So yeah...I am finally doing this.

It's why I'm AWOL a lot lately.

Ya'll are great about posting your projects around your homesteads,  so I figure I need to ante up.

The reason I haven't, is pure lack of time.

The concrete guy has been waiting for me to do my part since the end of last week.  Yesterday I got my part done, and now I'm catching up on laundry, dishes, cat litter and other basic home maintenance things that are higher than my head, and I'm waiting for him.  Probably today or tomorrow we will have concrete, but I'll start with this post, and add more later this evening.  I'll have to do it in several posts, as the photo uploads take time.

Anyhow...

This is how my overgrown, peaceful back yard looked in early September.  If you look carefully, you can see how I've been "mowing around" my building all summer so I could visualize its size and shape and get it the way I wanted it.



Well, my yard ain't so peaceful now.

More to follow...

I wish I had trees in my back yard. It looks so serene.

It was.

but see that blurry part behind the fence?

Guy around us bought 26 acres, and where does he site his new house?

Yeah.  Right there in that blurry spot.  Ignored the setbacks everyone in the neighborhood has courteously observed, and built where he will be looking in my back door.  Pissed me off, frankly.

This building was going to be on the other side of the yard, but once he started building, I decided to move it--and make it tall.

So the view from my back deck will be mostly my little "barn" and not the front of his house.

Moving the building had some disadvantages.  

It had been going in the "ugly corner."  Now it's in the prettier corner.

The ADVANTAGE, though, is that I don't have to lift pump into my gravity fed septic system. I still don't know for sure the septic police would have let me do that.  It was making my life really complicated.

Now, less complicated.  

September 19th, a truck pulled into my driveway.

Guys unloaded equipment.

Sky looks kind of ominous, don't you think?  



Beginning of first pass to move my "grass building" so real building could take shape.




Ominous sky was not faking it.

Guy (Ian) made two passes and the bottom fell out.  Got to know Ian, though, as we sat in my car and drank coffee and waited for the storm to pass.    Hates cream in his coffee.  Has a big heart and a big family, thinks he should be able to raise his kids right, which means spanking them if they need it (he got warned by somebody who saw him smack his little one on the bottom that the government would come and take his kids. He told them, "bring them. They are not telling me I can't teach my kid to do right." ) Great guy.  Always joking.  
If I ever worked construction, I would want to work with him.

He and all the guys on the crew (including the owner) want to shoot a Class III weapon.  Do you suppose the odds are good that they might get to do that soon?

Anyway, it rained.  And rained.  And...



So I stared at this for a few days while I got an eye twitch wondering whether my septic (which I had dug out by hand --with some help from a local handyman) was going to be deep enough to give me the drop I needed without lifting the sewage.





That skid steer is a rental because the company wants foundation guy to buy it.  

Three different ones have been out here at least, in the past few weeks.  Even I could tell that this one was sluggish and struggled a little as compared to a slightly smaller one with the same engine, which was much more agile.    

I was told I could play with the equipment (running equipment like this has been on my bucket list for my whole life, btw)

Me:  Nuh-uh.  Not without supervision.

Them:  It's your yard.  If you tear it up, it's on YOU.

Me:  If I kill your machine or break something, you won't like me.  I'm all about you liking me.  Even more important, you might not work for me any more.  Besides, I don't even know where the start button is.

Less complicated is good!

Sept 20th~

Awesome Foundation Contractor (AFC) comes out, thinking he can move forward.

WAAAAAY too muddy.  

I had (with help) dug out the side of the tank to try to find the knockout, but gave up since I knew hydraulics would be on site at some point.  You can see the rod I had dropped in there.  I'd used it earlier with a line level to the future bathroom site to see if I could determine whether the earth went up or down.  I had guessed I *might* could make it work, figuring I needed about 9.5" of drop from new bathroom to tank.  Fingers were crossed.



I said to AFC, "I'm freaking out about whether I have enough drop to the septic tank. Can you shoot it for me and find out, since you're here?

So he dug out the side a little, and we looked for the knockout I assumed would be in the side of my concrete tank.



No knockout.   Sh*t.

So Ian started digging for the pipe with a shovel, and AFC said, "Hey, be my eyes, brother and I'll use the hoe."

Ian stood on the tank and AFC used the freaking cool little trackhoe and started scraping away, a couple of inches at a time.

A minute later, Ian called out "Gravel!"  AFC eased in with the fingers of the hoe.  (Have I mentioned that I want this skill? Those guys make the machine look like an extension of their minds.  It's so amazing.  I know I'll never have that skill at that level, but I really want to learn how to run those things.  I swear I would work for free if I could learn that.  )  One more pass, and the guys used hand shovels to sweep away the dirt over the pipe. You can see the future building site in the background.  That's the run for the new drain line.




Next, AFC set up a transit waaaaaaaay down in the yard, where (I am guessing) it could "see" both the tank and the site for the new building.   (yet one more skill I want--are you noticing a pattern here?)

Cute transit:



AFC used his fancy beeping ruler.

AFC: "You've got plenty of drop. You could dig into the dirt about 14" and still have enough drop."

Me:





So I won't have to a-buy a lift pump (that was the least of my worries.  We were talking only about $500). or b-deal with the septic police about whether or not I CAN lift pump into a gravity-fed septic system. *wipes brow*

Seriously, my whole body relaxed.

Which was a good thing, cuz I was about to work the crap out of said body over the next few days.

Come down here while it is sitting in my yard.

Clearly, you know where the start button is.

edited for grammar.

@LOW50S

Day 3-

(Mostly story, with a few pics, cuz...I get all into telling stories )



September 22~"The Drama"

AFC (Awesome Foundation Contractor) is not present, but has told me on the phone that "Andrew" (not his real name) would start the footers and AFC would be along soon.

AFC (on phone):  You have the dimensions?

Me:  Yeah. In my head.  And on a rough drawing.

AFC:  Good enough.  Show that to Andrew.

Me:  Okay.

Trucks show up.  Andrew comes on site.  I squint at Andrew as soon as he walks into my world (more developments on this "squinting" later as the situation unfolds)

Andrew looks at the site and asks for the dimensions.

I pull out my drawings.

I say, "This part is 16 X 28, and this part here, on the side, is 16 X 18."

He looks at my drawing, and notes the little jag at the corner.  It's a two-foot indentation where the side structure meets the taller, longer "barn".

He says, "That don't make sense, and that corner will cause cracks in your foundation. You ought to just make it straight."  

Me:  Well...my first drawing earlier in the summer had it straight.

(I pull out first very rough sketch that I made last spring)

Disclaimer: There was wine involved in the drawing, and it was 2 in the morning.  I might not have had my vanishing points precisely set. But note the faded path to the door and the worn, pale tree on the side (as distraction)






Andrew:  That would be better.

Me:  *interprets* "that would be easier" and gut says This guy just doesn't want to f**k with that corner turn.

Me:  Hmmm.....*wavers in the face of a potential advisor who knows more, conflicted with my gut that says he's full of sh*t, and trying to decide whether my little corner jag is important or not*  I say: You won't start with that spot, right? So let me think about it for a minute. I want it seven feet from the fence, okay?

Him:  Hey, if you want that corner, you're the customer.

Me:

A few minutes earlier I had stood beside him as we'd watched Ian working the hoe (a new piece of equipment for him, and he's been doing this work for only one year), moving the rest of the grass off my building site, and when the operation of the machine was awkward, Andrew had said, "He's killing me."  






This response to the new guy going through a learning curve gave me insight.

They proceeded to lay out my footers.






Andrew tells me his address (one road over from mine), and since I once was a mail carrier and that address was on my route, I had some history about that property.  My alarm bells go off, backing up my earlier feeling about Andrew.

I  talked to him a bit, learned  that he had been building stuff, and doing construction since he was 14, and then he looked at me straight in the eye  with *the look* and I thought, "You are a total player, and you think because you're pretty that I'll flutter and give in. You are SO going to dig my effing corner, boy."



