion of its root structure and made the tree susceptible to the infection. We discovered after the stump was excavated that the decay caused by the fungus involved about 50 percent of the root ball. We also found that the tree was growing on top of a large outcropping of shale which caused the roots to be wide and shallow.

A two-ton section of the
oak tree we hope to save

When the crown was removed, approximately 7 tons of logs were saved. These logs will be sawed into boards and made available to artisans within Sunnyhill for woodworking projects. Smaller logs will be turned into bowls. We have also saved a 4,200 pound section of the trunk 70 inches in diameter and 30 inches thick cut just above the ground. We will try to preserve this section for future milling into an artisan piece that can be installed in the church. For now it is sitting in the parking lot.

Seven tons of logs for the sawyer

While the removal of the red oak tree was not directly related to building our new home, taking it down now allowed us to save money by having it done in conjunction with other excavation going on at the same time.

In addition to excavating the red oak and maple tree stumps, this week and next, our excavator, Jeff Helbig Construction (JHC), will be backfilling around the foundation, digging trenches for rain gutter leaders, and installing tanks in the storm water containment unit. JHC will also excavate the trench and install the pipe that will connect the storm water retention unit with our existing storm sewer that runs to Sunnyhill Drive. The intersection of new and existing storm sewer pipes is expected to be in the hill just below the driveway to the garage. The route of the existing pipe is marked by pink flags.

The foundation is ready for back-fill

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, RDC, TEDCO and the Sunnyhill construction team held its regularly scheduled meeting. TEDCO reported that we are about two weeks behind schedule. The schedule was adversely affected by the changes in the HVAC plan and the subsequent delay in ordering the duct-work that goes under the sanctuary floor. The duct was to be installed and the concrete floor poured by Dec. 1 when the steel framework for the sanctuary roof was to arrive. In the new schedule, the steel framework will go up and the floor will be poured afterward. With proper planning and help from Mother Nature, we may be able to make up the lost time and get back on schedule for late June completion.

Looks like sculpture, but it's tank parts
 for the storm water retention unit

The basement floor will be replaced
with a four-inch thick concrete slab

At the same meeting the construction team approved the demolition of the existing basement floor, which will be replaced with a new four-inch thick concrete slab. The floor was supposed to be patched, but it is too thin and too badly damaged to be saved. The team is also working with RDC on the design of the new front door to the church, which the congregation will have the opportunity to review and comment on. We have also begun looking at roofing shingle samples, interior and exterior trim colors, wood colors for the doors and sanctuary ceiling, and the size and position of the glass in the interior doors to ensure that everything works together aesthetically and can be ordered and delivered within a time frame that doesn't affect our schedule.

Since the last update, the foundation block has been grouted and waterproofed. The next steps will be to backfill the foundation and install the plumbing, primarily waste pipes, that run under the slab. TEDCO also finished the opening that will become a new door from the rear (fireplace end) of the fellowship hall to the outside. For those who remember, when we built the extension to the fellowship hall in 1994, we had a lintel installed in the wall in anticipation that one day it would become the entrance to a new sanctuary.

Grouting the foundation with concrete

Waterproofing installed on the foundation

New doorway from the fellowship hall.

While the pace of construction has slowed somewhat, we are still on schedule. Weather affected the timing of the foundation waterproofing, which was finished today, and we had to wait for new drawings for the HVAC before we could order the Blueduct that will be buried under the sanctuary floor. The duct has been ordered, and we expect it to be installed and the floor poured by the beginning of December.

Drawing showing the path of the new and existing storm sewers.

Last week the construction team hired RDN Plumbing to inspect, locate and determine the depth and slope of the storm sewer. This information was essential to plotting the path of the new sewer from our storm water retention. Based on the information we gathered, the new storm sewer will connect with our existing storm sewer at the catch basin in the driveway by the garage. The inspection also revealed that the sewer is all plastic pipe - a good finding - from the building to the curb, and it is in good condition. Now that we have the new drawing, TEDCO will be able to excavate the trench for the new pipe. While on site, the excavator will also remove the maple and oak tree stumps and excavate the trenches for the HVAC duct in the sanctuary.