Looking back on week 1

TIRED. Taking a break SUnday:
First week of actually building was as first weeks are. Bog bog bog. Slow at first is always how it is, and I knew it, but felt disappointed each evening none-the-less.

The helper I’ve found – Sebastian – seems perfect for the job, and was a great help in taking over the task of laying the all important first course of blocks. This turned out to be outside of Fred’s – the concrete subcontractor– skills, so it was unclear whether I needed to find a mason to do this. Instead, Sebastian and I tackled it Mon -Weds.

Tuesday we had delivery of “Clementine.” By Thursday she was lifting and moving whole pallets of blocks and one ton of rebar, in one fell lift. The blue thing on the back is a pretty heavy duty chipper – as we have
some pretty heavy duty brush piles.

I have been wanting Fred to get the slab poured (last thing that he will need to do for me for a while) and each day there seems to be something else in the way.

For example, delivery of the gravel that fills in under the slab– which was kind of interesting.
No more dump trucks and shovels. Now the thing is conveyor belt sprays the gravel all over. Real labor saver. Some woman must have thought of it!

Check it out:  

Then we hit a pretty major overlook on my part – the underslab plumbing needed to be placed, tested and inspected. I have been thinking of a plumber as something I won’t need for a while, but lo and behold there’s the small matter of the house’s drain pipes that run down into the basement floor and out. OOOOps. Fortunately all the rest of the plans are in place, in terms of where the pipes will come down, so after hectic run to town for supplies etc we managed to get the pipes laid into the gravel at the proper inclines.


You glue them all up and cap them off, with one ten foot pipe sticking up. This gets filled with water and then you watch to see whether you have any leaks. If no leaks – building inspector comes.

That’s what we hope happens Monday, so that after some more sub-slab details, the basement slab can finally be poured, perhaps Tuesday.

Maybe tonight I'll post some photos of house model,  to show what the ultimate plan is.  Right now, I need to take the lead from my non-human companions: