Entrenched

They have trenched out around some of the foundation of the church, now, in order to install waterproofing membrane and drainage tile. Basically we're Saran-wrapping the foundation to keep groundwater out. There are leakage issues where the 1939 cement walls meet the 1965 cinder block walls, so they are addressing the area extending several yards to each side of the join. Four feet wide and five-and-a-half feet deep, the trenches go clear down to the footings. There are great piles of earth obliterating the lawn, and the neighbours' precious Rose of Sharon bushes have been tied back and carefully bypassed.

My husband dropped me off on Saturday evening and then hurried back to the city to meet some obligations, leaving me and Brio at the church to meet the excavating team on Monday. Except one of them showed up on Sunday to scout out the layout, so it was a good thing I was there to tell him about pipe locations, etc. The city had come out earlier to plant flags indicating the pathways of phone and water lines, but the children next door apparently found the blue flags indicating the water line particularly pretty and plucked them up. Yes. Well.

I spent a sleepless night envisioning backhoes crashing through the foundations and bringing the walls down, but in fact there was no need to worry. These guys could peel an orange with those backhoes. They delicately managed to scrape away the dirt and cart it off without a single mishap, and it actually wasn't even that noisy. I sat on the opposite side of the wall from where they were digging, reading a novel and eating Breton crackers, and hardly heard a thing. But it was a little unnerving to contemplate the beautiful, smooth lawn get eaten up, so Brio and I walked down to chat with Paul and Mary for an hour or so to get our minds off it. I know, you have to destroy in order to create, but it's still a bit jarring. From outside the basement, the noise was much louder. The street is usually so quiet, and all the way down the road I could hear the equipment running, and I felt apologetic. Sorry, neighbourhood. The McKendrys are in town, stirring things up.

Once the initial destruction of beauty was done, I found the actual trenching as fascinating as an archaeological dig, watching them expose the various pipes and lines and wires coming in and out of the building. It was sort of like seeing a loved one hooked up to indecipherable tubes and wires in hospital--difficult to see but interesting in spite of it. Drainage pipes from the vast roof, old propane lines from when they had propane ovens in the kitchen, the water pipes going in and out, one water pipe that we never suspected that must have been disconnected years ago (but why, we couldn't fathom. It was right by the new one), and apparently two old phone lines we also knew nothing about (there's new fibre optic cable on the other side of the building).

They had to turn the water off all day, which made for interesting camping-out for me and Brio, but we managed by using the water coming out of the dehumidifier (it's distilled, after all). The neighbours kindly let the crew use their hose to power-wash the foundations. Tomorrow they wrap, and Wednesday they should be able to close it all up again. It will take about a year for the earth to settle again so that we can landscape or put in the sidewalk along the east side of the building as planned (leading from front door to back door). Meanwhile we will have unsightly mud. We will also have a big gaping stretch of mud on the front lawn where they have been piling the earth, so I plan to order in a truckload of gravel to form a parking spot. I have been shoveling gravel for days back at our city house (see other blog www.mydailyslogblog.blogspot.com) so another truckload seems somehow inevitable and equitable. Once we can move the oil tank next spring, the crew will have to come back to trench and wrap that one corner, but even without that final bit, we should see a great reduction in water issues.

The crew stored the Saran-wrap stuff in the church for the night, and before they left they apologized for the mud they tracked into the entryway. I had to laugh. Guys, I have black mold and lead paint. A little mud doesn't scare me!