Day 7 -- lift and dig

The house is up, and the old foundation is gone.  Amazing!  I spent almost 3 1/2 hours at the farm watching the process.  I arrived about 10:20 a.m., and they had already begun the lift.  I think they'd done a round or two before I got there.

But I was there long enough to see them adjust the cribbing and lift it up to the final height.  Then I watched them excavate in earnest.  Watching the old red tile crumble as it hit the rubble pile made me glad we are finally doing this!  Photos follow for your viewing pleasure . . .

When I arrived at about 10:20 a.m. the lifting had begun.

In the front of the house, you can see where the excavating began.

The workers adjusted the cribbing after each lift to prepare for the next turn with the hydraulics.

With each lift the house went higher.

As they got closer to full height more of the block foundation came away, and you can see the 

basement walls.

A closer shot of the cribbing . . .

At full height

This really gives you some perspective.

A shot of where the concrete basement floor used to be . . .

And the north basement wall goes!