Works on the foundations this past summer - Part 2

It was time to start digging around three sides of the house to install a concrete 'pavement' - laid in order for rain to run away from the house and so the foundations would stay dryer. This will help the soil around the foundations from going through the usual cycles of wet in winter and bone dry in summer.

Our gravel had been originally laid over a liner, but a fair amount of 'soil' had built up over the years. Luckily everything was dry so there was no mud involved, just dust!

Preparing for the concrete to be poured - I found it fascinating all the layers here, geotextile then gravel, then clear plastic, then reinforcing steel. Only a ditch on the outside would have concrete to the full depth to reinforce the concrete path.

More fun and games was all this cutting into the walls where any cracks had been (though we don't recall seeing cracks in half of these places! Guess the experts see things that we ordinary folk don't).

Out the front. The path got a bit destroyed in a few places from the digger but the workmen said they would repair it.

On the right is a great big skip for all the dug out soil - it's the kind that is winched up onto a truck bed. I think we had three skips here in all. By the way Mary Moho went to spent several weeks on the forecourt of the repair garage in the village (where she is known) and we paid them a small amount for being so kind. 

Round the back of the house ready for the concrete.

When the garage side was started an old septic tank was found!

All they could do was fill it in and take out any unnecessary pipework - luckily way too much gravel had been delivered for the pavement preparations so they filled it in with that.

Some of my crazy paving path looking a bit worse for wear!

The concrete arrives! We had to go out for a few hours which was annoying.

Round the back of the house.

When we came home the back and front had been finished but they were ready to lay the concrete on the garage side, so I got to watch that.

Dust! This is from cutting out the cracks in the facade with (I think) an angle grinder - it made a tremendous amount of dust. They cleaned it up afterwards. (I'm annoyed that both lavenders from the original front bed that were dug up and repotted died on me - that's one bottom left).

Scaffolding goes up to deal with the higher up cracks, over nice dry concrete. The guys shovelled gravel back in place in the front and the back, leaving only the garage side for us to do (very nice of them as that was not part of their job).

To be continued....