starting from scratch on my rural block

[jasons673]

Hi All, the dream continues, after selling the house, picking a new one, designing a shed, engineers, tanks, septic system
Bush fire requirements, power, phone connection council etc…
We have broken ground! The attached photo show, the trees removed, trenches for power, the tank hole 10mtrs round x 2.2 deep! and yes i'm enjoying every moment!

[mjmjm]

An exciting time for you

[jasons673]

thanks mj, progess this week the septic was droped off, work began on the tank today
its 107,000 liters, inground and out of sight! the rio for the shed footings will arrive on friday, the shed will be 10 x 17 mtrs with precast concrete panels and colour bond roof. Do you think its big enough!:U can wait for it to be built. at 6.30 this morning it was the best place in the world to be! my slice of heaven.

[mjmjm]

Looking good

[martrix]

what sort of septic system are you going with and roughly how much does it set you back?
I'm interested in these things because I am currently researching building on a block also, cheers.

[Mr Brush]

I'll be interested to see how you go with the shed....I went the standard steel frame, colorbond walls/roof option, but I'd go for something a bit more substantial if I end up building another.

The precast concrete panels sounds like a good idea for the walls, and your shed will go up real fast !

[jasons673]

Hi Matrix, the system we went for has a sprinkler system, we have to move around the paddock, not ideal but council have new requirements for this style of system. we saw it in action at tocal field days, it comes with the airrater and pump. we spent around $6000.00 +, plus quarterly service fee $ 75.00. we prepared the hole ready for the tank to drop in as in the photos. check earthsafe environmental system website. Mr Brush I'm keen to see the shed to go up as well, its been in the planing stage for a long time, with engineers and architect plans. with still lots of ideas bouncing around in my head!
any advise or encoragement would be well received.:U

[Mr Brush]

The thing I really stuffed up with my shed was the natural light (or lack thereof). Mine has a solid colorbond roof, and just the standard small window set into one wall.

If I was doing it again, I'd substitute (possibly tinted) polycarbonate sheets for a few of the colorbond sheets in the roof:-

Laserlite Australia : Residential : Laserlite 2000 (http://www.laserlite.com.au/residential/laserlite2000.asp)

The polycarbonate has the same profile and dimensions, so its easy to incorporate into a metal colorbond roof. A mate has a shed with one section of the polycarbonate about every fourth or fifth sheet of colorbond, and the natural light inside the shed is great.

Select the degree of tinting depending on how sunny it is where you live....

We have one of those aerated inground septic systems as well (UltraClear) - very happy with it. Ours also has a movable outlet hose with about 6 sprinkler heads, as required by council. After they had signed off on everything and we were living in the house, we just inserted a T-piece with tap right on the outlet from the tank. Each of the two branches has a 25m section of 1"rural pipe with about 6 large sprinkler heads along each pipe, and the pipes run in different directions from the tank amongst some trees and shrubs. We just run one branch for a while, then if that ground gets too wet just switch over to the other branch for a bit. In reality, we use so little water that we only switch the tap over about once a month - saves continually moving hoses around !

[jasons673]

using laserlite is a good idea, I'd planed to use some glass panels above the precast panels, but I'll talk to our roofer about a few sheets in the roof. we'll just have to leave a gap between the insulation blanket. I'm sure our septic system will stand to the test once we move in. would anyone recomend an in tank pump vs one that sits on top?

[Mr Brush]

Our septic system has the little concrete 'wart 'on top of the tank - but it doesn't contain a pump ! All the systems I've seen use a submersible 'pump on a stick' arrangement.

The housing just contains the control box with electronics to drive the aerator, level switches, provide mains power to the pump, etc.

The pump itself is a standard submersible type that lives inside the tank. We've just had to replace it after 7 years - UltraClear use a fairy cheap Italian-made pump ($300), so that's not a bad lifetime I suppose.

