Foundations hell !! We managed to dig and pour the N side and 2/3rds of the E-W sides and middles in two stages, both involving messy digs. Coming to the S foundation we dug, and dug .. over 2m, then 3m and not finding decent ground. The building control guy (Simon) and the structural warranty guy (Paul) both said consult the structural engineers (Price-Myers) so Sam and Steve were involved. They asked for more trial holes, all equally poor before concluding we needed 14 (mini) piles 220mm dia, 4m deep. We agree a price for this and its booked for a weeks time.
We have similar issues with the garage due to next doors willow tree and poor ground, deep foundations are dug ~2.5m and they’re messy. 84cu m of concrete is poured in … 84!! at the best part of £250/cu m just for garage foundations.
In the digging of the garage foundations we find the incoming water main which is 3/4” copper. I have to crawl into the foundations and dig under a laurel tree to find decent pipe which has a/ been bent by the digging and b/ gone oval with 40 years of ground weight on it. Many hours later I finally get a watertight joint using a 3/4” olive into 22mm copper into 25mm mdpe pipe. These messy joints have to last the future of the house.
On a plus note the blockwork is going up and we are seeing the layout of the LGF (lower ground floor) and the undercroft. The blockwork looks neat and well done (what do I know though).
We also have a reasonable quote for the doors/windows and a design for the roof construction, both big-ticket items.
We go into week 5 with a tidier, less sodden site, first sight of a house emerging and I would guess the foundations costing towards x3 plan.