We took Monday and Tuesday off work since the builder was supposed to start then. Also Pia’s Mum is down as well. So, Monday morning and no builder. Turns out he was still busy elsewhere and wouldn’t be there until Wednesday. Still, quite a lot happening.

Monday, it snowed. Again. It is now official as well. This winter sucks. The weather service said that to the end of February there has been twice the normal snowfall. Up to around 70cm so far in the south of Finland. So we spent the day clearing more snow and generally tidying up.

The guys with the excavator were busy all day putting the sewage and waste water tanks in. They started with the sewage tank, which turns out to be the bigger of the two. They dug the hole and then placed a large slab of concrete in it as an anchor and then placed the tank on top and tied it down. If it wasn’t anchored down it would probably be sitting on top of the ground again by next winter. Not a pleasant thought :-).

Next they put in the waste water tank. This is only for filtering the water on its way to the drainage system. Next each tank was connected to the outlet pipes from the house. During the day there were three truckloads of fill put around and over the tanks.

Here are the pictures from Monday starting with the panorama.

Then, from the left, putting in the sewage tank and then adding the fill and checking the level. Next two are the smaller tank going in.

Also, did I mention it snowed? I think the foundations are under there somewhere. And a winter BBQ.

Tuesday it snowed again. Surprise, surprise. So more clearing snow and cleaning up. It was a strange day, most of the time the sun was shining and it was snowing at the same time. Meanwhile the guys installed the waste water drainage system. This is where the water from the washing machine, shower, etc drains through the smaller tank and then into the ground.

The guys doing the foundations finished a few days ago, but they ran out of polystyrene for around the outside of the foundations. The extra sheets didn’t arrive until Tuesday, so we had to clear the snow from the eastern side of the foundations and lay the sheets. Same in the carport. The sheets are about 1.2 x 0.8m x ~6cm and are placed two deep (three deep in the car port). Once we laid them the guys with the excavator placed a couple of pipes through the carport for power/phone lines and then covered the lot in fill. After the inspector from the council turned up to have a look at the drains they were all buried again.

Tuesday pictures from the left. Pia inspecting the drainage system. The lid says “No entrance”, but we couldn’t get it open anyway. Clearing space for the drainage system. The drains in place. Another truckload of fill arrives.

Our snow covered carport, then all cleared with the polystyrene in place and then covered in fill. Finally everything is buried again.

Wednesday, after being back at work for the day, raced out to the section to see what was happening. Nothing, no builder again :-(. There was more snow though!