Digging to China
I promised Jeff I'd blog about his latest project. Plus I've had requests for pictures. (Thanks Nathan.) I even figured out how to post a video. (Yay me!) We have two cracks in our foundation that resulted in some flooding in our basement earlier in the summer. After a little research, we decided the most effective way of repairing the cracks is to dig out the foundation and patch with tar paper and asphalt emulsion (tar). Jeff bought a heavy pick-like tool, called a San Angelo bar of all things (interesting what you get when you Google "San Angelo bar"), to break up the clay-like dirt. Then he digs it all out with a shovel. He's getting some good upper-body work in. We calculated he probably lifted and threw down that 17 lb. bar more than 1500 times in a four hour period the other day. He finished the first hole a couple weeks ago. It's probably 4' x 4' square and about 6 feet deep. He's now working on the second, but got slowed down by school starting. Hopefully we'll get it all done and patched before the snow flies.
P.S. The $2.00 I spent on plastic tools for the kids was totally worth it!
P.P.S. By the way, have you ever wondered what would happen if you actually dug a hole through to the other side of the earth? Assuming no air friction, no spin of the earth, and no hot magma in the middle, here is a NOVA podcast that shows you what would happen.
Labels: home improvement, my wonderful husband, projects





