Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The Hole in the Ground

I temporarily moved out of DG this past weekend since the demolition of the kitchenette left me nowhere to cook, the impending removal of the asbestos tiles poses some health concerns, and the upcoming demo of my apartment will literally make the house unlivable for awhile. I hope to move back when the house mom's apartment is complete (3-4 weeks). I'll still be at the house daily to see what's going (in fact, I'm at the house now). They'll never keep me away!

The point? Well... I'm sorry to say that yesterday I forgot to bring my camera to take more pictures for you. So, what I've posted today are some "file photos" that I took earlier and never used. These two pictures (taken from a south window inside the house looking out towards 44th Street) show the giant hole in the ground that was dug in April and still looks basically the same today. This area is where the new three story addition (plus basement) will be built.

You're probably wondering, what's the hold-up? Oh boy.... When they initially dug the hole, they found an active sewer line running approximately three feet below what is to be the foundation of the addition. This line is extensive and services several houses on the block. Didn't they know about this? No. The line showed nowhere on the surveys of the area and there is no record of it existing. Surprise!

What does this mean? Well, there were two ways to deal with the pipe: build over it, or reroute it around the addition. The best option (cheapest, fastest, least disruptive to the neighboring houses, etc) turned out to be the only way to deal with it, since there is not actually enough slope in the pipe to reroute it. And so, we will build over it. After applying for a variance, the city approved the plan and now the architects are reviewing the drawings to adjust for the existence of the pipe. As soon as the old sewer line (which is cracked and crumbling) is replaced according to the city's request, the new addition will begin to be raised. I'll update you after our next owner/architect/builder meeting (later this week).

I know the "nuts and bolts" stuff, as I call it, isn't so interesting to everyone, so hopefully I'll have some more fun inside pictures for you later today.

2 comments:

  1. 3 story addition! Wow! I remember the "good old days" when we had 70 girls living in the house in about 17 rooms with only 3 phone lines, plus the long distance phone. These lucky DGs now will be livin' in the lap of luxury.

    ReplyDelete
  2. PS -- Thanks for adding my blog. Here's another BU DG blog, written by Becky Rushnok Cameron '91:

    http://squareonemom.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete