Left a Message for Robbie

Left a phone message for Robbie; no call-back yet.

Stopped By on the Way to Cordova

Sue and Harold stopped by the Holler on the way to Whittier, to get to the Cordova Invitational small boat regatta.  Nothing has changed; neither Larry’s nor our culvert has been installed.  It looks like Larry’s driveway gravel is completed.

Tablesaw Incident

Harold gouged his right thumb in the tablesaw blade while cutting roof trim for the outhouse roof.  Dr. Abbott at the Seward Prov IR stitched him up and made contact with Dr. Jensen in Anchorage.  It looks like time for surgery.

Driveway Driveable!

Robbie called in the morning, said the driveway was ready to use.  We have to go...

Nick and Harold brewed the HOTK IPA and moved the kegerator into the shop while Sue, Jeanie and Jonas were in church.  Then we headed north in two rigs, with the fire ring in the truck.  Robbie was on Larry’s lot with the excavator, and he walked over just after we all drove down the driveway.  It’s pretty sweet; very solid and smooth.  The entrance needs fill, the culvert is not yet installed, and the top of the hill is still red soil.  There is a steep spot, but we all drove up and down just fine.  The back of the parking spot needs fill, probably 3-5 dump loads, and Robbie said his dumptruck can handle the hill ok.  He will also dump at least one load on the steep spot; he apologized because that will have to be “fines”.  Durn.  We stood the fire ring against a birch near the big bottom pile, and started the outhouse hole dig.  Once we got through the moss and roots and big rocks on the top, the digging got better.  Harold borrowed the steel pick bar from Larry’s place, and that works well for going straight down.  We got it dug down about 16”, with the hole about 4’ across.  Sue and Jeanie clipped branches and brush on the trails to the spot, and entertained Jonas.  After we had enough digging for one day, we loaded the spruce rounds into the truck and went to the Seaside for beer and sandwiches.

It was an excellent day in Hope!

Round trip gas for the truck with a wood load was $30.

Jonas' Birthday Party

It was pouring rain in Seward, and Hope, so we stayed home and had the birthday party at Mormor’s; Heather and Laif came over, the boys had a great time.  Apparently, Robbie was busy on our drive that day...

Our Driveway as an Advertisement

Talked to Robbie on the phone.  He hopes to get more done in a few days, if the rain lets up.  He said there will not be enough gravel from the pit area, and he will definitely have to haul loads in.  He said the steep part will still be rough, but he will make it passable, until we can afford more work.  That’s what we ordered.

He did say three things which were encouraging:  he will be done before Labor Day; he wants our driveway to be seen as an example of his work, as advertising for more driveways in the area; and he said that we will get a “good price”, which should help us speak well of his efforts.  Can’t argue with those concepts!

I told him we will be in Hope for Jonas’ birthday party tomorrow, which he thought was great, and that we might see him then.

Gravel Into Driveway

Larry Harmon called from Hope.  He said that our driveway has base gravel placed on it all the way up.  He said you could almost drive on it, but there are huge rocks and the steep spot is still pretty steep.  The excavator is parked near the top.  He was going to call Robbie later today, to see what he has planned.  Larry is pushing to have his driveway finished by Labor Day.

Larry also said that he will be taking his trailer up empty nearly every time he goes to Hope, to bring back firewood.  If we have something to take up (perhaps the outhouse panels), he would be glad to take them up.

Harold got the door sections hung today, and most of the door stops.  The hinges are on the left side.

Finishing up the Color Painting

Sue finished up all the color spraying, and the white on the louvers.  The rainbow shingles and louvers look great.  Harold got the louver screen frames done, and installed the window stops and trim for the rear louver.  The louvers and door will be removed for the move to Hope.  He also built up the lower section of the door, which is fir boards glued and screwed to a piece of ⅝” AWW ply, in the same pattern as above the door.  Nick suggested that the screen for the rear louver window be installed on the outside, in order to simplify access to the louver adjustment rod, and that will help a lot.  The screen on the door louver will be on the inside, which will work well and will let the beautiful colors show from the front of the unit.  Jonas was great and stayed out of trouble while Sue was busy painting and Harold was running the table saw.

Outhouse Trial Fit

Nick, Jeanie, Matt, Harold and Sue put in another week-end working on the outhouse.  The boys put Tyvek on the main panels, and painted white primer on the inside ply of the roof and lower wall panels.  They fitted all the spruce siding, using some creative patterns.  We used Tom Swann’s air nailer with 6d finish nails for the spruce siding, and that really made the attachment quick and easy. The building panels were screwed together for a “trial fit”; that went great and it is now sitting in our driveway with visqueen over it.  It looks pretty cool. The shutters still need a final coat of white but the colors are done and looking pretty good.  Eighteen shingles were pulled out of the shingle pile and have got the first side of primer on before the spray colors are added. Sue will try to get the shingle primer finished this week and Harold will do the last finishing touches on the outhouse.  Installation possibly Labor Day Week-end?  