Honest to pete, this boy was, to the human eye, extremely attractive.  Or he would have been, if I were 20 and really, really stupid.  I was betting he ran into a bunch of women  WELL OVER 20 (like me) who were still  stupid enough to flutter over him.  

Yeah, this boy was a piece of work, and he was full of himself for certain.

Then he climbed into the trackhoe.





He is the most freaking awesome machine operator I have ever seen, and I've seen some.. He is ten times better than AFC at operating this thing.  He plays that little machine like a guitar.  I've never seen anything like it, and I'm not being naive. Turns out he was once a Mennonite, but left that order (Here, Mennonites are a step down from the Amish.  Mennonites drive cars and operate machinery, but have beards and their women wear little hats and bake a lot of bread and make a a lot of jellies and jams.  The men, almost to a one, do some kind of construction.  This is in contrast to the Amish, who wear all black and blue clothes and use horses for everything (mostly, but that's a whole nuther discussion) and make lawn furniture and custom tarps.  
Anyway...

So Andrew digs the footers with help from the other guys on the crew.  I see them look at each other and roll their eyes, subtlely, when Andrew issues an order for something (like he's the boss), and though they are professional enough not to say anything, I get it. He treats them like "less" and they feel it, but they deal with it because they are loyal to their real boss, AFC.

Okey dokey then.

But he dug my effing corner.






Half way through the footer dig, AFC arrives.

AFC stands beside me while we watch Andrew dig footers.  

Me:  He's amazing with that hoe.

AFC:  He's been doing this his whole life.  He's great, and I pay him a lot of money for his hours, but he's just part time for me because I can't keep him out of jail.

Me:  It's drugs, isn't it?

AFC *looks at me*: Yeah.  His family has washed their hands of him.

Me: I'm not surprised, but I'm sorry for him.

AFC:  yeah.  He's arrogant and he gets  cocky with the other guys because they have less experience.

Me: Yeah, I got that, too.  They try hard to hide it from the customers, though. You've got a good crew.

AFC's phone rings. His favorite driver had a load of high-pressure concrete that couldn't be delivered.  Did AFC want it?

Hellllllz to the yeah!  I would be getting super-strong concrete for the price of normal concrete.  

Everything kicked into high gear.

And my peaceful back yard turned into a dirt pile.





The question was...would the driver be willing to come up the slope from the neighbor's driveway (which he graciously is allowing us to use, tearing the crap out of his drainage ditch) between the two fence posts (I cut the fence) and into my yard?  

Until he got here, we all had our fingers crossed.

I have this hunch that I would be really good at that.

I want to find out.

I had that same hunch, when I was four years old, about how I would become part of a horse.

Years later, it turned out to be true, when I was on a riding team.

I think I would be good at these machines.

I think maybe I could make chocolate cake for my contractor, and he will teach me to run his machines.

Thank you OT.  You've already seen some of it, so nice of you to come over to check in.

I have nothing to add, other than I love these construction threads.

That's a good question.  I didn't ask exactly how he was doing it because of the construction method that was new to me--slab-on-grade within the blocks.

I used to know code for that, but I don't know where it currently stands here.

I'll ask him.  But you will be able to see more of it when they're doing the pour in upcoming photos.

Day 3 continued~  with NO drama, since AFC i(Awesome Foundation Contractor) s on site at this point...

Some background:
Since we started planning this building two years ago, one of my major concerns was getting concrete and materials to the building site without destroying my entire yard and without destroying my lateral lines.  

When I planned to build in the "ugly" corner, I had the new neighbor's permission to bring the big trucks up his driveway, where they could either reach over the fence straight to the site, or I could cut the fence.  Key: That part of the neighbor's driveway was at the same level as my yard.  Still, I promised then, and I promised now, that I will fix any damage we cause to his side of the fence.

