March 9th
After months waiting Paul finally showed up this morning about 9:30 with the digger only to tell me that the crane company has pulled out now. Initially he told me that he could not do the job without the crane but we had a long discussion about how it could be done and he has agreed to start and it will just be a lot more labour and add a couple of weeks to the job, perhaps.
Anyway, Paul showed up at 16 and worked to fix the road a little and now is moving some earth by the ruin so it has started now. His crews normally work 9-17. 30mins for lunch.
The time line is something like this:
Week 1- clear out the rest of the ruin area and prepare for the foundation. One on the digger and other people preparing the steel for the foundation.
Week 2- Make the foundations.
Week 3 Prepare to make the rear retaining wall and pour the first concrete slab.
March 10th
Paul calls at 8:30 and it seems that the crane company will do the job now and that everyone is assured they have the insurance that they need, so we will know if today if they come with the crane or not as scheduled, today.. Paul will just keep working alone for now.
13- Still no word about the crane so I guess it is not coming to day. The steel for the foundation will come tomorrow he said. He is making great progress on the area today but has not moved the dirt and stone from the ruin area. Sunny and 16C outside. Very nice day..
Paul left at 16:30 today and had cleared out the area and marked where the foundation will go. The wife is very upset as the building is sticking out much further than she thought and also is closer to the house. The only option to not have it come out so far is to build it further into the hill. The steel for the foundation was delivered at 18 last night.
March 11th
The crane will be erected on Monday. We will go to the camera and get the license next week as well. Paul did not start work until 13 today and we had some discussions with my wife as well as she is not happy about it coming so close to the house and the steps down from the house so we are trying to see if we can move it 1m. In the worst case, we will have to angle the wall and lose a bit of space on the inside. If we do this Paul will need to make up a new drawing for the inside for Joules.
March 12th
I really am against changing the building. We gained another 60cm now so this is going to have to be good enough. Sunny today and Paul is alone again today. He was supposed to have a guy named Marco to help but he did not show up today at the agreed meeting place. Anyway, Paul had a truckload of stone, dirt dropped up on the road to try to repair some of the road as it is hard for the trucks to get down here as the road is so bad at the moment. It has been almost 2 years since the council (camera) graded the road. Normally they do it every year in late April or early May.
Anyway, Paul is digging out the foundation footings today and will prepare the area for the crane and fix the road. Monday, the crane comes and his crew (2) and they start to tie all the steel together for the foundations. This all went well today and the weather has been mostly sunny the whole day. Paul is a great guy.
Paul will need to hear from Joules soon about where to put the conduits for the power and control room cables.
March 15th
The day was crazy today. The crane people did not arrive until after lunch and it was a tight squeeze to get it past the house and dragged up behind the ruin but it all worked out and there is a huge amount of weight. No way it will fall down unless there is a fault in the metal!! They checked out all the safety function, like if the load exceeds 400kg, the crane will only move half way out on the arm and back and no further. Nice people setting up the crane. Anyway, it was 16 by the time it was all levelled. We managed to replant the big orange tree they had to remove, so we will see if it survives. Massive amount of roots. It was a really old tree. It will still have to be grafted most likely. They will dig up two of the kiwis tomorrow and we will try to transplant those as well. Crew of three tomorrow to start to take down the right wall of the ruin at the corner and start to dig out the rest of the foundation footings and start to make the steel cages. Exciting..
March 16th
Great weather and Paul and his two helpers did a great job today. The corner of the ruin was cut off, the foundations for that side of the building cut dug out, the kiwi transplanted, the steel cages for the rear foundation put in place.. Looking good… I took a lot of pictures.
March 17th
Weather was amazing today again and they got all the foundation footings dug out now and have laid the steel cages in 2 of the 4. It is looking good and concrete has been ordered for next weds to do the first pour. I took a few pictures but was a way most of the day.
March 18th
They had to get some supplies from another site so were not here til about 11 today. Only Paul and Gil. All the footings are dug out now and only one more small cage for the right side and then the rest of the steel. They still look to be on target for having all the steel in place for the cement next weds. Progress…
March 19th
All the footings are dug out now and the cages in. Some steel still missing but they will finish this and put in the vertical steel on monday and tuesday. Cement comes Weds.. It was a great day today. They got a lot done.