Harold tried to call Robbie on Sunday, but did not connect with him.  Sunday night Harold called Larry to see what progress he had seen.  Larry said he spent Friday night in Hope and hand-dug his outhouse hole.  He said it was very difficult, with the large rocks just under the duff, and he made it worse by trying to make a narrow hole.  He intended to go down 4 feet, but stopped at 3 feet due to the difficulty.  He did not see Robbie and said it doesn’t look like he worked on the drives this weekend.

Robbie called about 10 PM, and said he had been gold mining all day, and it has been raining pretty hard.  He has things to do on Monday but may get back over to the job on Tuesday or Wednesday to dig and spread gravel.  He said his son has a very small rubber-tired tractor with a hoe attachment that might be useful for an outhouse hole excavation.  The machine is parked over at the Davidson gas station, if we want to take a look at it.

Checking on the Driveway

Matt stopped by the Holler on the way down to Seward and checked on the driveway progress.  It’s still looking pretty rough.  It looks like Robbie spent several hours with the clean-up bucket, and has done the final scrape down the drive, piled that muck down on top of where the first hole was dug.  He has moved most of the gravel from the first dig onto the lower part of the drive, filling in the depression just before the parking area and creating a roadbed up around the corner.  The excavator is setting there at the corner.

Progress

Cutting the Driveway!

Jeanie edited the Hope Expenses spreadsheet to show debits and credits; total in and total out. Previously the total at the bottom was only the sum of the money coming in.  Matt added $6,971.10 to Mom and Dad’s cash in column so that the total accurately represents the status of our bank account.

Harold took photos and videos today while Robbie cut the driveway in with the big excavator.  He had already mucked out Larry’s drive on lot 6 and piled the trees near the road.  He crawled it onto our property just after 9 AM, and twenty minutes later he already had it down to the parking lot area.  The machine easily pulls up the root masses and sets them aside.  Robbie scrapped the duff and muddy gravel off the top several feet of the lot and piled it over by our scrap piles.  He then piled the good gravel from below along the right side of the lot and dug the hole down about 15 feet.  When the hole was big enough, he put the pile from the top layer in the hole and packed it down.  He then dug further down on the south end of the hole and pulled more great gravel out.  He got down nearly 30 feet, and the best gravel came from the deepest part of the excavation.  Once he had dug all he could reach, he started pulling the debris and top dirt all the way down the driveway to the hole.  He made several passes bringing much down and placing it in the hole.  It was amazing how much muck would fit into that deep hole.  Finally Robbie said that he had done all he could do that day without the “clean-up” bucket which is wider and doesn’t have long teeth.  That bucket is being delivered to Portage today, and he will bring it over to continue the work.  He will also dig another pit to the right (west) of the first hole to get more good gravel and to have a place to bury the rest of the muck.  There is not enough muck to refill a hole big enough for all the gravel we need, so Robbie will have to bring in some gravel he has made up to grade the top of the drive.  Harold told Robbie that he will not be back until the weekend at the earliest, and to continue as he may.  Harold moved the two upper piles of birch back away from the driveway to keep them clear of the gravel that may well spill over into the trees a bit.

Our Gravel Pit

Not a Goat Farm

Robbie on the phone said there never was a goat farm on lot 1; the land was cleared for a field of some kind, and then the topsoil was removed, so nothing can grow there worth a darn.

He was going to move the excavator onto our lot late today, and Harold will be there by 8 AM for the beginning of the digging.  Expect photos and video; here we go !!

Brush Burnin'

Harold spent two days in Hope, missed the rain.

I cut all the stumps down to ground level, and piled them next to the other wood piles.  I also took out one more birch at the back of the parking/pit and cut up more of that big downed spruce back beyond the clearing.  I moved one brush pile that was on the side of the road, right where the driveway will start, and then decided that I had the time and perfect conditions (wet woods, not a breath of wind) for a fire.  Burned both piles up completely, finished that up about midnight.  Stayed in Gillespie’s, which was great, then in the morning I stirred up the fire again, loaded the truck with birch from the utility road and the cul-de-sac, and spent the rest of the day helping Larry Harmon unload the culverts and cut the trees off of his driveway slot.  Robbie and Willie stopped by as Larry and I were assembling the culvert sections at our place (had to go back to Tom’s to get some dishsoap for the rubber gasket, then rigged two rachet straps to pull the sections together).  Davidsons were on their way to Portage in a big work truck.  Robbie said the big excavator got to Hope on Saturday, but he would not have time to get it over to our place until likely Monday.  I asked him again to give me a call when he was going to start, and we talked about the job description again, so that it should be clear we want the foundation for a good drive, but not necessarily all the fill that may be needed, unless he can get it out of our pit.  The last thing I did before leaving was to go over to the Bear Creek culvert on the Hope road to get two buckets of water to cool the coals and ashes in the burn pile.

