Thursday, April 20, 2017

Digging up the Central Backyard, Part 3

Having finished the rebuild of the main irrigation water line, and Zone 5 water supply, we return to the excavation of the central backyard.  We have dug up the portion just next to the sidewalk; we still have the portion that goes back to the rear fence.



First, we dig back along the established lawn line to the electrical box.  Then we move West a bit and do it again.



Instead of continuing to dig all the way back, we can dig all the way across.  Doing this exposes a layer of rock.



And continued to dig along the edge, we expose more, and more of this layer of rock.



Using the pry bar, I can separate this into 4 large pieces.



Then, using the jack hammer, we can break these into pieces that we can manage.



We can then roll these to the side, and clean up the dirt and debris that is left.



Several hours of moving these out of the pit and to the front, to be hauled away.




produces a big empty pit.



From this, we keep digging back closer to the fence, and find several more, smaller rocks. plus an abandoned PVC sprinkler line.


More digging, to the fence line.


Day after day, keep expanding the dug out area.


Until, finally, the entire area is excavated.



All the rock is dug out, down to bedrock, and the dirt mixed with leaves and grass to improve it's organic content.  Now we just have to put the dirt (that we dug out and is in piles around the hole) back in the hole and smooth everything out.