First round of fill in place

The guys came today to put in the first layer of gravel, up to 14" below the foundation wall. That leaves 4" for the slab and 10" for interior footings. Around the footings we'll use another 8" of gravel and 2" of insulation for the radiant floor. Here you can see the gravel guy with the controller at his waist shooting the gravel into the hole from behind the kitchen.

There were what I think were two eagles circling above in the dust could while the gravel guys were there. I tried to get pictures, but my camera phone only showed indistinguishable dots in the solid blue sky. No zoom capability.

I decided to go with option #2 from below for the insulation. I cut the top at about a 60 degree angle all around the family room, living room, and office, in case we ever want to attach tack strips in those places.

Here's the whole place from the corner of the mud room after the gravel was done. At the front you can see my hastily-assembled box for the elevator pit.