Re. Laserlite - I'm actually considering retrofitting a few sheets to the roof. Just remove a Colorbond sheet, cut a hole in the reflective bubble insulation sheet, and replace the Colorbond with Laserlite. Of course, it would have been MUCH easier to do this when the shed was first built...........:doh:

I reckon you've got the size of your shed just about right. Mine is only 6m x 9m (3 bays), and its definitely too small. I have to run some 4m lengths of timber through my thicknesser next week, which will involve moving the machine around a bit so that the timber passes through the open shed door on the outfeed side.......:rolleyes:

[beer is good]

Before you go rippiing off the roofing to replace it with Laserite or similar, have a good think about the climate and the windows. The poly carbonate does let in a large amount of heat in summer and you can cook if standing underneath. Having windows may be better and covering or shading them to prevent direct light will reduce the heat. Bear in mind that I am writing from Perth where the max today will be 39 degrees - so us sandgropers get a bit thingy about heat!

[jasons673]

Mr Brush, our system also has the ' wart ' and contains all the goodies you motioned.
what I was asking was for the water tank pump, apologies should have been clearer. I'd like to have an in tank pump to avoid the ' wart ' as you have aptly describe. it will have to pump to the shed for toilet/shower and also the house. my previous place the pump was inside the back door inside a cabinet. it worked on pressure being kept up to the bellow / diaphragm. it could be noisy at times!

[Mr Brush]

Its a bit cooler here - we get very few days a year over 35 degrees, and not that many more over 30 (NSW Southern Highlands)

I get where you're coming from though. The Laserlite comes in a variety of tints/light transmission options, so I'd certainly be using one of the tinted versions. My shed has a 30 degree pitched roof, so it might be best to just put the Laserlite on the side of the roof facing due south.

Again, if I were starting from scratch, I'd go for a fairly shallow angle (10 degree?) skillion roof, which leaves about 1m at the front for windows down to the standard wall height. Extend the skillion roof out in front of the shed a bit to shade the windows in summer.

Jeez.....I keep talking about my next shed. Might be time to think about moving house !

[Mr Brush]

We also have an inground tank to collect roof water, and mounted an external pump on top in the concrete 'wart' to reticulate the water to taps around the garden. The property is also on town water, so we use that for house needs.

One issue I found is that standard pumps are a relatively tight fit inside the standard size concrete wart. Since you need to access the pump every 6 months or so to top up the bladder thingy with air (using a bike pump...), make sure the valve to do this is accessible on the pump when it is inside the housing.

Several friends have gone the submersible pump option instead, but even with good quality pumps (e.g. Grundfos - Grundfos SQE 3" submersible pumps from Integrity Pumps and Engineering (http://www.ferret.com.au/c/Integrity-Pumps-and-Engineering/Grundfos-SQE-3-submersible-pumps-from-Integrity-Pumps-and-Engineering-n884228)) they seem to have more than their share of electrical problems. One mate is on his third Grundfos submersible pump in 4 years.....

[TimberNut]

Jason, keep the info coming!! We were looking at buying some land near Wakefield and doing what you are doing. So this is a very interesting thread for me to follow. Lots of details, and pictures as you go please! :wink:
TN

[opelblues]

hi been reading the thred, one of the things you spoke about was the lack of natural light. i had the same problem with the shed and the house befor i was forced in to rental property
The back of the shad had no windows and i didnt want windows in that area dur toi the bara tanks in that area. so i installed solar tubes/ with vents 4 in total it made a big difference. after the girlfrend saw how much a difference they made to the shed we installed them in to the 3 bedrooms, one in the bathroom- this had a solar fan, two in the kitchen/dinning area. the house ones had what i call storm shutters, ie you could close the tube to stop the lighting from lighting up the room (two small girls - hate storms) at the time if i remember right it all cost about $1800 all with vents.
The sceptic pump was solar at 8lt/hr and was pumped under ground for the lawn and the over flow ran down to where we had clumping bambo growing, below the bambo was our veg garden - the bambo acted as a filter
the water from the washing went back through a charcoal filter and then was used to flush the plumbing.
we were on a bore which had a solar spear pump that pumped up into a 5000gl tank next to the bore, once this was full a deasel pump would start (auto - flo valve)and pump 38mt elevation to 4*12000gl tanks which then would grav feed back to the house -6mt -elevation, the bore was 1.2km from the house down the hill. water preaser was all ways the same and no noise from pumps.