When I moved the building to the other side of the property, that ingress would no longer work, because they'd have to drive across the entire span of my lateral lines to get to the building site.  I'm picky about my lateral lines. I haven't even allowed a passenger vehicle to drive over them in the years since they were installed. (Yeah, that's gone to hell with this project, but more on that later)

So I approached the neighbor (who by this time had extended his driveway around the back of our lot to HIS building site, and he said we could use his driveway and come up the bank, no problem.  But he was worried about the trucks navigating the ditch.  I looked at him and thought but hey...maybe he knows something I don't.


The trouble is....(and my main worry) there is an eight-to-ten-foot drop in elevation from my yard to his driveway (over about a ten-foot span)  with the drainage ditch he mentioned, by the driveway, at least a foot deep and now filled with heavy clay mud from the recent rains.  There were going to be ruts, no matter what.

I've been a little twitchy about whether the trucks either could--or would come up that grade into the tight space between the two fence posts. (I had cleared away the weeds so the "entry" was visible, and I cut the wire just before foundation guy was to arrive on the first day of work.)  I'm aware that they have no obligation to go places they think they'll get stuck.  But I'm also aware that if they like the contractor, they'll bust ass for him.

Have I poured concrete?  Yes.
Have I laid block?  Yes.

But I know my limits and respect my lack of understanding.  I would never have attempted my own foundation for a building this size, (which includes plumbing under the slab), because your foundation IS your building, in my view.  That said, I also recognized that one of the ways you get things done and done well is by knowing people and having relationships, and when it comes to gravel and concrete in the building trades, it's especially true.  I don't have that network.  I believe hiring someone who does is worth the money.  I will trim expenses elsewhere.


I had always been impressed with how concrete and dump trucks seem to always be able to get wherever they need to be, but still, this approach, in a residential yard, was gonna be up to the drivers.  If they said no, I was screwed.  

When the driver called AFC (Awesome foundation Contractor) to say he had a load, I saw a change come over AFC's face.  

AFC:  You've got what?  *pause* You're kidding.  *pause*  Are you serious?  *pause*  I don't know where you got it, but yeah I want it.

AFC: *hangs up phone, looks at me*  You just got an awesome deal.

Me:  Yeah?

Him:  You're getting _____ lb concrete  for the price of 4.   (Or something. I don't remember how he said it because I know nothing about concrete other than the basic parameters for pouring and floating it. )  Anyway, I was getting this fancy schmancy high pressure (or density?) concrete for the price of regular concrete, because some customer had ordered it, then the site wasn't ready and they couldn't pour.

AFC:  And even better?  

Me:  What?

Him:  We got Kevin.

Me:  Kevin is good?

Him:  Kevin is the best driver I've ever worked with.

Me:  You think he can get the truck in here?

Him:  Kevin can put a camel through the eye of a needle.

Me:  Okey dokey then.

A few minutes later...

Go Kevin!!!  

Dude didn't even blink an eye.





First bucket dumped into the skid steer.  





Turned out they only needed two buckets carried to the far corner, because this driver lived up to his reputation.







@Rat_Patrol
If this gives you any indication of depth, that's a piece of old 3" pvc we shoved into the bottom of the footer ditch to use as an entry for the water supply line.  The footers were up to the top of the dirt, pretty much, by the time the pour was done.









Here you can see one of the step down boards they used.  Earlier in the day, AFC turned to me and said, "have you got any scrap wood?"  I raised my eyebrows and said, all cocky like, "What size would you like?  

Him:  Oh, about 16 X 20.

I went to the overloaded, junked up garage (part of why we need this structure) and pulled out some pieces of old cabinet grade plywood that had been used for something and taken apart.

AFC:  Boys we've got VARNISHED stepdown boards!

Me:  

This was interesting to me because I was watching the whole process, and the depth of the ditches and thinking "wow, that's a lot of concrete"  But it was less because they did the steps.  (yes, truly a concrete-meets-grade rookie here.)




Here's where Kevin earned his "eye of the needle" reputation.

I went over there and looked.  Andrew was holding back a small limb, but that truck was TWO INCHES from my tree, and Kevin left nary a mark on the bark.



