It's been a busy few days- first the roofers showed up and stripped the shingles, followed by the rough framers who tore off the roof and walls, then returned the next day and tore off the flooring deck....leaving a really big space....  the excavator arrived with a skid steer and a small back hoe and in a few hours had the foundation and crawl space dug out and all the fill worked into various areas around the property.  Big strides.... and in the unseasonal heat to boot!

Found this note scribbled on one of the foundation 2x10's.... laughable considering we also discovered over dozens of little dead mice mixed in the floor insulation.... yes, all dead... but still...."varmit" proof indeed!

This is the lumber I cleaned after tearing it out of the old porch structure.  It will be re-used for framing and siding the new structure saving me some much needed $$$$.

The kitchen is GONE- roof came down first, then the walls, and finally the floor.  I spent the two days it took to remove the old structure cleaning any salvageable lumber for re-use.  Ohhhhh.... my hands hurt bad.... but I did get a lot of good lumber.  The white door will be the entry to the kitchen from the dining room.  The red door will go away and become the oven, pantry, refrigerator wall in the new kitchen.

The crawl space is dug out and ready for concrete.....

This is my contractor, "Irv" of Image Custom Homes and Remodeling, sorting out the plans- mini back hoe in background.  By the end of the day they had completely dug the hole, smoothed out the steps up to the house, and filled in the drive around to the parking area thru the trees and up to the house.....you can almost drive up to the house now and back down on the other side!