Week Eight – Part Two

Another early start, first thing is to check that the concrete has set with a nice even surface for the sewage treatment works to sit on. Success so now Lorne is getting on with lifting it into place and Pete is helping a little. There isn’t too much he can do other than partially fill the tank with water so that it doesn’t collapse as we bed it in.

Lorne is working hard and we are making good progress laying the soil pipes and joining them to the tank and the manholes. The manholes will allow us to manage the system later, to unblock if neccessary. We are installing five manholes overall which should be plenty. Lorne is bedding in the pipes in pea gravel.

Different aspects of the groundworks require different types of stone, some specified by building control and some by the manufacturer of our Isoquick foundation insulation system. We have Kevin, a local plant operator and haulage contractor, sourcing and bringing us what we need.

We have already had about 200 tons of stone delivered and most of that has been used. We expect at least half as much again will be needed but it could be as much again. The amount of stone needed for our project has been a bit of a surprise to us and with the current cost of diesel is adding quite a bit to the budget.

Molly has been feeling worse today so is taking another RLF test. It’s positive! Pete is feeling much better and has been able to continue working outdoors at a distance but Molly is feeling exhausted and quite ill. We will have an early night and see what tomorrow brings.

It’s Thursday morning and Pete and Lorne plan the day’s work. Lorne is getting on with the pipe laying and Pete is rechecking exactly where the soil pipes will come up through the Isoquick and foundatioin slab.

After a bit of extra sleep Molly has emerged and is helping Pete with the setting out. Setting out on site means measuring and marking key points on the build. This is how you know where your building sits on the land and where your foundations go.

Lorne is starting to dig out the trenches for the soil pipes coming from the house and in the process all our marks disappear. Looks like we will have to measure it all out again when the actual pipes are laid.

We find this whole setting out side of the project really stressful because we have to be quite precise in order to avoid pipes coming up under walls or toilets being in the wrong place. We are spending a lot of time checking and rechecking our measurements and frustratingly they keep changing.

A professional trained surveyor would probably set the plot out using a digital theodolite which can be programmed with precise coordinates for the corners of the building and where things should go. We, on the other hand, are not professionals and are using surveyors tapes and strings, it’s like herding cats. Our lack of training and experience is making this a horrible time in our project and we certainly don’t recommend doing this yourself.

A new day and a fresh start. After a somewhat sleepless night Pete has thought through yesterday’s struggles and is feeling much more confident about how to proceed.

We’ve had our little morning site meeting and Lorne is getting on with measuring and laying the underground pipes that go into the house with our help.

Now that is done, we are tasked with adding the verticle pipes that go up through the slab and open up in the house. We have to make sure, once again that they come up in the right place but just to add to the mix they have to end at floor level. For some reason, now that we are dealing with actual pipes it doesn’t seem so stressful and now that we have checked the first one we are pleased with the result and are working with confidence.

Lorne is checking the system using a simple pressure test before starting to backfill with the pea gravel. All parts of the system are to be tested before backfilling can be completed and building control can be satisfied that we have conformed to regulations.

This has been one of our hardest weeks so far, what with Covid, the stress of setting out and the privations of our living situation but Pete is back to normal and has made a great recovery and Molly is on the mend. We will take it easy this weekend and will be ready for whatever next week brings.