Finished the foundation in preparation for the raising!

We essentially finished the foundation preparation. Earlier, Peter welded together 6" wide, 1/4" thick steel plates. The plan is that these L-shaped steel plates will be welded to the angle iron protruding from the concrete piers and then the steel plates will be bolted to the massive sill plate timbers. This ties the timbers frame to the foundation.

The first order of business was to level all of the angle iron. We marked the level using a simple water level. We then used a circular saw with a metal-cutting blade to cut all of the angle iron at the level mark.

Here, Peter cuts the angle iron at the level mark.



Next, we used a metal grinder to grind the angle iron smooth and put a slight bevel on it to eventually make a better weld.





Isaak and Emmett, two local welders, came out to lend a hand with the welding. They brought a 120V arc welder and we strung over 300' of 10-gauge extension cables from the nearest power source up to the job site. After fighting with weak power problems due to the great distance, Isaak and Emmet were able to get their welder working satisfactorily.



All of the welding had to be done from the awkward position of lying down on the ground and working sort-of upside down. Here, Emmett is welding one of the plates to the angle iron:



After an afternoon of work, we got all of the steel plates leveled, squared, and welded. The foundation is essentially done!!






Its nearly time to start bringing out timbers to the job site, starting with the 4 sill timbers.