Left on the site:  the drum for the outhouse (top and bottom cut out, and perforated), four shovels, two picks, a post hole digger.  Already there:  the big rope, the cable with pulley, 4 gallons gas, bag of gloves, axe, nippers.

Larry and his wife spent Friday night in their new “tool shed”, which is a nice 8’ X 12’ insulated cabin with a woodstove and 4’ deck.  Larry and his crew built it in two days!  He has a iron digging bar we can use to help dig the outhouse pit.  Larry’s dog chased a big black bear down our way that night.  We had dinner and beers at the Seaview, it was not packed.  I talked to Jim and Pam Skogstad there for awhile.

Saturday I met two more neighbors, the Bantas from lot 1.  Joe and Cheryl?  Joe grew up in Cordova, and was David Hatch’s roommate at UAF in 1975.  Joe said he is clearing the little trees off their lot with a set of nippers!  When I said we have wondered why the trees are so young and small over by lot 1, they said they were told it is because there used to be a goat farm on that land.  Joe said the wells at the church and across the road went in about 80-90’; one is hard water, one is sweet.   Also, the unconfirmed report (from Willie) is that the well on lot 9 went to 140’; 65’ of gravel, then 60’ of clay, then enough water.  The Holsteins on lot 4 had a entrance cut onto their lot through the road bank, but no culvert or topping gravel yet.  Jim Skogstad did the earthwork for them, according to Joe Banta.

Survey Pin

Harold spoke with Paul Voeller at the Borough Lands office, regarding the property marker that we want to build the drive on top of.  Voeller was very nice, and said that marker would only be needed if/when the property was sold and an as-built survey was needed.  We would have to pay a surveyor to replace it.  He also said that we could let it be buried a foot or so, as long as we could find it.  I told him we had pulled two dimensions, and he was impressed with our accuracy.  We recorded 59’ 11” to the pin across Whiskers Alley; the correct dimension as per the design should be 60’ (one inch difference).  We recorded 28’ 9 ½” to our southeast property corner; Paul said it should be closer to 28’ 8 ½” (we did go over the brush pile).  He said it sounds like we know what we are doing, and that we could find it again.  He also said several times, “That’s a great lot.”  He will come see the driveway sometime.

We Own a Culvert

We are the proud owners of 30’ of black plastic culvert.  Cost:  $401.25 at Metco.  They did not even have steel 15” culvert in stock.  We are actually buying 3 pieces 20 feet long with Larry Harmon, and we will cut one in half.  They have a male and a female end, so no coupler.  Larry will trailer the pipe out on Friday.  Harold will be in Hope Friday morning as well, to get the stumps cut down.  Robbie may start the dig Friday, don’t know what time.

Harold also purchased two sheets of ply for the outhouse roof, and some screws and framing connectors.

Latest Outhouse Progress

Culverts

Larry Harmon called, said he will have Robbie build his driveway.  Larry had not heard about the need for a driveway permit, he’s reluctant to conform to the 30’ culvert requirement.  Larry said he is taking his trailer out to Hope again tomorrow, and offered to haul our culvert out there from Metco for us.  After he talked to Robbie, he asked for the Borough permit number, is starting that process.  Larry said he already has a 8’ X 16’ cabin with a 4’ deck dried-in on his lot!

Harold priced the culvert at Metco:  $400/20’; $40 for the coupler; $40 for end funnels if we want.  $720!  They have 14” X 20’ in black plastic for about $280, so maybe under $500 total.

Robbie said today that he should have the excavator on site by this Friday!!  I told him I wanted to be there at the first cut, he said he works better by himself, but he was mostly kidding.  I gotta get those stumps cut.  
I asked Robbie how many more driveway jobs I would have to line up for him before we got a free one; he laughed and said “a few more”.  HF

Robbie said there is a well-drilling rig in place over on Branden’s lot 9, so we should soon know what his drill depth turned out to be.  He doesn’t yet know what outfit is it, or where they are from.

Harold called Paul Voeller at the Borough ( 714-2212) regarding the survey pin; had to leave a message.

*later Larry said that 30’ of steel culvert and a coupler at Metco cost him $606.  If they charge us more, he will cover ours until we pay him.  He will take the culverts out on his trailer on Friday.

Note:  It’s raining heavily; there is a flood advisory in effect, thru Thursday.  Not the best weather to dig a road.

Fire Hall Water Well

Robbie called Harold, said that he had talked to someone at the Hope Fire Hall, which is just across the Hope Highway (and considerably upslope) from the subdivision.  He was told that the water well they had drilled at the Fire Hall went in 180 feet.

Harold stopped by Harmon Construction to talk to Larry about perhaps getting Robbie to put in his driveway on Lot 6.  As it turned out, Larry was in Hope with several of his carpenters, building a small cabin on his lot.  Larry did not answer his cell (491-0206); Harold left a message.

Just noticed tonight that lot 13 did indeed sell, for $58K.