A stuck slab

Today we got some of the bathroom floor put in. Here's a pic with three quarters of the floor in.


Today's big goal however, was to have a bobcat and break up all of the remaining concrete. After yesterday's cancelled rental, I was happy when it was delivered at 8:30 a.m.



We couldn't start until 10 due to city restrictions on making noise before 10 a.m. Unfortunately, by 10:30, the bobcat was stuck up to it's axels in the soil. The problem was that the yard is improperly graded and the grade slopes toward the garage. The water pools there naturally, and with the slab, even more runs off making a deep puddle that has been soaking the ground for years or decades. We've had a lot of rain lately, and the soil was like quicksand. We were sinking so fast standing on it I really thought someone could sink in like a horror movie.

This is a shot of the stuck bobcat:


The bobcat really turfed up the backyard:


After the bobcat got stuck, I left to meet C for lunch and shop for lighting. When I got back at 4, I walked into this:

The second bobcat was completely stuck, and had been since 2:00! This is the most difficult slab I've ever heard of. I had no idea it would be this difficult. C and I joke around about bodies being buried in the cement, and I think the ghosts of the bodies don't want to be disturbed. It took till 4:45 to get it out of the mud. The crew of 3 used a variety of techniques like lifting the body of the bobcat and piling stuff under the tires. At one point, we loaded the bucket and we got into it to add weight (I helped!) Unfortunately, this meant the crew had to work on Saturday.

In this shot I'm trying to show how soft the mud is. I mean it's really soft - like you could use it for facials at a salon.