Yet another day of ‘trench warfare‘. The JCB has been at full tilt from 09-45hr until 13.00hrs. The foundation trenches are finished ready for ‘the steels’ (the network mesh of steel rods that make the reinforcement of the foundations ‘more earthquake resistant‘). It’s all very impressive, the foundations are 600mm deep onto almost solid bedrock. Once the steels and the cement are laid (next week) and set, walls are built up all around the foundations to 200mm minimum (they find the level at this point so some of these walls can be another +600mm, on top of the foundation). This open box, that is the inside of these walls, is then filled to the top with gravel and firmed down. A waterproof membrane is then laid on top of the gravel and more cement is poured on the membrane thus making the concrete floor of the house. Upright steels are jutting through the concrete floor that make the square columns that will support the ceiling (another 200mm of concrete). The roof pitch is also concrete although we are having an imitation pitch roof, the inside of which will be our 113 sq mtrs solarium.
I’m sure that this will not make much sense just yet but I will back it all up with pictures as we go along so you can watch the progress.
This afternoon I employed the JCB and driver to further dig out and level what will be the ‘front of house parking area’ and what in the end will be the garage or car port area. I always said that I wanted a single car drive, leading to a three car forecourt, leading to a two car garage, or something of the kind. Anyway Francisco spent over three hours doing this work and must have shifted in excess of ten tonnes of solid earth and huge, and I mean huge, stones. One stone eventually came out after half an hours digging (see picture) and is taller than me. We have put it to one side as a very, very big ‘talking point of interest’, it’s almost our own mountain, we might even get snow on the top of it.
Talking of snow, there is enough in the Sierra Nevada for the ski resort to be open!!