[jasons673]

Hi things have stalled this week due to rain on saturday night, the footings for the shed have been open too long. they have started to cave in, as you can see the water dose not help! they are a real mess, hope the concreter can work some magic! some of these footing are 1mtr deep, clay dose not come of the shovel to easy! on the plus side I got to spend money at the tool shop on a new fire fighting pump! it gets a run tomorrow if i can find all the fittings. the tank was finished they'll be back next week to remove the boards from inside and give it a clean then its ready for water. timber nut i can only encourage you to take the plunge,wakefield is a nice area. any questions about council, power etc, I can only share my experience so far. these are my two helpers jackson and roxy.

[Jack of]

Looks great:2tsup: im green with envy. Id love to do this and build a mudbrick house, or at least a mixture of mudbrick and bluestone. Just a thought for the natural lighting in the shed, a mate of mine put one laserlight sheet not in the roof but one sheet in the wall, its on the side that takes in the morning sun and not the hot afternoon sun. Makes a MASSIVE diffrence. To combat the summer heat, he planted a deciduous tree just out side where the sheet is so it has leaves on it during the summer, shading the laserlight and no leaves during the winter letting the heat in. I dont know if this will work for you but it works a treat here.

Just a thought!

[jasons673]

Hi quick up date from the last four weeks, the footings for the shed have been done! whoo hoo! not with out dramas as usual, after express clear instruction to our excavator drivers about the set out on the shed, painted lines on the ground,dig here and not there. it got screwed up! resulting in extra man hours to board up the now super wide trenches, the concrete blew out. these footings have now cost us $12000.00:o. not including the cost of excavation. yes i have committed a few swear words to the gods!

[artme]

Jason will you be putting a concrete slab down and if so I take it you will first lay black plastic sheeting down before the pour?

[jasons673]

Artme, the step down section you see in the photo is to accommodate a timber floor. We needed a have at least 400 to the bottom of the joist, I didn't want 3 or 4 steps to get in to the workshop section of the shed, now its all on the same level through out. The rest will be gravel / pavers. The front of the shed we'll build a deck / awning plus a little bit if earth works to minimise the height difference. We have H class soil out here, me thinks it may have been a little over engineered, a concrete floor for that section, would have been a lot more concrete, we had plan for this but I chose the timber floor.

[InterTD6]

you need a drain in the excavated section where the timber floor is located, otherwise water will pond there & cause all sorts of problems. If the block is level then the drain wont help either.
regards inter

[artme]

Thanks Jason.

I agree with InterD. Drainage is often overlooked or done badly and the consequent problems are much more expensive, and annoying, to fix than doing the right thing properly in the first instance.

I am soon to put a house on a block that I subdivided from an existing block.It will be a highset which alleviates some problems but I will be setting up a very substantial drainage system before everything is completed.

[jasons673]

Hi All quick up date, the shed has been put on hold, until the house is built, as you can see the roof is on, the brickie started today
We are working on cleaning up all the tree we dropped, left over stumps and branches left over, having a split bucket back ho on site
Has helped, not much fun when you get them bogged though! We have had bit of wet weather lately making things very boggy. The
Builders managed to crush one of the down pipes all the clay/dirty ground water around the place, has managed to find its way in!
The 17000 litres of nice clean water in the tank, is now dirty water! Bugger!

[TimberNut]

any chance of larger pictures?

