SAND FOR CRABS

Excuse the lack of posts but the early days of a build, especially ours, are a little underwhelming, yawn yawn.  I mean it's exciting because we've started and something is happening, but really, it's not the sexiest part of the build. Dig a hole, dig some more, stand around with big sticks and fluro string lines, trace out the house site, secure the excavated walls and prepare for the big day the concrete trucks come to pour the foundations.
So instead of boring you with the details, here are some stats and snaps to get you up to speed with what the General and his platoon have been up to over the past few weeks.
Obviously the girls and I have been dipping into the 'hole', as it's been formally named by Pippi, to keep an eye on the progress. Once digging began, this amazing white pure sand was revealed so the kids have been enjoying the company of a giant sandpit in their back yard.

Approximately 600m3 of sand was removed from the hole. As you can see from the plans, the ground floor is basically dug into the ground, hence big dig required.

60 trucks took the sand away.

Four concrete trucks pumped 22m3 of concrete into the footings. 

BEFORE: Our house site just as work started.  

BIG DIG: Scotty, our awesome digger driver gets to work clearing the site which revealed our white sand. Once word got around about the high grade sand pouring out of our site, we were inundated with neighbours asking for a hit. To get an idea of the currency value, we swapped a wheelbarrow full of the white stuff for a big box of mud crabs. My kind of deal.

SANDPIT: We spent many an Autumn arvo enjoying our new sandpit. 

THE A TEAM: The General (R) and Cam working hard to shore up the driveway retaining wall. 

PREPARING FOR THE POUR: A birds eye view of the 'hole', prepped and ready for the foundations to be poured. As you can see, the sand was easy to remove but then became a headache to contain.

INSPECTOR: Pippi inspects the foundations on the eve of the pour. 

SHOW TIME: All hands on deck for the first of the big pours. Pippi dressed for the occasion.

The pour went really well so we're now onto the block work. The walls are going up so stay tuned for the next update. Our house is now officially taking shape and the big questions are starting to be asked. So let the 'Build By Numbers' fun begin. x