The last time we updated you on the progress of the house the earth moving and footings were completed.  The next step in the building process was putting in the ring foundation.  The ring foundation was poured into footing trenches.

Ring Foundation

Additionally the drainage pipes were dug at this time, so that once the foundation is built they will safely sit under the foundation, and drain all the muck and yuck away from the house.

Drainage Pipes

Boxing - this surrounded and supported the concrete in the ring foundation.

Following the ring foundation the polystyrene arrived, for insulating the slab.

that's a lot of plastic!

The next day, the wind decided to stay calm and the builders were able to lay the polystyrene under a steel grid and over a layer of black polythene.  You will notice how they bent the rebar that was sticking out of the footings in the first picture of this post to help secure the polystyrene.

Laid Polystyrene

Then the builders handed the big job of laying the underfloor heating pipe over to us.  The first step was to use the house plan and mark out all of the rooms. 

This was really fun, and it gave us a sneak peak at what our house might look like. (BTW we were both marking out, so don't give Gav all the credit ..hehe.)

Saturday was a hot day, beautiful sun, with breezes, perfect for laying the florescent underfloor heating pipe.  Gavin and Errol laid the pipe (you can now stop giving credit to Jenn, she just fetched lunch and knee pads later in the day when the boys had no cartilage left).  

They tied the piping to the rebar with little zip ties, and had to make sure to keep the pipe at least 125mms away from the walls.  

Lesson # 3 - think outside of the square.  For example, we visited Mitre10 for the zip ties, 20 bucks for a pack of around 30 - we needed 2,000 - eek, we were not going to buy them at that price.  So with a little bit of kindness, and conversation we managed to score some from the plumbing shop, $40 bucks for 2,000 - we'd say that is a steal!

Gav - tying the pipe to the rebar - and burning that pale strip on his back -ouch.

Note: sun glasses, knee pads, and sunscreen are essential when crawling around on rebar over bright white polystyrene in full sun. 

Completed underfloor heating.... can I just say the hallway is going to be toasty...

The foundation was poured today - 6th of Dec 2011. Goodbye pink pipes, you were pretty while you lasted.

 

Additionally some of our walls have been dropped off - they are somewhat pre-nailed, a bit like lego or linkin logs, or meccano toys.

Today's date marks 11 years and one day after we bought the property.   Its a great pleasure watching each phase progress, encouraging and exciting all the time.  God's blessings are truly great, and we are humbled everyday that we have this opportunity.