This morning saw the delivery by Potton of the first package of our timber frame. This comprises (mainly) the parts for the bottom floor of the house, which will sit directly on the floor slab. The plan is to build this, then for the groundworkers to return to build the retaining wall and the outer skin of the house adjacent to it, allowing the concrete path to be laid in front of the house. This will permit the scaffolding to be erected to allow the rest of the frame to be built and the roof constructed. So, today was momentous, in that it marks the beginning of being ‘out of the ground’.
Pretty exciting in its own right, too.
We arrived at the site shortly after 9 this morning, to find the road crammed with Potton lorries (well, there were two, at least). The construction team – Josh, Rick and Jamie – were expecting the crane for 10:00. It finally arrived, reversing down the road at about 10:30
A bit bigger than even the construction team expected! A while to set up, jacking the crane on to its levelling legs, and a bit of concern about the sewer across the top of the site,
then one of the Potton lorries reversed down to beside the crane,
and all was ready to start unloading. The plan was to put much of the kit in the centre of the slab. Josh and his team managed to get the main panel packs there,
but there was not enough room for everything, so some of the materials were dotted around the sides. Some of it looked pretty precarious, particularly this (very heavy) pack of plywood floor panels
But by 12:30, both lorries were unloaded and had left for their return journey to St Neots.