[jasons673]

Hi better pictures as requested this time with the digital camera, the power was connected on Thursday woo hoo! Light on , light off, light on, light off…. The water pump was installed over the weekend, went with a Davey, it had good pulling and pushing power, with the filter and fittings + blue line pipe cost under a grand, ( on budget woo hoo again! ). With the wet weather over the last 3 weeks the gumboots have got a good work out. Cheers Jason

[Harry72]

Nice... cant wait to be at that stage myself:)

[jasons673]

Hi as the house gets closer to finishing, my thoughts are turning to the deck that needs to be built along the back of the house, about 28 mtrs long x 3 mtrs deep.
I happen to be in the right place at the right time, and bought 5 packs of feature grade spotted gum 5"and 3 1/2" flooring as a job lot. More than enough for the whole deck.
both sizes are Tong and groove boards. Parts of the new deck will be exposed to the weather for 6-12 month, while the awnings' are built. With little no gaps between the boards
For the water to dissipate, how will this affect the timber? Should I wait until the awning is built? Start again with proper decking boards? I'd like to use the boards I
Have, but don’t want to have to remove the tong and the groove( what a waste). Any one with suggestions?

[jasons673]

Hi all photo update cheers jason

[TimberNut]

I like the outdoor setting!

Not sure about the pink benchtops in the kitchen though.....

and i think the grass needs a bit of work :U

but really - it's coming along nicely (says Mr Jealous As Hell in Sydney)

[jasons673]

Thanks timbernut, we are happy with the progress of the house, about 6 weeks we'll be in ( fingers crossed ). Then the real construction can start on the shed.
Ive been with out a workshop now for about 12 month. I'm bitting at the bit to do some woodworking again. The out door setting is great, we've used it now about
4 or 5 times, its great to enjoy the property for what it is. A camp fire and BBQ can never be overrated for R&R value. But as usual 2 seconds after sitting down
My brain is in top gear again thinking of the next chore..( more fire wood, fuel for the back ho, build a dog run…etc). one thing I'll not need to mow for a while!

[jasons673]

Hi All, just a little up date on the house, the air con and ducting were installed on sat, aswell as the water heater and heat pump.

the plumber installed and connected all the taps fittings we have water in the house woo hoo. we arrived on Sunday morning to the below,

some f**k wits and his mates have taken my trailer and have ripped out the hot water service and heat pump, then went about ripping the air con

units out, from inside and out side, plus all the installed ducting. see how they have moved the insulation bats when the unit was dropped from

the ceiling. apart from my trailer ive lost all the nuts bots nails and screws from my humpy. the other stuff is insured by the house builder.

Ive borrowed a camper trailer and now living on site, just need to find my beanie, it was bloody cold last night!

PS removed almost 200 litres of water last week end from these electrical pipes ( spot the pump), how and were it came from? who knows.

[Harry72]

Friggan aresholes :(

[watson]

cheeses twice!!

[TimberNut]

I can only imagine how that'd make you feel. Hope they get gangrene and their old fellas fall off.

[jasons673]

Hi all,
We have moved in! about four weeks now, its great! All the damage from the brake in was repaired and new air con and hot water installed. It delayed our hand over by about 5 weeks.
All our furniture is moved in, and I have a work shop! An old ex-refrigerated 20 foot shipping container, its supper insulated great on hot days. only $ 450 bargain! Ive run some waist
Water pipe from the shed to the house, needed to be done before I started on the monster deck, as you can see its all steel sub floor, (termites are bad here) I used screw in piers, Hired a two man post hole machine to drive them in, they worked a treat saved time and money too. I'm using the hidden fasteners for the floor boards. Tallowwood for the flooring. Cant keep the smile off my face!

[Jim Carroll]

Good to hear it is all working well for you.

Looking really good as well.

[jasons673]

Hi All,
We have been making progress with the deck, been slow though, custom fitting each board, the biscuit joiner has been getting a work out. Ive removed the keel from the fasteners and using it
Also in the traditional way on the ends, this saves having to joint them on the joists. Its working quite well plus the plastic wont rot out. The joints are strong even mid way between joists.
I'm not wasting any of the flooring timber. I've included a few pictures of the bull dozer, its moving a lot of the fill around our place. I might get a drive of it before long! Also one of our tree got hit
By lightning, only about 200 mtrs from the house!

