Clearing & grading nearly complete.

The crew has done tremendous work over the past couple of days, and the lot is looking really good.  Bob and Craig managed to save three oaks along the front of the property, along with the previously-designated pines.  It was really exciting to walk the property this afternoon, pacing off where the front & rear of the house will (approximately) be, and so on.

Look at the "before" pics above, and then this one - these are the oaks that were saved!

 The slender pine at the foot of the dirt mound is going to be removed; it is too close to the driveway route.

 Oaks again!

 And the oaks.  Can you tell that we're excited that they were saved??!

Foundation brick & mortar.

Last Friday (9/20) I selected the brick and mortar that will be used for our foundation.  The brick is "The Ashley" by Boral Building Products, and the mortar is "Type S" standard color, which is a basic grey.  The combo should look really good at the base of the home, with the white trim and blue-grey siding paint above it.  We have a vision!
(Sorry for the blurry pics...I was fully caffeinated at the time...!)

In this pic, I included a standard burgundy paver to see how it would coordinate if used for a patio and/or walkway; more on that at a later date...

This morning's results.

Red X trees taken down; more to follow.
A note about all of the trees being removed...they are fast-growing, easily renewable pines.  We are not clearing an old-growth hardwood forest; we are removing trees that were planted by men not particularly long ago, to be used as a resource when the time came.  The felled trees will be ground up for mulch, or sold to a lumber mill.  Nothing is being wasted or tossed carelessly into a landfill.

X marks the spot.

On Sunday Sep 22, Bob the builder and Craig the grader marked the final trees for removal. That work should be completed in the week of Sep 23, and then it's on to pouring the footings. Maybe you can see an X or two in these pics.  White X = save; Orange X = remove; White X with pink band =  save if possible.

Aannnd, they're off!

Clearing & grading began on Tuesday, Sep 17.  First pass resulted in the following progress:

Doofus.

Doofus and Goofus.

Goofus.

The Lot.

As previously mentioned, our lot is 1.74 acres in size. It is a five-sided parcel that widens nicely from front to back.  The dimensions are 101.05 ft across the front, 353.09 ft down the left line, 234.89 ft + 55.7 ft along the rear, and 443.56 ft up the right line.  At some point in the past, it had been planted with southern pines; the rows are clearly visible in the google maps screen grab below.

Here are some additional snaps of the lot before clearing & grading began.  Trees!