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Week 3 - Drains and other hidden things

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By Benpointer in General

· 3484 views

The groundworks team have been putting in the Sewage Treatment Plant and drains this week.  We’ve chosen the Klargester Biotec+ 2 STP and that arrived on schedule from Tanks Direct on Tuesday. 

 

Also this week the concrete pads were dug and poured for five oak posts that will support overhanging roof canopies - the Building Inspector asked us to put in 1m x 1m x 1m pads which seems excessive for 150mm x 150mm oak posts taking point loads of 5-10kN but it was that or pay the SE for (possibly the same) opinion.

 

ReolinkGoPTUltra-20250616_185441.jpg.1dc2b8287cafaf6ece5e3a989f53ff23.jpg

 

IMG_3402.thumb.jpeg.69bba81b85b346fc127227dfa7bb3d92.jpeg

 

IMG_3403.thumb.jpeg.b7284f9157d04585e1a4f51deb7a577d.jpeg

 

The team also started reshaping the paddock area - losing a huge amount of spoil and burying a lot of rubble that had been dumped by previous occupants.  We'll probably wait until the autumn to seed it - not much chance of seed taking right now.

 

IMG_3407.thumb.jpeg.5052083325cad55081a9863f2c586722.jpeg

 

At the end of a busy week there is not a lot above ground to see for all that effort but we needed to get this all done before the below-DPC block walls go in.  Access to the rear of the plot will not be possible for the big machinery once the blockwork starts.

The wooden garage mentioned at the end of last week's blog came down over the weekend (in the pouring rain) and has disappeared off site.  The extra space created has proved vital - the photo below shows the concrete pad that's left  after the garage was removed. (The wooden building that remains is a 5m x 9m workshop which is staying, though it will need re-cladding at some stage.)

 

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No new issues this week - hurrah!  Fingers-crossed for that happy state of affairs to continue.  

 

The timber frame is due to arrive from Turner Timber on 7th July, so just three weeks left to finish the foundations and get the scaffold up.  No pressure!

 

 

    • Like 3

    6 Comments

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    Advanced Member

    Russell griffiths

    Members

    I would seed the paddock in a wildflower mix, far nicer than grass. 
    I did a couple of hundred metres, last winter and now it looks excellent. 

    • Like 1
    Advanced Member

    saveasteading

    Members

    3 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

    wildflower mix,

    Including yellow rattle. It adds attractively  to the mix and parasitises any grass that dares try to take over.

    • Like 2
    Advanced Member

    saveasteading

    Members

    Drains and other hidden things

     

    It's so annoying when lay observers (incl clients)  don't appreciate the work involved to this stage.

    Especially when very tidy like yours.

    But you can be happy.

     

    1m x1m pads is a lot. But 600 x 600 is a fiddle to dig, and saves you £50 each.

    At least it will never take off. 

     

    It might be worth marking these drain runs and the tank to avoid damage from dumpers etc.

    Pins with red and white tape.

    Regular Member

    Benpointer

    Members

    We did try a wild flower meadow in our last house.  It looked lovely in the spring but moving into the summer it looked increasingly messy each year.  And then we had to mow it, let the seeds drop, and then gather up all the cuttings.  After a few years we had a huge, ever increasing pile of cuttings.  

     

    The range of flowers was always a bit disappointing too - quite a lot of the seeds we planted never seemed to take or thrive.  Maybe it's because we were (and will be in the new house) on heavy clay? 

     

    Anyway, we decided to try a different approach this time - a robotic mower rather than ride-on.  We might leave some swathes of wild grass and have someone come in and cut and remove the cuttings from those areas once a year.  Apparently there are robotic mowers that can be programmed to cut different areas for different periods of the year - further research needed.  

     

    Once Mrs P. tells me what we have decided, I'll let you know.

    • Haha 1
    Advanced Member

    jack

    Members

    On 18/06/2025 at 22:30, Benpointer said:

    Maybe it's because we were (and will be in the new house) on heavy clay? 

     

    That's probably it. I think a lot of wild flowers very much dislike clay.

    Advanced Member

    saveasteading

    Members

    I've been turning a small area of lawn into meadow. After 3 years I think we can say it is a success although the flower mix remains limited.

    It is heavy clay under thin soil.

    We did not rrmocd or rurn over the foil, just cut it hard.

     

    Cutting once after seeding is hard on my mower and me.

    Raking it all off is hard work too.

    Yellow rattle is our friend though. Where it has established tgrowth th is in control.

    There are seed suppliers specialising in mixes to suit the circumstances.

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