[jasons673]

Hi,
A few progress photos from over the last 6-8 weeks, the deck is almost finished but still usable for our new years celebration, my mate Rodney who dose this for the local schools, sanded the floor with an old buffer machine, only killing 5 or 6 buffing pads, this levelled a lot of uneven boards, wash down with a stiff broom and soapy water. then sealed it with a polyurethane product called " starlight express ". The first coat was very thinly mopped on, then a second and third coat. Would you believe it only used 7 litres total for that size area! The day it went down it was blistering hot, so it dried very quickly. The sanding, cleaning, sealing and finish coats to dry took about 4 hours!
The bulldozer has flatted out a maintain of dirt, to make another flat level part of the yard, start of a nice cricket pitch! We have also shaped the front yard ready lay grass, we'll plant out the bank and a nice garden area above that, after we cut steps into the bank ( the work never stops!).:doh:
These are the two containers and make up my workshop at the moment, work bench down one side, space for the drill and drop saw down the end. The newly repaired band saw is on wheels so I can move it out. The other one is for storage and future projects.
Jason

[rod1949]

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachments/f137/158451d1294791426-starting-scratch-my-rural-block-decking-001.jpg Where can I get a shovel and garden rake like this?

[jasons673]

The fella that own this " shovel and garden rake " although old, is still in the 40k+ range! For that sort of money he's welcome come and play in my sand box for free any time!

[jasons673]

Hi all, been a little busy lately, I hung my first gate yesterday! Woo hoo! I'm building a dog compound between the two containers, cutting the posts and dropping them into the holes, few litres of sump oil, to soak over night, then back filling. I'll install a few more panels to night, then the task of making it dog proof, I have some diggers. Last week end we laid 100mtrs of agg pipe, across the front of the house, up early to avoid the heat, the trenchers were cut earlier in the week, the clay and rubbish removed. Laid a bed of gravel, laid the pipe in, then back filled with gravel. I was so buggered by the end of it, I had the rest of the weekend off!:U A few week ago, I had a drive of this monster, a 22 tonne excavator! Air con cab, with a bouncy seat and a radio, and joy stick controls and check out the size of the bucket, it’s the size of three bath tubs, think of that the next time your digging a hole! , I used it to cut a new path across the river, we haven't had access to that corner of our property, since we've owed it, the access may have been washed out during the June storms in '07, when the pasha bulka run aground. Real Tonka toys are great!

[jasons673]

Hi all, we have been working on getting front yard into shape, Ive laid these big logs as a boarder for the drive way, then a bed of gravel, we had the neighbour down with his possi track, to spread the top soil and level out a few area's, we are ready for grass. I have the dog compound finished, working well no great escapes yet!
A project Ive been wanting to do since we moved in is the drive way. We have 100 mtrs long x 20 mtrs wide, I Want to plant London plane tree's down each side. I'll get the grass growing first, I'm almost finished building my water cart, then plant the trees. I'll get the tree's from Tocal field days event, that’s on in about 8 weeks. We may need a new mower by then aswell!
Also you'll see the piles of dirt brought in yesterday, about 15 loads, this well help extend the house yard. Enjoying the ride!

[Harry72]

Thats going to be one hell of a driveway Im going to have the same problem, mines about 100m worth too
What have you done to make your water cart?
I built myself one a while ago, using a 1000ltr shuttle tank (http://www.paramountbrowns.com.au/1000l-shuttle-container-food-grade/) made a small HD trailer(solid axle)too which I added a petrol water pump powering a couple hose's.

[jasons673]

Yes , that’s what I'm building, the neighbour had an old trailer, Ive put a floor in it, bought one of those tanks, and plan to hook the fire pump to it. Just need the fittings now, I went to the local plumbing shop, but they only sell bsp threaded vinidex stuff. The irrigation place in Maitland should have the fittings. I'll see them on the weekend. Then fit a jockey wheel, and its ready for action. I did extend the draw bar so it could fit on the quad, then I realised 1000 litres = 1 ton, even half full the quad wont move it! :doh:Did your unit work well? Did you seed you drive way or let I come natural?

