Digging the trench

Our project has begun.  The excavation crew has spent the day measuring, pulling out roots and rocks, digging a four foot trench, and carting away a lot of dirt from what used to be our driveway.  Many layers of riverbed stone, gravel, top soil, and clay have been exposed.  This is the beginning of what will be a "perimeter foundation".   This space underneath the addition will have only a small access door from our cellar into a crawl space covered with concrete.  We did not need any additional basement space so we opted for this less invasive method.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that the beautiful locust, now at least forty years old will survive this dig and continue to provide natural air conditioning for many more years. -mjr