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!

Snow, snow, snow, and more snow. That about covers the last few days.

The builder is supposed to arrive on Monday, so the order of the day was to dig out the building materials from the half metre of snow covering it. Needless to say it takes much longer than we thought. Luckily though, Pia’s parents arrive during the early afternoon and help with the digging. It goes much quicker after that and we actually managed to uncover most of the wood piles. There are still some to go, but we can probably do that Monday (we have a couple of days off work).

As for building progress, the guys with the excavators have cleared some of the snow away as well, which was quite useful. They have also brought the sewage/waste water tanks as well and have started on the holes for those. They have also buried the drainage ditch that marks the boundary of the land as well, so have to mention that on Monday.

The pictures for the day starting with the panorama.

The first two pictures are the sewage/waste water tanks, not sure which is which. Third is the hole for one of them. Seems to have filled with water already. Then the freshly unburied house parts and Pia’s Mum, Lea, helping with clearing the snow.

The foundations have been filled in now and the drains almost completed.

It snowed all day after we uncovered the foundations, but a bit of snow won’t make any difference now. The main problem would have been if the ground was frozen when the fill went in, since that could cause some settling later. Monday and today the fill was put in and the area around the foundations cleared so that the sumps and drains could be put in place. A couple of them are still to go in and that should be most of the foundations finished. Next week the construction of the house will hopefully start.

During the coming weekend we will have to clear the snow off the exposed concrete blocks and also off the stacks of wood for the framing.

As you can see in the panorama, the inside of the foundations are filled.

On the left, one of the sumps still to be done, sewage and waste water pipes as well. On the right, the back of the house with some of the polystyrene sheeting still exposed.

Did quite a few things today. First we managed to cut down the two large trees that were standing in the middle of the water drainage area. They took a bit of cutting with the chainsaw since it was quite small and the trees quite large. Both were about 6-8 metres tall. So had to dismember them before cutting down the trunk. We managed to save part of one of the trunks and it is currently doing part time work as a seat in the hut. It will probably become a chopping block at some stage.

Next we cleared up the deep piles of snow in front of the hut. The excavator is supposed to be going through there during the week and we wanted to make sure there was nothing buried there (like the power cable). Also had to clear the foundations. As mentioned previously, the steam heating was done earlier in the week and the ground covered in the polystyrene sheets and tarpaulins. So those all had to be lifted and stacked and the tarpaulins cleaned and folded. They weigh a ton as well, so it isn’t an easy job. Even managed to pull up the one still lying in the carport. It was frozen solid and half stuck in ice which made it very pleasant.

Some pictures from today with the obligatory panorama.

The foundations themselves are now wrapped in black plastic sheeting on the outside and the base covered in tar and sheets of asphalt (left most picture). Also, the hut could do with a clean :-). And some nice parking…

Last week we moved the polystyrene to the back of the shed and cleared the snow away from the area where they were sitting. During the next few days several loads of sand were delivered there. Must have been more snow there than we imagined. After clearing out the foundations (about 5cm) and then starting on the space for the sand we managed to wear out our lumikola. So far the body count is one shovel, one snow shovel and a snow pusher :-).

Also arriving last week were the pipes for the drainage system around the foundations. Last weekend we also made a start on chopping down the two large trees sitting in the middle of the waste water area. The snow depth around them is still about 40cm, so it made for a bit of hard going. Hopefully we can get the rest of the trees during this weekend.

During this week the foundations were finished and work started on the drains. On Wednesday the ground inside the foundations was heated to get rid of the any ice and the filling work was supposed to start straight after that. But unfortunately the excavator didn’t turn up and they can’t come until Monday. So at the moment the ground is covered in the polystyrene sheets and tarpaulins.

The pictures from Saturday, starting from the panorama.

The last major parts of the foundations are completed now. Last weekend the metal supports for the veranda pillars were put in place in the left most picture. The interior of the foundation was covered in polystyrene in the centre and the foundation for the carport was put in place on the right.

Not much to tell. We spent the whole weekend clearing the remains of last weeks snow away with the help of Petri. Weather was a bit better this weekend, about -5 or so and light winds. Even some blue sky occasionally which made it a bit more pleasant. Not that you notice the cold when you are sweating like a pig.

The result of all the pain for the weekend was that the interior of the foundations are cleared and all but one and a half sides of the outside. Everything that was lying around is cleared up as well now. And, of course, Sunday night it had to snow again…

Here are a bunch of pictures from Sunday starting with the panorama of the site.

And a close up of the work so far.

The only brickwork remaining (I think) is the load bearing area for the fireplace. I’m not sure if the carport area gets any more done to it.

