And lucky for me, this is my second build, as the city of Naperville managed to overcharge me on my permit by $3,000! Seems they failed to give me the appropriate credits they give for existing things on the site. Had I not noticed the large increase from the house we finished 13 months ago - I would have had no clue, and would not have bothered double checking. Thankfully, I compared it to my last permit and questioned the city. They agreed with me, and are cutting me a check for $3,000.
The boys got to see about 45 minutes of the demo on Monday morning - they would have preferred to see it all, but school was waiting. They got a chance to run around the now empty lot that night, which was their only shot, as the lot is now a 9ft hole.
Excavation went flawlessly today - as no large rocks were down there, nor do we come across any water, which was my biggest concern, as downtown Naperville generally has a higher seasonal water table in this area (hence, reason I am putting in two sump pumps). However, the lack of any visible water is a nice sight.
Overall - the hope is to have footers in by Friday and have the concrete form walls in next week - with framers starting in about two weeks or so. Last time, we tore down in November and did not even start framing until early January - so early on, pace is looking good.
Naperville requires televising of the sewer pipe to ensure it is in good shape (inspector viewing it in photo). Amazingly, the very old clay pipe to the main in the street is in top notch shape and does not to be replaced.
Boys had a front row seat to the demo...
Carter was intrigued, but preferred to keep his distance from the "digger".
The demo guy noticed some old tools in the attic - a pick ax, and some other things...I told him they were his to keep.
Literally, within 90 minutes its about down...stands for 70+years, comes down in mere minutes.
Carter, from the safe seats in the car.
Granted, there are colder climates than Chicago, however, just like the last teardown, there is virtually no insulation in any of the walls.
Unlike last time, when I was the first on the block to demo a house...you can tell from all the photos, I am one of the last this time...many houses around me have already met their fate. Needless to say, had my lowball offer on this lot not been accepted, we would not be doing this again, nor our are pockets deep enough to live in this area, basically in the center of downtown. So the down market, does have some advantages. Two years ago, this lot was $400,000 - we paid less than half for it. In the past 8 weeks, two other demolitions have occured on Jefferson a couple blocks away. Despite the worst housing market in 70 years - I counted 13 active teardowns yesterday in the downtown area. When I was building 18 months ago, there were maybe 3 or 4.
By 1:30 - the crew was gone.
By time I got home from work today...entire foundation was excavated...I don't get how they can move as fast as they do.