AFC cleaning off the trackhoe and the skid steer while Andrew continued to pour.  They had a high spot at one point in the footer and used the trackhoe to scoop out a couple of buckets of concrete mix, which they dumped into the middle of the "building" to be used as fill.








Floating:









As quickly as they'd arrived, they all cleared out and went home.

What a mess.





Later that evening:

Contemplating the hydraulics which had made such a mess out of my once-serene back yard.




Mako (geriatric dog who missed his last two grooming appointments) officially inspects the footers:

I wish.

I want that pulley because it makes the thing look like a barn instead of a tall house.  The only thing I can think of looking at in my back yard without hating it, is a barn.  So I made it narrow and tall, like the small barns where farmers around here smoke dark-fired tobacco starting about this time each year.  The guest house on the side will be shorter.   That sketch was TRULY the first idea I had for what I wanted.  It's morphed since then, but the idea is the same.  My trouble is finding some kind of viable vertical siding that I can afford.  Putting clapboard style vinyl on it will completely ruin the "barn" effect.  Can't use metal, because as you will see, we have a LOT of black walnut trees.  When those hit metal siding or roofing, it sounds like cannon fire.

The goal is to have a storage building with a studio (for me) and a guest quarters with a really nice bathroom for visitors, and (if needed) a place for my mom, who will be 90 next week and is not in good health.  Mom is with my sister right now, but should she need a place, I want to have one.

I'm deeply worried about my two trees where the building sits.  Walnut roots are DEEP, but they dug deep and cut big roots, and we still have to cross the yard at yet another angle for the drain.    That one tree with all the dead (in some of the pics) got broken up really badly this year from heavy fruiting and winds at the wrong time, and it's taken the biggest hits from the digging.  Hoping it will bounce back.

I think that could be arranged.  You might have to bring ammo, since I'm going to be rather poor what with putting up this building and all.

September 28th~ Thursday (officially day 4)

AFC had planned to lay block for me the previous day (Wed the 27th), but called early to let me know that the block yard was behind on deliveries, and since my order was small, I might get bumped.  

I got bumped.    

Mid-morning on Thursday, AFC calls me and says, "I'm not waiting for Lee (local brick & block supply yard).  I'll pick up the order. We'll be there in a little while."

Me:  







The shock is an odd mixture of excitement and a strange sense of "wow, this is happening. I hope it's a good thing."   I'm that way about change of this kind.  "I love my yard the way it is, but we need more space for storage and a work area so we can keep working on the house and we've wanted this for a long time so it's good but wow, it's going to be strange not seeing the sun come up in the east in the back yard now and..."  it goes on.

Gratuitous shot of sun coming up in that spot in back yard:



"Yeah, I'll never see that again,"  I think.   Moments like this--the last of something or the first of something--tend to make me notice.  I hear a lot of people say things like, "you know, X happened for the last time a few years ago, and I wish I'd paid more attention to that."  

Yeah, that's not me. Sometimes it gets in the way a little.

Anyhow...ready or not,  AFC shows up, drops off his guys. It is only Ian and Erik this time. I was not sorry to see that Andrew was not going to be there that day.  I mean, he's awesome at what he does, but the really nice guys who don't try to manipulate me or anybody else, and who are, actually, really nice guys,  have a better day when he's not there because there's absolutely no attitude on the job site, from what I've seen so far.

This proved to be true.

Oh and they put up with me hanging around without any hidden "Oh jeeeeeezus, it's the hausfrau" sort of energy going on.  They joke with me and I can joke with them, and they make it seem like they are okay with me and it's not just part of their job.

I appreciate that.

AFC leaves the guys with the skid steer, the cement mixer, and their awesome little mortar trough (more on this later).  AFC takes off to get the supplies from the brick yard.

Ian and Erik immediately begin grumbling about the state of the mixer and the trough (I don't know what this metal tub is officially called, since apparently there is only one like it--more on this later)   AFC has extra part-timers who help him on big jobs, and apparently the last users hadn't bothered to spray the equipment down.  At least not much.  

Ian has been working for AFC for about a year.  Erik for only about four months.

