Build Diary 5

The second last week of 2020 went rather quickly with a lovely Christmas Day for a nice break in between all the hard work.

All concrete piers have now been levelled and we spent a good couple of days levelling and screwing all the steel floor panels for the garage/workshop together and fastening them to the piers. Just in time, we also had our first 10 GRC boards delivered and the guys were nice enough to directly put them into place for us. So all we had to do was screw them to the floor panels, and alas, we now have our first floor!

Sean fixing a floor panel to a concrete pier.

The Garage / Workshop Floor.

Meanwhile, we’ve had another 4 floor panels for the kitchen/living area delivered which means we now have 8 out of 20 on site. Great progress!

We are still discussing which approach to take in terms of the foundation for the bedroom. One option is to continue with the concrete piers as per the garage and living area, the other option is to dig round holes using a post-hole borer and then fill large PVC pipes with concrete as the foundation. This is for no other reason than to trial different methods and find out which one works best (in case we want to build another house in the future).

While Sean has been doing the steel work, I have been digging more drainage channels and straightening off the neighbouring rice terrace in order to make room for a long hedge of bamboo that we plan on planting as a natural fencing alternative. I don’t think I have ever physically worked so hard (or looked so silly in my work gear) before but it sure feels great once you see the results!

The weather continues to be largely on our side, with mostly sunny and hot days and the occasional massive tropical storm and downpour. Whether rain or shine though, it’s all part of the journey and building during rainy season!

That’s it for now, the next update will be due in 2021. Happy New Year everyone and thanks for following our journey so far.

Onwards and upwards,

Anna & Sean