After getting over the initial shock of watching the little barn being knocked down, I took a deep breath and moved on… Here we go, it’s going to be great!
First a retaining wall to keep everything secure
The new bathroom/utility room and Johns shop (locale tecnico) would be back here.
As the walls came down….a few fun things emerged. Digging in the rubble I found centessimi coins from the 1800’s!
Road work so the big rock trucks and cement trucks could make it up the hill.
Loads of sand and rock. Many, many loads of sand and rock.
Hand chiseling all of the old cement off the walls on the inside that we wanted to keep in stone.
The walls are super thick. Rock on both sides and full of cement in the middle.
Getting ready for the rebar reinforcement around the ground level of the house.
A foundation of sorts to build the walls on.
An ancient well dug through solid rock and about 15 feet deep…right next to the corner of the house. Will have to be dealt with.
This will be the outside perimeter of the house.
Just about ready for cement
Will it ever look like a kitchen?
Cement time!
Lost a couple big tree limbs getting this guy up the hill
And here we have instant cement footers
Forms came off the next day
and… on to the wall building
The black stuff is a thick mat of moisture barrier
The huge stones for the corners of the house
Block on the inside stone on the outside
followed by the blue insulation board
Love the giant cornerstones!
Could not believe how completely square and level they got everything.
Fitting stones for a doorway with hammer and chisel.
But first, cutting them with a stone saw…the noise was deafening and went on for weeks. But things were starting to look very different…I think the little barn was feeling better.