The guys began pounding on the equipment with hammers, breaking off the caked-on mortar.  They pounded, and they pounded and they POUNDED.  

I went inside for hearing protection, and started a load of laundry, a load of dishes, let the dog out, and fed the thundering herd of cats.  Answered some work email. Paid some bills online.  Still the pounding continued, interspersed with moments of, "maaaannnn, what were they thinking?" then the clatter as they dumped the mixer tub upside down to shed the bits of dried mortar, and "seriously, look at that!" and then the pounding would continue.  Since it's early fall, and still morning, the windows were open, so I got to hear their exclamations, though I could not hear their one-on-one conversation.

I found out later that AFC had not asked them to do this cleanup, when he was surprised and pleased that they had used their time productively instead of sitting on their asses smoking and texting.  I think maybe this is why these two are his regular, full-time guys, even though they have a lot less experience than some others he might be able to hire.


This is the mixer, AFTER they'd pounded on it for 45 minutes (mostly because I thought it was a cool shot.)



I come out later wearing headphones (muffs) and Ian asks if there is a water supply.   We drag the hose down to the site, and he is a little appalled that I drag it (hey, it's my hose)...

Him:  I can do that, you know.

Me:  It's okay.  I like being out here, and I'm not really good at watching other people work.  Besides, if the hose doesn't reach, I've got another one in the garage.

It reached.  He fills the big white barrel.  

A few minutes later, AFC pulls up with the materials, and Ian immediately climbs into the skid steer.  Here comes the skid of mortar, and three skids of concrete blocks.  Some are a design I've never seen before. (Sorry I don't have a detail shot. You'll see them later.)









AFC brags on the guys for cleaning up the equipment, and work begins in earnest.


AFC explains to Erik where and how he needs the blocks laid out.



Erik moves blocks into the building  proper so they are readily within reach.  



I learned later--partly by hearing and partly by watching--that Erik is the new guy.  So he gets a lot of the shit jobs in order to make the work go faster.  But I am impressed with how AFC assigns a job, and lets his guy struggle through it and figure it out, unless there is a serious problem, or unless the guy asks a question or for help.

This allows the new guy to learn and work his way through managing equipment, loads, and all the other stuff they have to know.  

On the other hand, AFC steals teaching moments.  Times when he can explain something to one (or both) of his guys to help them along.  But he is really good at picking those times.  He doesn't ride their asses like a micromanager.  He lets them falter (as opposed to Andrew's "he's killing me" I mentioned in an earlier post).   It's a really amazing education in how to help somebody along in a new skill.  AFC seems to have a natural ability at knowing when to interrupt and instruct, and when to leave the guys alone and let them figure it out for themselves.

I admire this.  It made me think again that I had found a contractor I was really happy to have on my project.

Y'all remember the cute transit?  




I named it "Burger"


It has a younger brother, who has skills that Burger does not.  I named the little one "Baby Burger"  AFC used it to set the level of the blocks on the footers.  I am not clear why Burger could manage the digging and determination about the septic drop, but could not manage the level of the first row of blocks.  Clearly, I have a lot to learn about the Burger family.






Ian started chalking the lines on the footers.





AFC showed him how to measure to get the corners exactly right.  That's my two-foot jag, btw.  The one Andrew did not want to eff with.




AFC and Ian use Baby Burger to set the level for the first row of blocks:




Then AFC did one last level check with Baby Burger..




While Ian started mixing mortar..



The mortar mixer apparently sucks water into the mix according to some magic spell.  (Or according to some setting that I didn't get to ask about)
Ian and AFC dump the mortar into the trough.




Bringing the mortar to where the block will be laid:



The first trowel of mortar for the first block:





He turned the first corner, and all of a sudden it felt real.  For the first time I felt like we really would have a building.  (Holy Crap, we're actually getting a building!)



After he turned that corner, he went to the "high" corner and built that.  I listened to everything he said, but I don't understand why. (yet)




At the end of the day, they all disappeared.

