The Pit

The only activity from the last few days has been work preparing the basement. About 1/2 of the crawlspace will get a concrete pad, including the wine cellar and the area under the kitchen where the mechanical will be located. The rest will have a gravel floor; both with a vinyl sheet underneath as a moisture barrier. I had an option to do a concrete slab for the entire crawlspace, but after the gravel and concrete are poured there will only be about 5' 8" of headroom. Then subtract some for the HVAC lines running around - it won't be space you want to spend a lot of time in. Heck, it's the first decision in a while I've made to not spend the extra money.

Over the holiday weekend Mary Workman and I went shopping for some of the plumbing fixtures since that's the next major rough-in work. Unfortunately several of the large showrooms in Knoxville were closed; I'll have to visit them this week.

Dr. Jim Tumblin, a retired dentist, Fountain City historian and columnist for the Shopper News, stopped by today and took in a quick tour of the house. He gave me some great information from the vertical files in the McClung Collection about the history of the Ritta community and some of my ancestors. I really appreciated that info, especially the clippings on the old Murphy-Luttrell reunion