Foundations/Footings: Pt. 2

There are a number of steps to be taken in order to prepare the site for pouring the slab. Once the ring beams are laid out and poured, the team can move back to digging out the rooms. The top soil is removed and we dig all the way down to the sub-soil or "maram". The rooms are then filled with rough stone and maram to create a very sturdy floor on which to pour the slab.

finishing the last ring beam with large stones

filling with concrete

- meanwhile -

Mike begins to dig out the rooms and remove the large stones

that are in the soil. these "free" stones are an excellent find because they

will be used to make the floor.

digging digging digging

Gabby beginning to arrange the stones in the rooms

filling the future broadcast room with stone

once the room is filled, we come back and cover with sub-soil

all the rooms are filled!

once sub soil is covering all the stones

we can compact the earth

last little bit of steel reinforcement and the site is ready to pour

the next day we met at the site very early. the goal was to pour the whole slab in one day. that means the broadcast room (8ft x 12ft), the office (12ft x 12 ft) and the front porch (8ft x 12ft). its a huge undertaking but the team was up to the challenge and determined to succeed.

 using a hose level to  mark the depth of the slab on the timber formwork

first we bring about 30 wheelbarrows of sand and stone, 

and many bags of cement

drop the water in and....coroga coroga coroga!

the whole team is needed for this

after a hard day of work and 18 bags of cement later the team finished the whole slab by 6pm. we finished the day with some celebratory sodas and a few (tired) laughs.