Mystery Solved!

We've not been able to get to the site while they were working, so were imagining what type of equipment would navigate the steep terrain. Even with the driveway cut in some, there are few places you can stand without leaning to balance your weight.

Today, we finally saw the mysterious Bobcat. We hope to get out someday to see it in motion. You have to respect the brave operator!

They've cut further into the hillside and staked out the perimeter of the garage.

Here are the forms for the retaining wall that will keep the rainwater tanks from sliding down the hill:

 

Hopefully, the winter rain will hold off a bit.

Lower Level Floorplan and Rainwater Collection

This is the lower level. Since you probably can't read the annotations, the largest room is a media room with space for a 7' pool table. The two guest bedrooms are at the top. The outdoor living space is covered by the deck above it, which will also help shade the windows.

The two round circles to the left are for rain water collection. Water is short here in Texas and last year was extremely dry. However, when it rains--it pours. We're estimating that we will be able to collect from approximately 1000 square feet of the roof. That should produce 550 gallons of water for every inch of rain. The average rainfall in our area is about 32 inches, which would yield 17,600 gallons.

The average family of two uses 20,000 gallons a year. However, our fixtures will all be water savers and we are installing a Brac greywater system that reuses the water from the shower and laundry to flush toilets. We could always have water trucked in if necessary, and it is possible to add gutters to the garage in the future.