Project Update

Over the past 3 weeks I've been working to figure out the best system for filling bags adequately and efficiently. Currently, I have about 3/4ths of the first row of the stem wall laid. The goal now is to finish this row, tamp it, and work on promoting the project to the community to acquire help in building the next rows. It's prime time for turning my project into a project in the hands of the community! I'll be working on filling bags every Sunday from now until winter! Come out and get your hands dirty!

Shot of the foundation

The current state of the project! Foundation filled and leveled. You can also see where the gravity fed drain pipe runs down the hill. Can't wait to start laying the bags!

Progress continues!

Hello! Well, the truck is still stuck. Springtime rain has definitely postponed filling bags. That's ok though! Working outside will be much nicer when the sun is out and the temperatures have warmed a bit. Sunday was perfect working weather, 60s and sunny. My mother and I got outside and built 20 velcro plates and strip anchors! Strip anchors are 2x4s or 2x6s that are the width of the bag wall (15 - 18in) nailed onto a velcro plate which is a 1 in thick x 12in long x 15-18in wide board. These are placed every 3-4 layers in the bag rows so that door frames, window frames, etc can be nailed into the walls later on! We're going to need to build about 50 more velcro plates and strip anchors before the walls are completely built, but 20 is a goooood start!

A Little Hold Up

Well, construction has been underway for the past few weeks. My mother, Mark, and myself have been spending time perfecting the construction plan, filling and leveling the foundation trench, building tools, and preparing the site for the bag work to begin. Unfortunately, last weekend we ran into a bump. We were having a truckload of crushed limestone delivered just days after a springtime rainy spell. Our recently built driveway was just too soft for the truck to drive on. We were left with huge ruts, a possible crushed culvert (turned out to be only dented in a bit) and no limestone to start filling bags with.

However, all hope was not lost! We had a small pick-up truck already parked at the construction site. Our plan was to go and pickup as much limestone as would fit in the truck bed as to not postpone our construction. Unfortunately.. that truck is now stuck in too soft clay as well!

As expected, there will be several "bumps" or should I say.. "holes" in the path of this project's journey. Until the ground has had time to dry a bit, and we are able to recover our small pick-up truck (planning this next week) bag work is postponed. I, on the other hand, have plenty of wood working and promotion projects to take care of in the mean time! So, keep your fingers crossed and hopefully I'll be seeing you in a few weeks!!