The electrical work continues, coming back to the switch/fuse box (which we can see the back of here). We're keen to avoid the old approach of everything-big-on-one-circuit which means you have to decide which appliances you want on at the same time. So, we asked for the circuits to be more balanced (ie. more of them, with fewer points on each). Funnily enough, the electricians have decided we need a bigger switch box. Not all the cables are here yet.
The plumbing is mostly under the floor, hard to show except in the wet areas, such as the kitchen sink and back of the ensuite. Here we have the solar hot water (copper), the mains cold water (black poly pipe, like garden irrigation now uses), and the 'black water' (grey pipes), with the rainwater line yet to arrive. Somewhere (else) we'll also have the grey water lines. We didn't know water came in that many colours, or that many pipes.
More wall and ceiling insulation is going in, and there's a pile of underfloor insulation somewhere in the front yard.
The skylight hole now extends through the roof. Of course, it'll get a new roof above it, in case it ever rains again...
The courtyard looks awesome, with the slab now cut on gridlines which gives it the appearance of paving. The colour is a little patchy in places, but it will age over time. Coloured concrete over large areas is very hard to get perfectly uniform. You can also see the roof is now complete on this side as well. There's now only a small fiddly section round the back that isn't done yet.
One of the problems with the wet weather is that we can't fill the trench around the basement until it's all dry. This makes it hard to build scaffolding at ground level, to get up to the eaves. Nothing that can't be solved with a some cantilevered beams and props, some simple clamps, and some simple faith in friction and gravity.
Well, that is interesting, about not being able to back fill until it is dry, why is that? I guess because of expansion and contraction and all that, but surely dirt contracts as it dries? Couldn't you then just add more soil?
ReplyDeleteThe issue seems to be that the waterproofing on the walls needs to 'stick' - there's a couple of painted layers and then a roll of gladwrap (ok, a little thicker and blacker) to cover the bricks. If done when wet they might not be perfect, and they'd take a long time to dry out (making for a humid basement, I guess). They're going ahead as much as they can, including laying the drainage pipes, so it's just a soggy mess to work in... It'll all dry eventually...
ReplyDeleteThe waterproofing is definitely something you want to get right the first time!
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