Sawing, Measuring, & Marking

The surveyor came out about a week ago and marked the corners of the house, so then we were able to see EXACTLY where the house would lay. This past weekend, Ken and I spent about 10 hours working at the lot. It rained pretty much the entire time, but I am hesitant to complain about a little rain when I know what the summer will feel like! 

We spent our time laying out the rest of the corners of the house. This involved driving stakes into the ground around those "official" corners, then marking the location of the future walls using the plans. On Sunday, we determined the elevations and laid it out with that bright yellow string. 

An example of one of those corners mapped out by the surveyor, surrounded by 3 stakes we put in

Ken taught me how to use a Skilsaw. Don't let this smile fool you- I was very nervous! We cut these 2x4's into stakes.

Check out the video:

I got to be pretty comfortable with the saw by the end of the day- look at all my cuts!

Poor Ken had to beat these stakes into the ground all day, because I was no help in this area. Looks like he has it under control, right? :)

Holding the stakes steady, while channeling John Lennon with my safety glasses

I attempted to beat some stakes into the ground...they didn't make it too far

I just like this picture of Ken working, so that is my reason for including it

We relied pretty heavily on the plans at this stage for exact measurements

Next, Ken took out this survey tool so we could map out precise elevations of the different areas of the house. He was very particular about laying everything out perfectly, which I reckon is a good thing :)

This is the string used to indicate the various elevations in the house. That brass looking thing is called a Plumb-bob and is used to test accuracy while laying out the yellow string. If the string is out of place by even 1/2", it could throw everything off.

Here is the Plumb-bob in action. Turns out we were pretty close on our eye-balling. It definitely became easier after a few tries

 Remember all those stakes we drove into the ground? Here they are in action. The nails hold the string in place. Notice the two nails: my first attempt was not close enough (by Ken's standards), so the 2nd nail was added in order to shift the line a bit. The string has to be pulled extremely tight- there can be no slack. 

I'm on one end of the line, Ken is on the other tying it up. After it is nailed on his end, it needs to be pulled super tight and nailed off on my end, too.

This is what the lot looked like after we completed our marking for the day: strings went every which way. It reminded me of Chinese jump rope. Remember that?