Blood, Sweat and Tears

Since my last posting there has been much blood and sweat and, metaphorically, a few tears as well. Not that there is much to show for it photographically. Once the concrete had set in the polystyrene blocks all the scaffolding and wood work was removed from the cabin foundations and work started on building the garage foundation walls, this time from 6" wide ICF blocks (as opposed to 8" blocks for the main house).

Garage foundation walls half done, this time blocks only three high. 

This went well and stablilsation forms were put in place to keep it all together during the pour. Care was taken to tie it all into the foundations of the house in order to ensure there are no gaps in the insulation between the two.  They were also tied together with steel (and concrete) for mutual support and added strength. Steel bars were used inside the blocks in exactly the same way as with the 8" blocks. I did want to put an inspection pit into the garage to make it easier to do a bit of maintenance on the jeep (thought it was about time I put to use the skills I learned on my Driver and Maintenance (D&M) course in Bovington in 1976) but, sadly, I was informed that inspection pits are not allowed without full ventilation systems and other safety measures. Health and Safety gone bonkers again. Small loss and life and work goes on.

The garage foundation walls ready for pouring.

Next up was to level and impact the ground in the basement and to put in place a steel framework ready for the concrete sub-floor. The levelling had to be done by hand as the basement is not walk-out and therefore there is no access for mechanical equipment. This work was left to the younger members of the work team.  This, of course, included me and the many years of practice digging trenches and shell scrapes in the far corners of the world were put to good use.

New members of the team.  Mark (left in green T shirt) does the work of two men - talks for both as well.  Kyle, Kevin's son, (right no shirt) is the baby of the team - bears the jibes and jokes well.  Kevin (centre), who you've already met, is the master builder and foreman.  Trust me - these guys are tough.

Now I've dug harder ground, sweated and bled more but I was still glad when the job was done. In reality most of the work involved bringing more material into the basement to raise the low areas and there were only (thanks to Dennis's good work with the digger) a few areas that needed lowering. The impacting was done by machine, which we manhandled in through a window and if we had put pockets in the corners we could have had a game of billiards on the finished surface. Last was the steel framing, wired to form 4ft squares and raised off the ground about and inch and half.

I am still trying to decide how to divide the basement up. The footings in the centre are for the supporting pillars that will hold the cabin up.

The pouring was delayed a day because we had to wait for a leveling expert and his team to ensure the best possible result for the basement floor. On the day (Wednesday) it all went remarkably smoothly. Work started on the basement floor at 0830 hours.

Trusty Dan on the pump gun again.  Floor depth 4".

It took nearly three loads of concrete to get the job done but it went down very quickly.

John finishing off the initial laying.

Final polishing was done by machine and took most of the afternoon to complete to perfection.

Finally finished polishing at 1730 hours

and you really could play billiards on this surface.

Meanwhile the garage walls were poured without mishap and final checks were done to make sure everything was straight and vertical.

The home team on the garage foundation walls.

For light entertainment this week you will all be amused to learn that I managed to poison myself last week and spent two nights evacuating my system from both ends until they were both raw and I was exhausted. I'm still not entirely sure what caused it but the chief suspects were: eggs (that I have been eating raw for a couple of weeks); tinned fish (which is renowned for being responsible for the occasional upset tummy; Thai chicken wings (had a warning from them earlier in the week), and; the fountain of my water container which, I have to admit, was not as clean as it should have been.  Anyway, got rid of the Thai wings, cleaned the fountain of the water container and have accepted the risk with the eggs and fish.  So far so good - haven't tried the eggs yet.

To help my recovery I took the afternoon off on Saturday and drove a few miles north to the hot springs at Fairmont.  Just driving there was a joy and reminded me just how much there is to explore here.  I spent a few hours bathing in the sun and hot springs and felt much better for it for the drive home.  On the way back I stopped off at the Bull River Inn and indulged myself in a blue steak which Eddy cooked beautifully.  At that point I thought life doesn't get much better and came home, went to bed and at about three o'clock in the morning threw it all up.  No regrets - it was still a great steak.  Anyway, I think I am over it now.

Well, the dulcet tones of the Sull Aria are wooing me to bed, so I'll sign off for now and post again in a few days. Yours aye.