Back to the seismic upgrade!
In order to create forms to fill the gaps between the foundation and the mudsill, I found it necessary to excavate down a couple of feet around the outside of the foundation. However, at some point in the past, someone thought it would be a good idea to pour a bunch of concrete next to the cripple wall on the outside of the house. This was no doubt done in order to stop the infiltration of soil and water through the previously mentioned foundation gap. A concrete slab for the garage abuts the north side of the house as well. To move forward with the project, it all must go.
I started with the intention of working thirty minutes or so per day. Why such a short time? Breaking concrete with a ten pound hammer is more difficult than it looks. The smart thing to do would have been to bring in a jackhammer and diamond saw right away but my wish to save money got the better of me. It ended up taking way too long with the hammer and I had to rent the saw and jack hammer anyway at significant expense. (Interesting fact: It costs as much to rent the concrete saw as it does to rent the blade that goes into it.)
Cutting the concrete. What a mess it made.
There turned out to be much more concrete than I initially imagined. We ended up filling a drop box almost half way.
After using the jackhammer.
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