The last 2 weeks has been taken up with backfilling around the basement walls. This ostensibly simple task has been made more tricky due to the slope of the site and the difficulty is getting behind the backwalls.
The initial solution was to use a set of conveyors to transport stone from the front to the rear. This worked reasonably well for the stone but was less successfully for any sub-soil.
The best solution was to use a small excavator to load a one ton dump truck, which was narrow enough to be able to run around the sides. Stone was placed against the walls to ensure that the material closest to the house was well drained and a stockpile of sub-soil which was created from the landscaping work in March and held locally, was used to backfill away from the walls. A 3t excavator and 3t dump truck were used to bring the sub-soil back to the site.
The beam and block roof was also constructed over the garage area last week so we now have one area which is actually enclosed! Blocks have been cut to ensure that this will tie in with the FFL ready for the next pour.
Next up, the DPC for the ground floor, the steels for the overhang in front of the garage and then we should start going up again.
