Digging the supply trenches - one for electrical and telephone supply to the house and one for supply to the pump shed and water from the pump shed...   Digging the last bit by hand as it crosses the live supply to the workshop - carefully does it Mark!  Laying the long bare copper earth cable in the bottom of the trench  Now fill it all back in!   First fix plumbing - installing the drainage pipes in the walls and water pipes in the walls   Umm.... something's not right. the shower base shouldn't rock.... checking if it's flat...  ...is the floor flat and level?....  Better check the base again.... Faulty base that needs to be replaced.  Supply pipes to the kitchen sink. Lucky we are putting in a services cavity wall or the plumber would have had to drill through all those studs !!!  What happens when you change the plans along the way? You forget that you changed the position of the vanity and end up entombing the drainage pipe in the wrong place!  Tricky details - the pipework for the ensuite shower. We will have to run the pipework through the air membrane and build the cavity wall around them - don't forget to add blocking for the shower rail...  Pipework for the wetback fire to the low pressure coil in the Hot water Cylinder.  Digging out the levels required for the rainwater collection tank and new pump shed.  Digging a trench back from the new pump shed to the pipes from the old shed to re-connect the workshop and garden after the pump is moved.  How do you check there is enough fall from the gutter to the top of the yet-to-be-delivered water tank? set up a long hose and a stick and let gravity tell you the gutter level then lower the tank level to allow for the required drop.  Pouring in the water at gutter height....  Adjusting the other end of the hose (slowly) until water starts overflowing the top (all down your arm!). Mark the level on the stick and repeat a few times to confirm. This allows for time/friction lag in the pipe as you lower the end, leading to inaccuracy of the exact level. Average the results. Doubt yourself (and gravity) and re-check again with laser level when digging out the tank base.... only to find out that the old way really DOES work - perhaps to within 10mm - good enough.  what do you do when you get a great deal on a water tank but can't move the base forward because of the existing underground power cables? Chop down a few trees of course...   Boxing done and ready for the concrete.... Pity I forgot how heavy concrete is and elected to place it all myself on a day when I had no-one there to assist me... (time for a little PANIC !!)   Our wonderful neighbor electrician, Marco, begins installing the main board.  All the roof runs of electrical cable tidied onto the above-insulation railings.  Next Page... 25 - Drainage |