As soon as Jeff had the permit and had the go ahead from Indymac, he called the grader. After preparing to build the garage and doing some experimental digging on the property the year before, we'd been able to talk to enough graders and decide which company was the best for the job. Jeff was able to meet with them at the property that same day. The meeting went really well. The grader was confident and excited about the project estimating it would take 3-4 days. He was going to be able to push dirt from the house site to the side and smooth out a path for moving matierials, which would be very helpful. We just had to cut down one tree which was too close to the parking pad area and clear away the pine needles and bark from the path area so that when the dirt was pushed on top it would provide a nice solid surface. Also, they preferred to have access to water to pat down the dirt during the grading process.
Well, first for the tree removal. We had to get premission from the city, hopefully that would not be a problem. I went down to the city and told them the situation. Although the tree was marked to stay on the approved plans, they said since we had enough other trees on the property, they saw no problem. Great, that was easy. So, Jeff called the local tree guy, who took a look at it and said it would be about $200. We also happen to have a friend here that used to be a tree guy, 
now he carves bears out of them. He said he'd do it for free and maybe would use some of the wood for carvings. So, he and Jeff went over and cut it down. I was nervous about it and Jeff felt really bad for having to cut such a big tree, but it had to be done. Our friend wasn't able to use it, wrong kind of wood for his carvings, so it would stay at the property. There was a chance we could use it for a ridge pole.
now he carves bears out of them. He said he'd do it for free and maybe would use some of the wood for carvings. So, he and Jeff went over and cut it down. I was nervous about it and Jeff felt really bad for having to cut such a big tree, but it had to be done. Our friend wasn't able to use it, wrong kind of wood for his carvings, so it would stay at the property. There was a chance we could use it for a ridge pole. Then for the water issue. It turns out that the water department won't let you hook up to water till you are finished with grading and are done or almost done with your footings. Even then they don't like you using water for construction. I guess there was a problem with too much water being used for dust control. So, if the graders were going to have water, it was either hire a water truck or ask one of the neighbors. We didn't even want to know how much it would cost to hire a water truck for several days and didn't really want to ask a neighbor we didn't know too well, but decided it was worth a try. There is a house next door which is a vacation house for a couple from Orange County. We had met him a few times and he had given us his card, which Jeff had fortunately held on to. So, I called and asked as nicely as I could, if he would let us use some water and we would of course pay for. He said sure, no problem. He would let us know if the bill was much more than usual and wished us luck. Nice, so we made a mental note to bring them something nice.
Then for the clearing of the organic material. This stuff was like 6 inches thick after building up for so many years. It turned out to be quite a bit of work. I did as much as I could with the limited patience of a 10 month old, which wasn't much. Jeff did the rest. Wow, we were ready for grading, how exciting!
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