[Harry72]

Be prepared to spend a fair bit on fittings(used Hanson brand)rather than going to a plumbing store go to a irrigation specialist, I set mine up so I can pump from the main tanks into the cart which also can recirculate water to mix in fertilizers.
Also I set up a 16mm pressure relief valve so when the pump is running and both the hoses are shut off water still circulates through the pump(doesnt do the impeller and the garden fittings on the hoses any good...), but knowing what I know now just a return line and a tap would do the same thing at about 1/10th of the price!
Yep when she's full its a fair load, I wouldnt even attempt towing it with anything less than a heavy car or a ute, its not the static weight thats the prob its the "slosh factor" of the water pushing and pulling.
Next time Im out on the block I'll take a pic or two of it and yes it works very well:)

Havent started on the drive as the layout isnt finalised.

[jasons673]

Spent Saturday night at the local pub making sure the beer still tastes OK, home about 12.30, woke up to this Sunday morning surprise, a burnt out late model BMW, 3k's of deserted country rd to choose from, and it ended up in my bloody drive way!

[Harry72]

A few pic's of the DIY watercart for you Jase:2tsup:
http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164230&stc=1&d=1300103250
http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164231&stc=1&d=1300103250
http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=164232&stc=1&d=1300103250

[jasons673]

Thanks harry, strike, think I'll have to give my trailer a coat of paint before I post some pic's! I like how the trailer allows the tank to be directly over the axle's, I assume you have set it up so you can draw water from the dam / tank to fill the shuttle tank, shut a ball valve then draw from the shuttle tank to run the fire hose? I have my fire pump at the back of the trailer, took your advise and allowed for a return line on the out let side. I'm waiting on one more fitting to do this, then I'll work on fine turning the inlet side. I don’t have a secure place to keep the trailer at the moment so the fire pump comes out every time, its not in use.

[Harry72]

The shuttle sits 50mm forward of the axle, gets to tippy if centered even with it being forward I must still be carefull when unhitching it if the water is still slopping about it can lift the draw bar, so as a rule I run the shuttle down under 300ltrs.
I would like to extend the rear adding another shuttle and another axle, but this time with suspension and electric brakes so I can register it... Come in handy as a backup fire unit.

[jasons673]

This is my water cart, Ive used a 3 way Type A claw fitting for the out let, the side with the ball valve is the return line to the tank, also handy when filling. The out let on the tank is pool hose, It separates in the middle and I can attach the suction hose to draw water from another tank or the dam. The pump sit loose at the back with still some room for other bits. It works quite well. Everything's removable, so when the carts not in use, I can use the trailer on the quad. Its cost a few bucks to put it all together, but its an essential part of kit. Thanks for the advise harry.

[Harry72]

Those claw fitting are what we use on air hoses(jackhammers and portable burners)at work, minisup is the name we use?

How heavy is it loading up the car when full, looks pretty front heavy with the shuttle that far forward?

"I assume you have set it up so you can draw water from the dam / tank to fill the shuttle tank, shut a ball valve then draw from the shuttle tank to run the fire hose?"

Yep the quick connect coupling connects to the tanks(2x5600gal) via the T piece on the inlet of the pump, the other side of the T runs to the bottom shuttle outlet. This way I can fill the shuttle by either siphon from the tanks or by the pump(plus the added bonus of running the garden hoses at the same time), once the rain water tanks get down under half full I use the pump to fill the shuttle(the grey 40mm pipe and valve at the top of the pump).

Pump only needs to idle to run the garden hoses and fill the tank at the same time, to up the pressure if needed I screw in the pressure regulator on the blue hose.
Its actually been a bit of a learning curve for me, cost over 2K so far not surprisingly theres nearly $500 on fittings alone not counting the hoses. I priced out buying a pro made watercart wasnt going to get much change from $4k so im well in front if not counting my time making the HD trailer.

