coming off 2
...things were finally ready for taking off the rest of the fibro. Downstairs was a much bigger job than upstairs because it was the outside and inside walls and the ceiling. Pierre and me toook a few days to strip out and off everything we could, which included door and window architraves and the kitchen cupboards.
the pour
...the pour took place over two days. The studio first and then the extension. The decision was taken to do it all ourselves. No pump, the truck right up to the footings and straight in. It was going to take a crew. Terry and Darko were asked to join Chris, Pierre and me to handle the estimated 26 cubic metres of concrete. It looked like Drako wouldn't be able to make it for the second day, so Matthew's offer to be involved was taken up. On the day Darko turned up so there was one extra body. Not a bad thing for a pour.
different
From the beginning a different treatment was going to be given to the walls over and under the windows. Early on it was going to be eco-ply. Turned out to be diffucult to get and expensive. Then wood cladding of some sort was contemplated, but Chris had his doubts about the weather proofing. Finally the decision was taken to go with cement sheeting. There wasn't a lot of love for the product and working with it was tricky. Lots of dust when it was being cut. Nevertheless Ian and Pierre persisited and the result is better than expected.
starting again
With the old out of the way it is time to start the building. First pads for the extension and the studio. Quarry fill are trucked in. The extension is done first and needs two 12 ton loads. It is a hot day and because demand is low Terry is able to get a truckload delivered by mid morning. The truck driver reverses the tandem right into the driveway. Terry uses the bobcat to move the fill to where it is needed and Darko levels out and compacts with a whacker. The second truckload turns up in the middle of the afternoon. The studio pad doesn't require very much fill. Another truck load is needed though. What doesn't get used in the pad is spread around the driveway. Setting up the pads takes several days.
moving the rubble
If Terry is the Picasso of the bobcat, David is the crusty demon. David turns up about 2:30 in the afternoon with his truck and a trailer carrying a bobcat. Terry had lined him up to move the rubble. Terry thought is would be about four truck loads or, as in David's case, two truck and trailer loads, and you wouldn't want to bet against Terry on these things. I thought Terry would be driving the bobcat, but no David was going to do it. Terry said that most bobcat drivers wouldn't do this job; too steep and not enough room.
verandah goes
Big day, no turning back. The verandah is completely gone. With his bobcat, excavator and jack-hammer Terry makes quick work of the verandah slab.