Clearing the footing drains

About the time the concrete walls were finished some of the earthen wall behind them caved in. At some places the fallen material covered the new footings and the outside drain form with heavy clay. To be sure this does not inhibit water behind the wall from draining away, I have been shoveling a trench at least 8 inches wide next to the drains and down far enough to expose the slits in them that allow water in. Then I'm filling the trench with gravel to be sure there will be a path for water when the backfill is added or in case more caves in before the fill is added.



We had snow on the ground this morning so I did some things in the apartment all day. There's a good chance of rain in the morning and for the next few days, up to a half inch or more.

I hope to get the rest of the clay and mud off the drains despite that because it's forecast to be as cold as 12 degrees before the weekend. I might have to lay some of the polystyrene panels over top of the canyon if I have to dig while it's raining. The temperature is forecast to be in the low 40's, not bad for this time of year.

Malcolm Wells, Pioneer of Underground Housing, 1926-2009

Sometime in the last ten years I learned about Malcolm Wells. Soon after I got ahold of one of his books. It is full of good sense and humor.

With no offense intended to friends and relatives, here's just a small fragment of his philosophy of building:

"We live in an era of glitzy buildings and trophy houses: big, ugly, show-off monsters that stand--or I should say stomp--on land stripped bare by the construction work and replanted with toxic green lawns. If the buildings could talk they would be speechless with embarrassment..."

Mr Wells died on November 27th at age 83. I wish I could have met him and I encourage you to visit his web site. You will not be disappointed. It is full of his ideas and sketches of various underground buildings. The web site was created and maintained by his fans since he never really seemed to grasp the internet.

After seeing the damage that our new house is doing to the hillside, I feel like a hypocrite when I recommend his works. I hope we can restore the landscape as closely as possible to what it was and end up with a home that allows nature to reclaim most of the surface it covers.

Maybe not too much work today

This picture through the warm apartment window speaks for itself.

2 days old and already sinking

Or maybe the camera is just tilted.

Now that the walls are done it's time to insulate them. I'm using 2 layers of 2-inch extruded polystyrene on the walls and one layer on the tops of the footings. Two layers will provide an R-20 insulating value.

You can see some of the insulation already placed in this picture.


The strange figure in the window below is working on clearing the form drains.


Could he be the Travelocity gnome?