Click on the images below to see a larger version.

1st to 8th February 2004

This week didn't kick off too well with a nice flat tyre on the digger.  It would appear that someone up there likes me a little bit as getting it fixed proved fairly painless and cheap - Paul Jarrod Tyres in Monmouth - came on site and sorted very quickly.

However that appeared to be the only hitch this week - land drain was laid in a shingle bed behind the retaining walls, along with a geotextile to wrap around the clean backfill that will be placed there later on.  We also continued installing the reinforcement bar into the retaining wall cavity - slow but quite a nice job in the sun!

I finally plumbed in the site toilet I had bought from someone met on the UK Selfbuild forum - recommend this if you don't already use it

At the end of the week blocks started flying up again - second skin on some of the retaining wall, and the basement upto 8 courses all around.

It's getting pretty close to placing mesh in the cavities of the house and pouring concrete - I wonder how much fun that's going to be to get right?

Other things on the agenda - steel (rsj's), floor beams and stonemasons for later on - this is the tricky bit finding the balance to concentrate on the job currently in hand but also to prepare for the next stage early enough in advance to let the work flow smoothly - I am not claiming I've got this right yet...