Slab, heart & walls

The last of the conduits were put in position, the weather played along and the concrete was mixed.

It was a break in the grey weather and a few good friends that made Saturday quite a big moment in the House Bossi series.

Almost out of character, but probably in keeping with my hippie tendencies of many years ago, I decided that I needed to mark the moment of my home’s birth with some sort of ceremony. I wanted to add some  “good energy” to my home  – so using the old cliche of “Home is where the Heart is” I thought that burying a heart in the ground floor slab would be just the thing.

It was meant to be a moment between me and the concrete, but friends at lunch decided they wanted to join the ceremony and “bless” the stone. An impromptu ceremony followed amidst the chaos of concrete, steel and many hard working men – the home is now blessed with great sex, great fortune, great love and few other great things.

The heart lies somewhere between the kitchen and the dining room.

No sooner than the slab set, the walls have started coming up. They are sprouting quicker than I thought and it’s very satisfying watching them grow, adding personality and character to the space.  I feel like an expectant father. Or not.

I am off for 2 weeks on holiday and am looking forward to seeing the progress when I get back.

Steel & Insulation

The rain has stopped for a couple of days so progress can continue smoothly.

The steel is down and the slab is just about ready to be poured. We have added a layer of 40mm polystyrene (Sagex) underneath the slab for insulation. A home loses a lot of heat through its floors into the earth. The Sagex prevents a lot of this heat loss ensuring a more energy efficient home.

Before pouring the slab we also need to lay the conduits for the electrical and other points. The conduits for the various plug points and switches need to be set into the slab to prevent having to chop and grind through the concrete at a later stage.

We can only hope that we haven’t overlooked anything at this point.