This is what was left:




It would be a few days before the mason came back to the site, but he left...his toolbox:



Honestly, I think he left it for me, because it was time for me to do my part, and I think he knew I would need some stuff out of that box.

He asked me...so...how long do you need?  A day?

I nodded my head "Yeah.  A day should do it."

It took me four.

But that's for the next post.

I don't think so.

I think the thing on his ruler was the receiver.  (I don't know this..just guessing)

There were two different lasers. Both were self-leveling and expensive, from what I gathered.

The big one was on the tripod.  The little one he sat on the footers.

The "receiver" was the thing on his ruler, right?

He used that with both of the Burgers.

Yes.  I think his receiver worked with both Burger and Baby Burger, though he might have had two different receivers and I just didn't notice.  Each receiver had its own bag.  Baby Burger is actually smaller than the receiver.  

The guys were explaining how both lasers were self-leveling, which took a lot of the pain out of and makes them much faster to use.

There is not rebar in the footers, which also surprised me a little, but I've seen it done at other times.  Sometimes there's rebar and sometimes there isn't in these footers.  I put rebar in the ones I poured under my house (we jacked the house up, poured footers, built the foundation, and set the house back down on it the first year we bought it).  

I am going to ask why it wasn't necessary for this application.  I think there will be rebar in the slab itself.

Yeah, Hardi is popular.  Hardi thinks well of it, though.  Too well for my budget.

Somebody suggested yesterday that I do what the Amish do around here--wrap the barn with Tyvek and let it sit until I can put what I want on it.  

I just might.

It is by county down here, but we are not in a "lenient" county.  And I pulled a permit.

More though, this guy is not going to do it if it isn't right.

I should add, even the building inspector said this same thing about AFC.

ETA:  I should have said...Kentucky has a uniform building code, but the county can exceed that code with its own requirements, and our county does.

@Rat_Patrol, I just realized there's a big hole dug out for me so I could get to the water supply ingress pipe, so I went down there and measured.  It looks like the footer above the water  supply ingress is about 8" thick, and once backfilled along the wall it will be about 36-42" deep (I mean underground) once the final grading is done.

Found a bad thing though.  We had a storm come through last night.  Plastic blew off the guy's mortar.  All the bags are wet.

I'm going to hate sending that text.

If I had a supply of barn wood, I would put that on it, and I'd spray it with that old oil-based barn paint my dad used to use on his barns (if I could find it--it may have been outlawed by now ).  Thirty or forty years later, that stuff is still not cured.  You can rub against the barn and get red paint on you.   I have no idea what was in that, but it sure did a good job of preserving wood.

Not the kind of option you would want for your house, but for my "barn" the actual vertical barnwood siding would be ideal.  

I think I saw some house wrap that had been specifically designed to be under siding that had "exposures"  meaning cracks, nail holes, etc.  I did not bookmark it though.  It was dark colored so it didn't look ugly under those applications.  No idea of its quality.  Just saw it in passing and was moving too fast to note it.

There is vertical vinyl "board & batten" siding, but they want almost as much for it as they do for the fiber cement sidings.

I can guarantee, since I was present, that the footer had cat hair in it.

I'm only half joking.  Everything in my world has cat hair in it.  

Okay serious now:  The bricks in both my chimneys are made with hog hair.  (house is 170 years old).

So what is cat hair?  Is it some kind of fiber additive that adds holding power?

I think this is 6K lb concrete in these footers.  I have no idea what it takes to make concrete that strong, but if cat hair will do it, I have a new respect for cat hair.

@Evil_chaos

The front discharge concrete trucks, they're faster. The driver can nose right in and point the truck exactly where the chute is going to go without having to back up to the jobsite. Makes "in and out" quicker. When that means both money in gas, wages for the driver etc. and against the ticking clock on the concrete setting.

The downside to front-discharge trucks is that they generally need a much more custom-made body, frame, the rear cab for the engine etc. is all different and as such more expensive because there's less economy of scale. Rear discharge "traditional" cement trucks are cheaper because all the mixer barrel and chute gear etc. can just be bolted onto a standard truck body.