There's a slab.... and it's not beer

So after Monday's dissapointment, everything proceeded on Tuesday. Hooray! More base was laid for the tanks on Monday, and the reinforcing was jiggered up the right way, so when the concreting boys arrived on Tuesday it actually happened.

Instead of the boom pump a line pump was used. Whilst it reached the site no worries, the problem with it (and the reason a boom pump was used in the first attempt) was that heavy metal pipes lie over the steel reinforcing, and when the pump is on the heavy pipes jerk back and forth repeatedly. That wouldn't usually matter unless you have heating cables attached to your reinforcing, as we have, and during Tuesday's pour the heating cable was almost severed in two places. Problematic, but fixable. Luckily we had Steve from Classic Underfloor heating (he's a good guy, thought I'd give him a plug) there to trouble shoot.

Twelve trucks of concrete later and they were finished.... you can really start to see the formation of a house. Thrown into the bargain the first of our two 110,000litre pioneer water tanks was installed. They are colourbond steel on the outside and a black plasticky (this is the techinical term) liner on the inside. The advantage of this combo is that you can have a much larger tank than a regular poly or galvo tank but much more economical than a concrete tank. The second monster tank was installed on Thursday. The other great thing about the pioneer tanks is that the collect their own water off their roof, and today it's raining, so we are already collecting rainwater! I've earmarked today's rain for my bath on October 29th, 2010.

And so on to this post's feature interior product... the DeLonghi 90cm free standing dual fuel cooker. It has some fancy lining and telescopic rails, so I'm less likely to inflict myself with 3rd degree forearm burns when cooking pizza.

A Little Disappointing

A big day planned for last Monday. After a prolonged hot spell with temperatures up to 43 degrees c, followed by rain, finally the weather gods smiled ready for the slab to be poured on Monday. The waterproofing under the reinforcing was in a bit of a state; the tape had come off in the sun and the plastic was flopping about in the breeze, and the trenches had puddles of water in them from the rain.
However, on Monday everyone was poised for action. The slab was being poured and the rain water tanks wereto be installed. A boom pump had been booked for the pour to protect the underfloor heating cable. However the slope of the site and the general topography prevented the pump from being positioned close enough to allow the concrete to be poured. Consequently lots of swearing workmen.
Our engineer identified that the steel ligatures (I have no idea what these actually are, so forgive me if this is incorrect and doesn't make sense) had been installed the wrong way around and needed to be replaced. Consequently some more swearing workmen, with a few arguments as well.
The tank people came to install the first tank, but deemed that the base for the tank to go on was inadequately level and required more dolomite base to allow it to be leveled. Consequently lots of swearing workmen, and a swearing husband.
Apparently everyone stood around and swore for a couple of hours and then gave up and left.
So a lot of swearing and no work actually done on Monday. I'm just glad I wasn't actually there.
Don't worry, everything went ahead on Tuesday... pictures to follow shortly.
I almost forgot- a picture. This is the multiline Rekta, which will be hanging over our kitchen bench.

Thirsty Visitor

Not building related- but nonetheless worthy.

Holly (the dog) sniffed this one out in our front yard this afternoon.

Looking for a drink I suspect, given the heat in Adelaide at the moment...

Progress

This week the reinforcing for the slab has been laid, and the other bits- some termite protection, plastic sheeting, and the cabling for the slab heating. (in an ideal world we would be putting hydronic heating pipes in, but finding an efficacious and affordable way to heat the water was problematic, the best solution being geothermal but at $50K it was slightly beyond our reach).




I must apologise to the earth for the amount of embodied energy in our slab- there is an awful lot of steel in there. However, when armageddon comes and your houses all fall down, you can come and live with us because our house will still be standing.

The non build photo for this post is of a rammed earth wall, (Tim's suggestion), which will be featuring on the southern wall and some internal walls of the house. The walls are built insitu, which poses a slight logistical problem for our flooring. The floor of the house will be polished concrete, and therefore the slab needs to have an as close to perfect as possible finish on it. However to do the rammed earth they need to drive a bobcat around on the slab, which is at odds with having a perfect surface underneath!

The pour for the slab was due to be this week, and then planned for Monday, and has now been postponed. For any of you non-Adelaidians out there, it has been rather hot here with days in the high 30s, rather unseasonable. It is going to stay stinking hot for quite a few days yet, too hot for pouring concrete. Which comes back to the concrete floors- the hotter it is when the concrete is poured the higher the likelihood of cracking in the slab, which is problematic when the slab is visible.

So we are now waiting for the weather to change to allow the concrete to be poured....hopefully soon, I sure am sick of the heat.

Progress being made

Quite a lot of action recently. The trenches have been dug for the foundations, the piers have been dug and poured and all of the plumbing and electrical work which needs to be done prior to the slab being poured is well under way.

One minor hiccup this week when the electrical trenching and cabling was layed through an area which will be excavated in the future for landscaping....whoops. It has now been re-layed though an area where it can rest permanently in peace.

Tim has been kept terribly busy with meetings with builders, plumbers, electricians, engineers. Sometimes he manages to make it to work.

I have decided that there are plenty of building site photos, so with each post I will be including an image of one of the fittings we will be including in the house interior. Feel free to post derogatory comments about my interior decorating!






We are starting this post with the toilet; the Duravit starck 3. This toilet will be used in the en suite and main bathroom; a different model will be used in the separate WC. I could blind you with exciting technical toilet details (who ever knew the toilet world could be so complex), but it's just a toilet- and the lid doesn't slam shut. In case you were wondering, it doesn't have an aerial, I think the black thing is a join in the wall.