Making the Grade

Bob from Iowa City Excavating rides into the sunset while doing the finish grading around the Yum Yum Farm house. By the way, typing "Yum Yum Farm" is really awkward. Try it. Anyway, the dirt (or "spoil") from the original excavation has been sitting around, growing weeds, and providing king of the mountain competition facilities since the construction commenced in May. Bob has used the spoil, some of which is topsoil, to backfill against the foundation, level the drive, create a grade on which the garage/barn will eventually be constructed, and to make a flat area outside the basement walkout for our outdoor enjoyment. He has also expanded the drive next to the main entrance, as you can see in the foreground, to facilitate vehicle turnaround.

Here's that future garage site. This is just off the northeast corner of the house, and will probably not have a garage on it for a while. These building ideas take shape slowly in our minds, and go through several incarnations before we settle on something. Any ideas? Here's a look at the grading work behind the house. Bob had the very good idea to use some of the spoil to create a larger flat area directly behind the house, which sounded very useful to us. Our guest room will be located just inside the basement doors, so a nice level backyard will allow vehicles to pull up right next to the basement to unload luggage and guests. It could also be a great surface for more gardens, a badminton court, picnic table, or just a nice place to kick back and enjoy the bull snakes!