Started work on the pergola area of the back yard. The structure is about 7 feet square. Got four 4×4 posts 10 feet long, and 12 2x6x8′ for the top side and top rails from the lumber yard this morning, along with four bags of cement mix.

I had previously dug the hole (two feet deep), but wasn’t sure of the exactness of the placement of the posts so that the structure would be square (or rectangle). The dirt around here is very silty (leftover from the ancient Lake Bonneville, which covered most of western Utah from the Wasatch mountains – those are the ones east of Salt Lake City – and into Nevada). It’s a grey-ish color of ‘dirt’, compresses OK and holds the shape of the hole, but is easy to dig through. I had some good topsoil brought in when the landscape guys did the back yard.

Anyhow, I set the first post, then used a string to get a straight edge to the next post. Although, now that I think of it, I could have used one of the 2×2’s I grabbed from the waste pile of the house next door that is under construction. (Yes, I got permission from the builder to raid their scrap pile.) I ended up getting three of the posts done before I decided that was enough work for one day. (Yes, I am a bit out of shape, but I do have lots of time to get this done, since I am not working.) I’ll get the fourth post done tomorrow, and top off the holes with more cement to get the cement up to the grade.

Our house is in a newer subdivision that has lots of empty lots. I have one house to the NE of me, and no others in my block. There are three houses across the street, and more empty lots. It is sort of nice to have all the empty space around here; nice views all around.

We had a neighbor (who has a landscape business) get the back yard in. A nice concrete border, sprinkler system, and sod. The sod has been in almost two weeks, and gets watered three times a day. The sod is ‘knitting’ into the topsoil nicely, and looks pretty good. I’ll have to start mowing it (carefully) next week, I think.

Anyhow, empty lots all around. Until a couple of weeks ago, when two different builders started a new house on the lot next door and across the street. It has been interesting to watch the progress, although they do start a bit early. The usual noise ordinance states that work is not supposed to start until 7am, but the workers start showing up a bit earlier than that getting ready to work. Since the house next door is on the master bedroom side, we don’t get to sleep in as much as we used to. Probably a good thing, though.

Right now, both builders are at the same point in the process. They both finished up the main floor subfloor today. (Houses around here have basements, so they put rough wall framing in the basement, then the floor joists, then the subfloor. It’s been interesting to watch the whole process, even if it starts a bit earlier than I would like. (Hey, I am retired! And I’ve always been a ‘stay-up-late’ kind of guy.)

Tomorrow’s plan — finish up the fourth post, top off the cement, and maybe mow the front lawn.