CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW ‘RAL’ HOUSE
Work
under way clearing an oval shaped area for the house
There were over 500 mature trees
on the block. About 30 of these had to be removed to create space for the house
and provide a buffer between the trees and house to prevent root damage,
maximise solar access and reduce fire risk. After the work is finished we will
plant more than 30 trees to replace those that were lost and salve our
consciences after our eco-vandalism. The remaining trees on the block are
protected by a statutory agreement that we have attached to the
property’s title and will be binding for future owners. The trees and
stumps were removed over a weekend using a 23 tonne excavator and a chain saw.
The chain saw operator’s fee for service was most of the trees, a modern
equivalent to barter. We were left with about 5 years worth of firewood to fuel
the wood burner that will be our main source of heat.
Remains
of the stumps and tree tops
The photo above shows the pile of
tree tops, stumps and left-over wood left after the block was prepared. We
spend two days trying to cut wood out of the pile, mulch the leaves and small
branches. It rained almost non-stop, we clogged the mulching machine, sent the
soggy and muddy kids home early with our neighbours, bogged the two-wheel drive
Prius in the mud and made no discernible difference to the size of the pile. We
only got the mulching machine and Prius out of the mud thanks to the help of
our future neighbours Tim and Dave. A lot of brute force, Dave’s four wheel drive ute, and Tim’s
heroic rally driving in the Prius were necessary to free ourselves.
After
clearing up
Eventually, we had the pile of
waste wood burnt. This photo shows Katie on the cleared area after we’d
pegged out the house.
Stacking
firewood
Most of the useful wood was taken
away but we have kept about 60 cubic metres of wood for the wood heater. We
spent a day making a wood pile that we could cover to allow the wood to season.
Katie was particularly willing to help. Afterward, we decided that she’d
probably shifted more than 5 tonnes of wood. Not a bad afternoons work for a
nine year old.
Mark and
Oscar organising stuff
Planning and organising the
construction is turning out to be a major undertaking. The stray and skinny
kitten who adopted us about 8 months ago is now almost tamed, rather round and
likes to help.