Digging the hole was the first chore. I got a friend with a back hoe to dig that thing (below) in one day! The white marks on the ground in the rear of the photo indicate where the exit tunnel and cess pool excavations were dug the next day.
Next came the first concrete pour(below). The black marks on the side of the dirt indicate where rebar was inserted into the concrete. That's my Dad on the left manhandling the jitterbug, my nephew in the middle, and me with the screed on the right.
Blockwork on the first section of the basement. I can assure you that working below ground level is much harder and takes longer than one might think.
Blockwork on the second section (below).
The second of only three photos of me ever taken in eight years of building. I'm tamping down pea graveled concrete around the rebar in the blocks.
Supports for the basement ceiling/living room concrete floor pour being installed. Plastic sheeting is placed on the plywood, and a rebar array is being laid down. You can see the trench for the unfinished exit tunnel in the lower left of the photo. Vertical rebar is poking up everywhere. In the distance is the brand new wife wearing a carpenter's apron and little else... now helping do stuff. Her financial contribution to the construction fund from her job was a powerful aid in getting all this done in one season.
Finally... The big pour of the year is done. It has taken all summer to reach this point. That's wife's sealpoint Siamese testing the concrete. The various sized pipes sticking out here and there are for water and air to the mechanical room below.
Below is the forest of supports holding up the ceiling pour. I left them in for a month before removing them. I was in no rush to see all that concrete come crashing down.
But no rest was in sight. The autumn weather was holding great so we continued onward.
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