A new building to our site

The 21st of June we got a new building on our site, just like that! My dad has build a playhouse for the kids to play in. He built it on his field with Leo`s help. Leo did the hammering of the whole floor and he was happy to help. And quite accurate with his hammering!

To get the playhouse to our site we drove one tractor to the back of it to stop it from falling over and drove the other tractor in front of it with. 

Then bit by bit we lifted it higher until we got the boards from under the house on to the trailer. Then the trailer was tipped and the house was pushed on the trailer. There was nine of us doing it.

Then it was driven to the site and put on six rocks. Later it got a roof on it.

Percolation area / imetyskenttä

We had the digger make our percolation area as well. Because our house will have a dry toilet it is enough for us to have a percolation area that treats the grey water, we wont have any sewage. There comes one pipe from the house, 2 meters under the ground (so it does not freeze) and into a settlement tank. Off the tank there goes two evenly placed pipes with holes in them. So the grey water goes in the settlement tank, leaves any bigger stuff in there (like food scraps from doing the dishes), and continues through the pipe into the ground. The ground was dug and filled with stones. Above the stones and pipe there came a material that protects from any organic matters from going in from above. On that there came fine sand. Off the end of the pipes there goes up two ventilation pipes about 1,5 meters above ground and they have a cap on them. The area is to be kept clear from any big trees and roots, any driving on it or putting heavy stuff on it. 

 Truck bringing stones and sand for the percolation area

 Right low corner: pipe coming from house into the treatment well. In the middle: two pipes under stones. The water spreads evenly along the whole area.

The percolation area had to be placed far enough from the drinking water well so we ended up having to dig through our little forest that was between our house and road. This picture shows a view from the house looking at that little forest and through it you can see the road. 

Water well / vesikaivo

We had the digger come to our site again (the last time he came was last July when he cleared the site and put the 9 rocks in place for the foundation). Now we wanted a drinking water well and a percolation area to be done. 

We wanted to have the clean water well up hill to our house so that we could have running water with out using electricity. We had planned we would have a hand pump in the house that would start the water to flow and once it is flowing it would keep on coming because of it being up hill from the house. We looked for spots that would likely have water and we also had a diviner come to look for a spot. He found a place where he strongly felt there was water. 

The digger tried from there but it had too big rocks in the way. He also tried digging from another spot but that too had too big rocks. He then ended up digging down hill from the house, in a spot where we were sure there was water. And it did have. Now we have a well 3 meters deep. It is close to the house so maybe we will pump our water at the well and then carry it to the house or use some sort of electric pump to pump it into the house. 

 The well is south from our house, down hill and quite close by. This is an area we would have cleared anyway to let the sun from the south reach the house.

Mick is emptying the well from the dirty water that fills the well at first. He is using a pump that runs with petrol.

All the posts and beams in place!

On the 28th of June Mick and our two helpers Ben and Karel got all the posts and beams in place. It is an exciting point of this summer and one of the big achievements for Mick. 

 Now Mick can see where there needs to be done adjustments.

The job for the rest of the day and the next few days was to put re-inforcement under the floor boards where they meet the posts.

 It is possible quite easily to move the blue tarpaulin to cover or to un-cover the structure. This way things can be safe from the rain but it is possible to work easily when un-covered in good weather.

Placing a beam

When the first two posts are up a beam can be placed on them. After that after each post there goes a beam in place. In these pictures a second beam is lifted in place so it comes (on the right of the picture) onto the first beam and (on the left of the picture) onto the post.

First the beam is lifted on the high working platform. Off that there has been placed a plank to the post on the left of the picture, Mick is standing on that. The helper on the right, Ben is standing on a ladder and Karel, the helper behind Mick is standing on the working platform. 

The beam is lifted to lie on the other beam (and post under that) already in place.

After that it is lifted across to the other post.

This beam will need some fine shaping and adjusting. There is a small gap between the two beams. 

Placing a post

The posts need to be lifted in place the joint matching exactly. We are very lucky to have two strong helpers to do this. The right people at the right time! The posts and beams are lifted in place now for the first time. After this Mick will see exactly where there needs to be done some small changes like shaping and cutting.

 Getting ready to lift 

 Mick at the joint directing the beam, two helpers lifting: one at the end and one in the middle

 Both lifters in the middle, Mick directing

 Will it touch the roof structure of the rain cover? No, it fitted. 

Slotting/pushing the beam in place