Day 6 - finished formwork

A 6 am start this morning shows the work we finished in the dark last night - the two plastic sheets lining the pit. Unfortunately we had to slice the plastic to work it around the cross bracing of the formwork.


Two layers of mesh rebar in place, with. an additional 11 lengths of rebar was placed on the lower layer of mesh to add more strength to the slab over the softer patch in the centre of the dig.

The finished formwork ready for concrete.

Day 5 - preparing for concrete

In anticipation of concrete being delivered tomorrow morning, a lot of work needed to be done preparing rebar, building the formwork and fitting the plastic lining.


While the main rebar for the concrete base is going to be a series of 4.8m X 2.4m sheets (with very little cutting) we needed rebar lengths that were cast into the base and rise up through the hollow concrete block walls. This rebar was cut to length and then bent with a the help of an anvil a sledge hammer at first and then later with a steel pipe, which was a significantly faster and quieter method.


We built the formwork for the concrete, then back filled behind it (to prevent it moving with the weight of the concrete) by positioning a sheet of plywood at the top of the form work and chipping away at the top edge of the excavation with a pick/shovel. Tough work only because the soil is so hard.


We finally got the two sheets of builders plastic into the base just as it was getting too dark to see.

Wildlife on site

The very long day started with a rescue of a hedgehog from the bottom of the pit. It must have fell into the hole overnight and could not get out. It seemed unhurt (they are rugged creatures) and disappeared fairly quickly after we placed it into the swale in front of the houses.

We had also rescued one huge frog and a number of smaller frogs before the concrete was poured.

Day 4 - filling in the hole agin

Water soaked into the low parts of the excavation overnight, a lot of which we hauled out of the excavation with buckets.

The two low areas were then filled with rocks gathered from around the site, to provide a more stable base and to reduce the volume of concrete needed.

Hauling rocks is such hard work.

Returning a borrowed wheelbarrow - environmentally friendly site transport.

Day 3 - main excavation complete

View of the cellar trench from the S-E (Pat and Wendy's end). Excavation finally finished (after 4 hours on site waiting for and watching a guy dig for 1 hour)

View of the trench form the N-W (Bruce and Morag's end), showing the little notch to the left to cary the projected bathroom.

Needed to dig out a bit more in the middle. This will have to be filled with stone, before pouring concrete.


Some water on the floor of the trench, but not a lot. It can easily be scooped out with a bucket.

Day 1 - Continuing the Excavation

View of the trench side showing the soil profile - top of the red band on the cane is 1.5m.


Most of the big pit is excavated.

Day 2 - completing the excavation (almost)

Removing parts of the excavation tha twere missed first time round.

An old water/drain pipe crossed through the site, probably carying water from the well in the adjacent "well field" to the old tree nursery. The original excavation and fill is clearly seen.


Exavation complete except for a small bit at the end! The middle part of the pit contained some soft ground - possibly due to the pipe crossing the site - and had to be excavated further. This will be filled with hard core or stone. Additional reinforcing bars will be used in the bottom of the concrete (eco-cem) footing to help bridge the softer parts.

Water visible in the softer section in the middle of the length of the pit.