Making progress is amazing! During the spring months, ground work and the foundations of the house have been finalized. Everything has progressed quickly and smoothly, and the quality of the work has been good.
Although we decided to delay the construction of the garage for cost reasons, the groundwork for it was done at the same time as the main building, because the whole area was turned upside down anyway. We also knew that there is quite a bit of rock to be blasted under both the main building and the garage, so it also made sense to do the blasting work for both buildings at the same time.
From a cost perspective, rock blasting is one of the most challenging things to budget for in advance. It was a positive surprise that we had estimated the costs of the blasting to be higher than they actually were.
Nevertheless, now we have enough blasted rock for our own needs and those of our neighbors. The plan is to use at least some of it to build a decorative fence, but as you might guess, that is not very high on the priority list right now.
Next, the mold for the foundations was built. The shape of the house is so simple (meaning no complex, time consuming measurements) that the mold and casting were ready in a few days.
Sofi and Eino (and Minna) found it interesting to learn about concrete curing – how it is hard enough already after a few days so that molds can be removed, but only gains its full strength and durability over a longer period of time.
Finally, the supporting structures placed under the load-bearing structures and the terrace were cast. As a result, it is interesting to see how the base of the house begins to take shape, for example in terms of the main entrance, terrace and the location of the different rooms.
Now we are waiting for the delivery of materials needed for the post and beam frame, so that the construction of the frame can begin, and the project will advance to 2D to 3D!
Olive Green 