settling into position

The house move went without a hitch. We had to go with steel piers (instead of brick)which meant a slightly different order of events but the house movers had leveled out the house in (set) concrete by day 6-7. New piers had to replace every old and crumbly pier so we now have a total of 70 steel and concrete piers under the house - it ain't going anywhere!!!

Rain has turned our dust bowl into a muddy, clay-sticking mess.Gum boots, work boots and thongs are lining the doorways in and outside of the house - so glad we don't have small kids in the house throughout this ordeal.



Leaving their 21 tonne monster-sized earth mover on our front lawn for a week, the earth movers gave us some time to salvage timber, fixtures and equipment from our external laundry / bathroom, sheds and garage before it was to be demolished. Timber bearers from the garage have come in handy repairing the (now extinct) chimney and all laundry components in the new inside laundry. A big score by my brother who found new, un-circulated coins hidden in the rafters of the garage!

Demolition day was swift. You can see why these guys love their jobs...big trucks, smashing noises, even bigger trucks to haul it all away. By 4pm, the site was cleared and a ginormous amount of tiles, concrete, timber and plaster was taken away. It's only now that the sheds have gone and trucks are off site does the land suddenly look big enough to host another house. But subdivision seems a LONG way off yet. There's so much to do in the mean time...



Current tasks: connect all services properly (we have some power to the house through a power pole and lots of extension leads), build driveway to service both lots, dig stormwater drains and survey the land.
Oh, and build a laundry, repair internal cracks, construct decking to get into the front and back of the house (using a ladder was getting tired), maintain full time jobs, cook using a plug-in fry pan or microwave, get quotes, meet contractors, manage bank account...this is not for the faint hearted!

Let me just say: we could not have done this without the support and assistance from our family, friends and mostly, my dad. (I got really stuck here on how I could possibly put this into words) He has moved mountains for us and we are so thankful. A big thank you also to my mum for letting us hog him for 2 weeks.

Back to getting the laundry sorted and ensuring we have all of the trenches ready for the conduit to be laid...this has become my new life.