Chapter 141...Plumbing For The New Store

We are getting ready for the slab to be poured for our new store.  To do that we need to make sure the weight of a concrete truck can make it to the future slab without sinking.  We also need gravel inside the slab before the concrete guys show up and of course Mike and I need to get all of the plumbing set.


April 2
Mike calls for some loads of rock and we go over to the lot to make sure it is getting done.  Mike talks to the grader and his bulldozer man about laying the rock to the slab.

They have a long way to go:

Dumping a load of rock:

Randy starts building a road to the store site:

While Randy is working on that, our concrete guys show up and put the form boards in for our slab.  We are getting closer:

The road is almost to the store site:

April 3

Today Mike and I have to watch our granddaughter.  She will have to do our running around with us since we have to keep an eye on the work being done at the site.

She was excited to be top of the world here:

And she got permission to sit on the bulldozer.  Yes our little one is a country girl:)

More rock being delivered.  It took a lot of rock to get this far:

Finally we have a road to the store site.  Now we need to put gravel in the slab itself.  We need to have 4 inches, 18 tons, of gravel under the concrete.

Mike has Randy work on a ditch behind the store.  Since we have such a steep hill behind us, we have to make sure any rain that comes down goes behind the building and doesn't wash it away.

Randy using the blade to cut a ditch:

Almost to the end of the slab:

Mike and I do some more running around with Ella.  We go to the Farm Supply for plumbing parts and then we head home.

Papa and Ella in the hay loft:

It was a good day with Ella and we are getting closer to getting the slab poured at the store.

The weather changed and not for the better which put off our concrete pouring.  Mike and I were able to sneak in some solar jobs at the house but that's all.

April 8

It's plumbing day:)  The plumbing and the septic pipe have to be under the slab when the concrete gets poured.  We know the layout of the store and measured off where the bathroom with a shower, toilet and vanity will go.  With those measurements, Mike glued some of the PVC pipe at the house.

Time to take it all over to the slab to get it in the ground.

Once we are there we have to pull the gravel away from the form boards to get the plumbing pipes set.

This is the back corner where the bathroom will be:

We measure out for the pipes and Mike starts shoveling the gravel out of the way:

Mike gets our plumbing contraption out of the car while I dig on the back side and under the form boards.  This is where the sewer pipe has to leave the store:

Mike clears the inside section of where I was:

We are down to the dirt and Mike digs underneath the form boards:

Now for the fun part, lol.  We have to make sure the shower stall fits the space we cleared and all of our measurements are right.  There is no room for error once the concrete gets poured.  So Mike and I brought a shower base to the site which is on the side of the highway.  

It looks good:)

Now we are set and Mike glues the final pvc pipes together:

That's it.  Now we can call concrete man and tell him to pour when he is ready:)  Finally it feels like we are getting somewhere.  Mike and I like when things get done.

I hope you all enjoyed this story.  My next couple of stories will be about the concrete slab and also our new solar panels being installed.

Have a great week and I will post soon:)

Chapter 139...Developing Our New Lot To Build A Store

We are building a store this spring and we can't wait to get going:)

I need to take you back to the beginning to get everyone up to date.  Mike and I bought this property for a great deal a few years ago.  Little by little we have worked on it but we didn't have any definite plans for it.  This year we decided to build a store on it which can later be converted to a small house if we choose to do that.

The lot we bought is two acres on a main road.  Mike and I had vision for this lot.  It was very low lying but there is a big hill, mountain, in the back of it.  We decided to call in our grader and have him dig out the back hill and push it forward to make the lot level with the road.


Randy works on the trackhoe and starts out by pushing trees down.  The power of these machines amaze me.

Moving a tree down the hill.

The lot is getting cleared.

The big logs being loaded up.

The lot is graded.

Mike and I put down 150 pounds of grass seed and we installed some gates.

Back to 9/3:
We have some rain in the forecast so Mike wants to get seed on the hill across the way. It is a very very steep hill This is the plan. We are going to take 2 buckets, one for each of us, and 100 pounds of grass seed and drive through a neighbor's property and throw the seed "down" from the top We get to the top border of our property and I carry the buckets while Mike carries one bag of seed.

This is the hill we are trying to seed.

Mike goes one way and I go the other way with our buckets of seed. Looking across at Mike.

It is very steep and very hard to walk on. I finally made it as far as I could with my bucket of seed and I froze. All I could think of was tumbling down the mountain. I had no idea how I was going to get back to meet Mike in the middle. I'm thinking "oh great Mike is going to have to call 911 to get me off this hill" I got down on all fours and started to crawl backwards with my bucket. I was finally able to get back to the middle. I told Mike "I am done with this hill". He took the last bit of seed we had left and threw it down the hill.

We did the best we could. It is not an easy hill. Next spring we will have to work some more on it. After we got back to the Jeep, we drove down and put more seed on the flat area. Whew!!!

The bank is already growing in.

Getting closer to building.  It's time to install the electric to this lot.  First we have to add some heavy rock at the entrance.  We need to build up the driveway going in.  

Instead of doing the work at the lot, Mike decides to put the electric pole and wiring together at the house.  Then we load it all onto the trailer and take it to the lot:

I help him stand the electric up and hold it against the pole while Mike straps it onto the telephone pole:

Here I am pounding in the ground rod:

Mike screwing in the breaker box:

Mike installing the copper ground wire:

Getting ready for the new building.  Mike is going to put poles in the ground for our concrete man:

Mike pounding in one pole:

The lot is a lot bigger than it seems:

Now we are prepped and almost ready to build.  In one of my next chapters I will write about having the driveway reinforced for the concrete trucks to get in and pour a foundation.


I know this was short and sweet but I just wanted to get everyone up to date with our plans.

Have a great day!!!