sept update 1

Having spent 3 weeks making the boxing for the big perimeter footing pour, it takes almost that time to prep and hand pour the bathroom, toilet, pantry and porch area slab. Only slab in the house but went for concrete due to these being 'wet and functional' areas. The inside of the perimeter wall is insulated with landfill saved insulated panel foam segments; very painstaking to place in a jigsaw fashion!

The porch footings are also insulated as are the house footings inside the porch. Plumbing done (Aquatherm pipes, Greenpeace approved apparently). Then these areas are filled with 'scalpings', compacted, more reclaimed poly sheets on floor, polythene, then heating tubing and reinforcing ready for the pour


Close up of the bathroom, toilet, pantry plus the mini slabs for wood stove and washing machine with the future earth floor hallway inbetween. Yes we went for underfloor heating tubes! I ummed and ahhed for weeks over this but relatively cheap to buy and install so if we don't want to have them plumbed in right away at least there for the future. Our restored wood stove will produce heaps of hot water so if this area does end up cold then that can be put to good use heating the floor.



The funky looking footing for the masonry wall made with corrigated iron boxing (unfortunately buried of course) and same idea as above for insulating the footings beneath the sleeping areas timber sub floor






An earlier photo showing the work involved with preping for the piles to be concreted in and how much we had to build up the level of the of the ground. I lost count of the number of our trailor loads; approaching 10 i think. The weather reduced (as it still has) the entrance to our land into a mudbath so big trucks and mini tractor loading the base would have caused mayhem. Our trusty 4X4, trailor and shovel completed the job with least damage to the land. Plus the children loved seeing their old man driving an enormous loader at the local quarry to scoop the gravel up in!