View

Not much visible has happened, although Builder's Apprentice No. 1 outdid himself and was down on site at 7 am one day this week! The concrete blocks have now been filled and some more of the drainage has been put in. But, to keep things going, here by popular demand is a photo of the view.

Basement Walls Up!

The blockwork for the ground floor is up! Eat that, Kevin McLeod.

Builder's Apprentice No. 1 was down on site by 8 am two days in a row. He can't even manage to leave for work by that time! Hope Hamish & John aren't reading this.

This is taken from the future outdoor terrace at the kitchen/dining/car port end looking back towards the garage. And you can see the neighbours two sites up, who are about two weeks ahead of us (they don't have a basement). Actually, we suspect that it is a speccie being built by a Wanaka builder that is for sale.

This photo is taken from the opposite direction, above the garage again. The floor slab for the first floor can't be put on for two weeks, so in the interim the blocks will be filled (grouted), the blocks will be tanked (water-proofed), the structural steel for the first floor slab will be measured and fabricated, the ground floor slabs will be poured and the drainage will be done. So it won't look like too much exciting will be happening but it will all be going on in the background.

Good Foundations

The first lot of foundations are in! Look at that lovely solid snake of gray. And obviously all the blocks are on site. So the 6 pallets closest to us are in the garage, which will have the lounge and library above it. The next block by itself is in the future stairwell, and the remainder are in the car port (the kitchen/dining will be above that). So that is the space covered by the V shape in the image up top.

And the blue truck in the distance belongs to our neighbours two sites down, who have just started excavating. The site two sites up is up to roof framing. So nothing for two years and now suddenly it is all go.

Our First Grand Designs Moment

The concrete was due to be poured at 3 pm yesterday and right on schedule, it poured with rain! We can just hear Kevin McLeod: "Taryn and Regan's programme is really time sensitive, and this rain will just cause havoc. They've got 1,500 concrete blocks to be laid tomorrow, which they can't do without the concrete block having been poured. If the blocklayers can't do it tomorrow, they will have to wait another week - which means that nothing else will happen for a week. What will they do?"

Luckily, " 'n boer maak 'n plan" and it may all get sorted today...

Lights, water, action!

Things are rocking along now! We have power to the site (the nice power company just needs to flip the switch), water comes out of a hose pipe and the telephone line is in. And it has all been buried! Here's the proof (you can even see the filled-in trench):



Yeah, it is a pretty exciting photo.

The steel reinforcing is in, ready for the footings. We are just waiting for the DCC inspector. If you look at the photo below carefully, you'll be able to see our meterbox sitting nicely in the middle of the site - by our future front door. Regan and Jeromy have been laying the electrical cables, and putting in the meter box. They have been down there in all weather. The first time they tried, it rained overnight and the site was a massive clay pit.

That photo is taken approximately from the second bedroom in the house. The biggest hole down front is Regan's garage. And check out our pretty gravelled drive way:

Once we have the okay from the Council, the footings go in and then its on to the concrete blockwork for the basement.

Excavation nearly done

No photos this time, as we're having some bluetooth issues. But the excavation is now pretty much complete! The last photos were of the front wing of the house, and now the back (bedroom) wing has been dug in. The cut is much, much shallower for that bit. They got a bit enthusiastic and excavated a little bit too much, but that has been backfilled.

So tonight we got to drive up the driveway, park in the "garage" and stand in what will be our bedroom!

They've also put in the field drain (to catch the run off from the paddock behind us - this runs the length of the back of the section) and sunk the hole for the foul sewer connection.

The excavator just needs to tidy up a couple of bits now, and lay some more drains and trenches. And the temporary electricity needs to be put in. So next the builder comes in, does the set out (the bit with the pegs and lines) and puts in the concrete footings. And then the concrete block work starts.