Photos from week starting 22nd November

Compare these photos with last week and you can see what can be achieved if it doesn't rain for a week.  Now that summer is really here we are hoping that progress will really accelerate.

The ground slab is being prepared for the concrete pour

The black plastic sheet acts as a damp proof membrane.  The reinforcement is under the line of the load bearing walls

Now that the east retaining wall has been backfilled we can see the full footprint of the house

The walls of the swimming pool are also being prepared by fixing the geotextile material and drainage sheets

All the underground drainage pipes have been installed

We got our car back from the garage as well.  Although it was covered by insurance it still cost us $970!

Photos from week starting 15th November

The photos this week show what can happen if we only have showers rather than torrential downpours.  The ground is still wet but the progress has been impressive.

The drainage membrane and pipe along the east retaining wall.

The east and south retaining walls are now ready for backfilling

Slab edge formwork has been fixed along the top of the east retaining wall

The swimming pool has been pumped out but there is still quite a bit of work to clean all the wall starter bars

The top of the west excavation has now been battered back to prevent any further collapses

The site is still very wet, all the pile tops are full of water

The locations of the slab thickenings have been marked out

A kookaburra watching everything that is going on

Photos from week starting 8th November

Another big storm on Monday with over 20mm of rain meant that progress was again disrupted this week.  We are really hoping for a consistent stretch of dry weather so that they can finish the retaining walls and ground slab in the next couple of weeks.

The concrete infill has been poured in the east retaining wall hollow concrete blocks

Looking along the east retaining wall where the rainwater tanks will be located

The walls for the entrance steps and the south side of the house are also finished

Photos from week starting 1st November

If disasters come in threes then we are currently waiting for our third disaster.

We have had 150mm of rain this week and, apart from this meaning that very little progress was made, it was probably the cause of the excavation along the west side of the building collapsing.  In addition a dead tree fell onto our car whilst it was parked on the driveway and pretty much smashed up the back of the car.

So what will happen next?

Earth from the west retaining wall has fallen on the slab excavation

The excavation has collapsed behind the garage

You can see how wet the site is

The swimming pool has 0.5m of water in it.  Fancy a swim?

The gully is normally virtually dry

At least the east retaining wall is now at full height

Blockwork for main entrance steps and south retaining wall

The dead tree vs. our car

Ouch!  I think this is going to be expensive