The Digging is Done

Dsc 0001 2 2Well, all of our efforts paid off, and they were able to get the rest of the digging done early yesterday morning. Around noon the concrete guys came by and started setting up the forms for the footing. Because of the power lines in our back yard, we can't get a concrete truck up to the addition, so we have to use a pump truck for all of our concrete. They were scheduled to come at 3:00 to pour. The inspector came at 2:00 to look at the footing and make sure the rehbar was good. There was some question about setbacks. Depending on what fence you measured from, the north side setback varied from 7' 6" to 8' 6". Our original zoning variance is for a setback of 8' 6", so the inspector was not going to let us pour. After some lengthy discussion, he agreed to let us "pour at our own risk" meaning we could do it as long as we could prove that the property line really is at the 8' 6" line and not where the fence is. The foundation walls should be going up today, so the inspector will be back. That means that last night I had to go out and survey our whole property to prove where the property lines are. The legal description of our property states that it is 31' wide. It measures exactly 31' in the front and in the back, but in the middle where the setback is being questioned, it is anywhere from 29' to 30'. Needless to say, I shouldn't have any problems proving that the setback is within legal limits.

On a side note, you can see why we opted to not put any windows on the south side of our house (left side of the picture). Not much of a view over there. We will get all of our solar gain from that side through the use of skylights.