Ayres Rocks

Amazingly, after weeks of frustration due to weather and everything else life could throw in the way we are finally getting on with pouring the walls to the house. These blocks are 50% larger than the blocks poured for the power room and are presenting logistical issues on mixing and handling that much at one time. We are mixing 40 litres of soil, 50 litres of sand, 10 litres of cement and up to 20 litres of water to get each mix to a consistent standard. That translates to 70-80 litres of mud ready to pour once it’s been churning in the mixer for 15-20 minutes each load.

Pic 1 below shows the set of 3 blocks that separate the windows between bedrooms. Pic 2 is the detail of how the threaded rods are being positioned. Those rods are holding the large redgum blocks as seen in the lower block in pic 3. Pic 4 is the second layer completed on one of these window bays. At the base of all layers is a 20mm thick strip of redgum, sealed with linseed oil and anti mould that will be used to fix skirtings to once we are at the final fit out stage.

All of the fixings are M10 nuts and bolts and the 1/2″ square to hex drive converter (that is the simple name the hardware people have for these gadgets) means any drill can be used to quickly spin bolts in and out. I set the torque on the drills to about half of the maximum so there is plenty of play with getting stubborn bolts back out if needed. Pic 1 below show the gadget in use. Pic 2 is the lovely scenery I’m looking over while working, and the view from all living areas of the house. Pic 3 was an attempt at perspective.

Setting up for this base layer is cumbersome and very time consuming, but since the moulds will literally fall into place for the subsequent layers we are happy to take this stage slow and get it right. Setting up for this stage consists of lots of measuring, remeasuring, coffee, remeasure then just a quick measure and check once more to make sure it is right.