And a few other bits and pieces for the foreigners :-). On the left, the bricks they built the foundations out of (some kind of bead in cement, quite light). Some tools of the trade for winter, a lumikola (snow-pusher) and a studded snow tire.

To cut a long story short. Saturday was spent moving bricks around. Lots of bricks. That and some shopping. Bought a larger snow shovel/sledge and a little snow shovel for the car, plus a few bits and pieces the contractors needed. We thought this would be an easy weekend! Pretty psychic purchases too.

As it turned out, it started snowing on Saturday, and snowing, and snowing and snowing. And then for good measure it snowed again all night. Pia arranged for her brother, Petri, to help us on Sunday, since it was obvious there would be some snow to clear. But on Sunday morning we left to pick him up and found about 30cm of snow outside. And drifts up to 1m deep! We drove straight out the door of the parking building and immediately got stuck. A taxi driver who parks near our car offered to help us, obviously very useful considering his years of experience at this sort of thing. He did manage to get the car out and this sort of driving seems to involve lots of wheel spinning, flying snow and some tire smoke :-). The drive through the centre of Helsinki was quite amusing. I pity the poor people who have to go to work tomorrow. Their cars are buried up to their windows in snow pushed to the sides of the road by the snow-ploughs.

It was a long and slow trip to the land and Petri could only help for the morning. He cleared the driveway while we moved other snow.  The whole house area was covered. All the hole the foundations are sitting in is full of snow and there is no sign at all of the ditch around the outside. When we had to take him back home about lunchtime we had manage to clear such a small amount we had to go back again. All I can say is that we both hurt… a lot. And the weather office says this is a once in a decade snowfall. I definitely hope so.

Some “before” pictures from Saturday… The car was sitting there for about three hours.

And the “after” pictures from Sunday… From the left, I know there is a road there somewhere. Petri clearing the driveway. Up to 70cm of snow inside the house!

Cut down some more trees today :-).

The contractors doing the foundations were there as well finishing things ready for the concrete tomorrow. Everything seems to be going okay. We sorted out the electricity problem too, it just involves a visit to the hardware shop before work and a bit of re-wiring.

Since we keep getting asked if there are any more trees there to cut down, I thought I’d document what we are up against. The main problem is paju — a type of willow. The stuff grows everywhere and generally grows like a bush and is nearly impenetrable down towards the back of the section. There are a few full trees of it here and there. The rest of the trees are birch and a few small pines.

Here are a few more pictures, the first is the paju, then the contractors and the heating cord they have installed in the foundations. They are also pretty handy with a saw and hammer.

The boxing for the foundations is almost finished, and with any luck the concrete will be poured early during the week. There was a bit of a cold spell during the last few days — down to -15 deg at times. That would have been a bit too cold for the concrete to set. But anything above -10 is supposed to be okay. The heating equipment for the concrete arrived Friday afternoon. I didn’t know what to expect, but we got two rolls of orange cable! Now it seems quite obvious how they keep the concrete from freezing. The cable is heating cable. It gets tied along the reinforcing and is connected to the power when the concrete is poured. It will keep the concrete warm from the inside.

The contractors asked us to get an extension cord for the cabling, but we are a bit confused over what we should get and what it should connect to in the electricity box. There are two plug types in the cabinet, normal European 2-pin 10A, or a two phase 16A 5-pin. To make matters worse, the heating cables are terminated in single phase 16A 3-pin plugs! And no-one stocks a 5-pin to 3-pin adapter :-(.

Cut down a few more trees in the waste water area today, but now that the foundations are in place it is a bit more obvious where it is located and there are two large trees in the way. A little bit bigger than I can handle with the axe, so probably need to borrow a chainsaw soon. Took the camera there again and documented the progress so far. This is a big panorama, almost a complete circle.

Last weekend Pia’s parents were here and helped out at the section. They also were there on Monday and helped with the moving of the cabin and arranging the other things there. The windows arrived on Monday and also the phone guy showed up and installed our cable. During the week had to buy a few bits and pieces and do various other running around. Especially important was the tarpaulins to cover the hole where the house will go while the foundations are being done. The boxing work has been going on for the last week and will probably be finished this week. During the weekend we spent most of the time cleaning up and on Sunday moving all the snow that came during the week. Worked out that 10cm of snow (assuming 1cm snow = 1mm water) and the house area of 18m x 10m (roughly) then we shovelled around 2 tonnes of snow. Not sure if that is right, but it felt like it! Of course as soon as we finished doing that on Sunday evening it started snowing again…

Another panorama taken on Sunday. This one shows the tarpaulin covered boxing (before we moved the snow). Couldn’t take this one in the same place as the previous ones because the digger is parked there. On the left (towards the road) is the polystyrene and bricks for the foundations, on the right is the cabin.