There were a few tense moments today as we lowered the house back onto the foundation. (I use that term "we" very liberally--I didn't do much but cut a sewer line and watch the action.) They lower it pretty quickly. At one point I was watching as the house came down about six inches in one minute. Steve, the house mover/lifter/lower-er, said that everything looked good, that the house stayed in line pretty well throughout the whole process.The front sill plate was thicker than the rest of the house so Steve suggested that we replace it. That was this morning, and when he went to lower the house the old sill plate was still in place. He'd already set the mortar under the fireplace, so he was in a hurry to get the house down. They set the mortar and then lower the house part way down and then let the fireplace settle a bit into the mortar and after it's had an hour to sit or so, they let it all the way down. It's complicated because some new beams have to go in under the house as the other beams come out, and the house has to be supported in the mean time. It's nothing that Carson can't figure out. He must like jigsaw puzzles, that's all I can say.
Now it's time for the different trades to come it and do their thing. First it's the concrete finishers who lay the basement floor. The floor has to go in before they can back fill the exterior of the foundation. Then they seal the foundation, put in drains and back fill. That's the point at which we will no longer have a moat running around our house. That will be a nice day too.
I think I will sleep better tonight, knowing that our house is back down on solid ground. It already wiggles a lot less, even as they are pulling the steel beams out from under it and bumping and grinding against the exterior walls. NO SHAKING. We can do as much laundry as we want, and NO SHAKING! (Even when it goes into the spin cycle.) Of course we can do laundry just as soon as I get the plumbing hooked back up, and I'll do that just as soon as they get the front steps cut down a few feet and reinstalled. They're working on it right now, and I'm sure they'll have them done before Robin gets back from teaching school. If not, she'll have to go and have a cup of coffee, and then everything should be ready, except the sewer, which should be done right after the stairs, and several dozen trips to the hardware store to buy parts and adaptors. Did I mention before that I love plumbing?