Well, the slab was poured on the weekend despite a freezing cold day. It eventually dried after the poor builder and his off-sider worked from 6:30am til dark waiting for it to go ‘off’ and continuously using that whirly machine thingy all day to … well, I’m not really sure what that thing actually does but it looked like an important part of the whole process, that’s for sure.
The day definitely had it’s share of drama and excitement.
Form work and all of the dirt snugly covered with gravel and plastic and metal ready to be blanketed with concrete.
A big mess of a building site. We’ve had so much rain!
So the concrete truck had to stay on the road.
And a crane had to come and lift the concrete from the truck onto the house site.
Which worked a treat until the crane got bogged! Thankfully a tractor came to the rescue and pulled the crane out at the end of the day.
The slab was poured and smoothed.
Ian and his off-sider spent the rest of the day going over it with this whirly machine thingy until it got dark.
To have a slab felt good. We had a floor. Something to ground us, so to speak. But to have the frames start to go up on Tuesday – well that has added another dimension altogether. Walls and height make the slab beginnings feel much more like a real house is being built. And boy, they go up quickly. The trusses, which will go on after the framing, are prefab but the frames themselves are being built by the builders. They are so quick that I can see why they didn’t feel the need to buy the prefab stuff.
And that strange change of perception has happened to me, yet again. If you’ve ever built from scratch before then you’ll know what I mean. The slab goes down and you are all excited and happy because, well, every step forward is a good step. But inside you lurks this worry that you’ve gone and built a doll house and not a real livable one after all. Slabs are so deceiving like that. But the minute the walls start to go up the relief hits and you feel like nothing’s as tiny as it once seemed. The space looks much bigger and livable and you begin to relax and stress less, for a minute or two.
*** It is a small house though, I’m not that tricked;)***
Nothing like seeing frames going up!
Oh, and guess what this luscious hole is for? Sceptic! Yah! I can’t tell you how excited I am to be having a sceptic put in so soon. Oh to not have to clean out that disgusting camping toilet. A girl can only dream…
Kim x
4 comments:
Your builders are troopers Kim!
I have no idea about builds but this seems to be moving full steam ahead. I thought going through the building process with your studio was exciting but this definitely takes the cake :)
Your home may be small but it will be cosy and intimate.
x
Woo hoo Kim!! So much happening. Can't wait to see it all on Monday. xxoo
Aww how exciting! I've never built but my hubby works for a builder so I know what lies ahead! I hope it goes smoothly and that you are feathering your new nest before you know it. I'm looking forward to seeing its progression. xx
It's all coming together now and I was really excited the first time I saw our slab and then our frames go up. I think the word you were looking for was trowel machine :) My hubby is a concretor and he was out the other night until almost 7pm waiting for a slab to "go off". Such is the life of a concretor - always reliant on the weather. Hope that septic is in for you soon.
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