Thanks John!
By trade, I am a truck driver/dirt mover, not a hammer swinger. I have been doing all of the dirt work -- the initial site prep (including removing 4 mature hardwoods and a cedar tree), trenching for the water, septic and power lines, backfill/leveling for the slab pour, backfill against the foundation, site prep for the exterior HVAC unit siting, rock wall for the landscaping, fill and pea gravel under the decks, and I will be doing the final grading and lawn. Not the least of which is siting and creating the swales to move water away from the slab to where it best needs to flow. I'm also the logistics support for final appliance and flooring install.
I did *not* do the footers for the foundation -- the concrete guys wanted to do that as their total package and I was happy to let them. I would have wasted concrete ... They do it all day, every day. I haven't dug footers on a job site in two years. And even then, I wasn't proficient at it (i'm a truck driver ...
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I have been taught by a great mentor/teacher (Pat Guy) how to move dirt around (but I'm just a journeyman at best, not the master that he is) and have been using the basic tools of the dirt trade -- track loader, mini excavator and tractor/box blade. My little dump truck has been very useful as well. As well, I am using the standard hand tools of the dirt trade -- shovel (trench, flat and pointed), rake, laser and story pole, chain saw, and (my fav) Pulaski axe. I use a shovel more than a rake -- a good man with a shovel can get on grade and level faster and better than with a rake. Not that I am a "good man" but I do find that I am better with the shovel than with a rake. At this very moment, I can tell you exactly where my pointed shovel is. I'm not sure where the rake is ...
I am familiar with septic systems, too, but I haven't told my plumber that ...
Excavating -- first on the job site, last off.
