Foundation Block
The next work to be done is to build up the footings to 8" above the finished grade level. Block below grade has to be 12" deep for strength. Above grade, 8" block is allowed. Also, there is one section of the garage wall that needs to be stronger for the stone face that will eventually cover it.
The first course of block is the hardest because the inaccuracies in the footings have to be compensated for and the better the footings, the easier this part is. In our case, the footing forms were pretty rough, so the first course took a little more time.
I had my favorite masonry supplier, Weldon, deliver the first 700 or so blocks and 5 bags of mortar cement. They charge $50 to deliver, so I attempted to get the masons to think ahead more than a day or two and predict what will be needed to finish the job. I was partially successful, we got through 4 days before we needed another cube of block, and I wound up getting another 5 bags of portland myself. The other components of the cement mix, sand and gravel, were left over from previous work.
At this point, the structure started taking shape.
The next step is to start preparing for the slabs. The base needs to be brought up about 1 1/2 feet. This will be used as thermal storage.