[jasons673]

Yep minsup fitting, our company sell them + other pipe, valve and fittings to the mines up here. Come's in handy for this project. My cart including the fire pump + tank and fittings came in around 1k, but the trailer was a freebie. As you can see its not built to last like yours. But its fit for purpose. Yes there is plenty of slosh factor, I've only filled it about half way, watered the drive way until empty, watching it when filling up not to over load it. Once empty it easy to lift on and off , I did try and wrestle it once when it had about 200ltrs in it, not recommended!

[Harry72]

240kg is not light weight to move, first time I put water in(bout 600) I had the tank centered and she flipped up lifting me off the ground, lucky the trailer is lower than a normal trailer just touched the rear rail on the ground... getting it back on the tow ball was the tricky bit:(

[jasons673]

Hi All, we have a clothes line! Wanted something that was a feature, rather than the boring old hill hoist, or a swing out from the wall, plus SWMBO is a little shorter than me, so many discussions about the height of the line, we settled on this crucifix type, the line can swing out of everyone's way. The arms are about 3 mtrs wide and span just over 6 mtrs apart. The other project has been the start of garden beds with some big logs off the property, our back ho has struggled with a few of them, but we wrestled them into them into place.
Our drive way has started to grow some grass after 6 weeks of show no sign at all. A little fresh out here this morning 6 deg!

[Bushmiller]

Just be aware those 1000l bulky bins are not really UV stable. You do need to keep them out of the sunlight whenever they are not in use.

I had one that was completely encased in metal, but it has a series of cutout circles down one side to read the level. That's where it collapsed in the end.

Regards
Paul

[jasons673]

Hi all, I've completed the storm water drainage along the front of the house, should take care of any major down pours. we have had ongoing issues with the house builder and leaking drainage, they have recently repaired 3 major holes, that now sends more water to the tanks ! But the problem persisted, water with still pooling near the septic system ( lowest point in the yard ). They came back with the camera this time and found another hole. It looks like when Ive put the screw pier in, Ive missed by that much ( as max smart would say ). Quick repair, hoping it’s the last hole, I've not had much luck with PVC pipe. But on the plus side I now have a new boys toy, we got this last week giving it a good work out on a clearing near the river. It got a good bath afterward but I resisted shampooing the mudflaps! Bushmiller thanks for the advise I'll get a tarp over the tank. cheers Jason

[jasons673]

Hello all, very exciting weekend, a start was made on the frame of the shed! We are fabricating on site, with the frames welded together and to be stood in place. Early in the thread I described the shed I'm building. But for a reminder, it’s a 10mtrs x 17mtrs, 3.3mtrs high, the front section of the shed has a step down for the first 6mts to accommodate a timber floor for the work shop area ( 10x6 ), I'll extend the timber floor out to make a 3 meter veranda. This will make the overall length 20mtrs! The walls, I have salvaged pre-cast concrete panels that will run both sides of the shed, with a gap on the side for a rola door.
The far end will have a left over concrete panel and a rola door. The floor, apart from the timber section, will have second hand pavers I've been saving up and collecting. Attached photos show the set out of the trusses cutting and welding. The journey continues...

[Cliff Rogers]

:2tsup:

[jasons673]

A few progress shots, no work done on the week end too wet. The trusses were stacked so they'd all be the same. The back ho couldn't lift it of the ground, 4.7mts to the peak! Once welded
They are almost indestructible, they'll be moved over to the shed site and stood up. Hoping they be fully welded this week end.

[Harry72]

That shed wont fall down in a hurry!

[jasons673]

Hi all, the last months have been busy, the shed is up and almost completed, check the shed section for progress shots. The house is shaping up well, we have had a wedding here so it has sped up the progress a lot, but now we are in relax mode. But we did get some trees in down the drive way. Thanks to an auction we scored 30 Morton bay figs trees about 2 mtrs tall. I'd like to fast forward 50 years to see what these things will look like, anybody with a spare time machine? I now have grass to mow or at least weeds!

[jasons673]

:u