Underground surprises

We've hit our first real setback (since starting construction): the digging has uncovered a lot more clay in the soil than we expected.

From Foundation digging

It's pretty cool to look at, but from a more practical standpoint it's a problem, because clay expands when wet, and is much softer and less supportive than sand, which is what we thought we had. Compounding the problem, there's a lot of water seeping out of the walls of the dig.

From Foundation digging

Consequently, we couldn't start the foundation this week, and have had to put everything on hold while we try to get a geotechnical engineer out to see if we need to change our plans for the foundation. We have one scheduled to take a look on Monday, so we'll see what he says.

In other news, we've lost two more trees- the hemlock previously referenced, and a large alder. That should be the end of the tree-clearing, unless the maple at the garage corner winds up obstructing the driveway. We'd really like to keep that one, though. Alders are basically weeds, but maples are harder to replace, and this one adds a lot to the forested feel of the front part of the house.