Week 4 - Digging

We spent the majority of this weekend digging trenches for utilities using the mini-digger - lots of fun! Kai's dad Colin was a key player in helping us get everything done - an expert in groundworks.

First off was a 12m trench 450mm deep for the electricity ducting. Kai did a great job of digging a perfectly straight and clean trench whilst getting used to the mini-digger.

After the ducting was laid and covered with stone dust, my job was to backfill the trench (less skill required).

Kai dug the remaining trenches (drainage 6m long, water 8m long 750mm deep) and by the end of the Saturday we had connected the drainage run up to the caravan.

The water pipe is temporarily set up to a standpipe until Bristol Water come and do the connection to the main. After that we'll connect the caravan up.

 

Sunday's job was to tackle the huge tree stump which is where the foundations at the front of the house will be. At about 1m diameter this stump is a whopper. 

Unfortunately one of the old and worn hydraulic hoses on the the digging arm burst half way through the morning so we (Kai and Colin!) had to continue severing the roots around the stump using an axe. Far too much like hard work, we decided to come back to this task when we next have a digger on site - hopefully the hire company will give us another day with the digger for free as the hose-burst-issue wasn't our fault, guv.

We had a go at grading back the entrance so that we'll be able to get vehicles on and off the site. Luckily we were able to use the grading blade on the digger because it was unaffected by the burst hose.

Last job on Sunday afternoon was to put the shed panels together. Each panel was incredibly heavy, so we were very grateful for Colin's help lifting them into position!