After less than two years of planning and good intentions, we finally started on the
extension to our house on 15 March 1999. Take a look at the plan.
Here are some photos of the work in progress. Click on each picture for an enlargement.
Thursday, 11 March 1999
Mark Whitefield, the concretor, came along to peg out the site.
Dad and Mark examine the work that will need to be done on the verandah: it will be
shortened by about 30 cm, and the post in the corner of the following photo had to be removed
before they started with the concrete.
The concrete was finished on Friday, the 17th March, but we couldn't do much more until
the windows were ready. Stegbar couldn't deliver before 12 April, so we had a few days off
before the carpenters came.
Wayne Graetz and Mike Barolo come to install a new septic tank. The old one was only 1000
litres, and the Health Department was concerned that it might overflow, allowing fæces to
rise to the surface, so they got us to install a 4000 litre tank. Eddie Richter of the Health
Department came along, took a look and pronounced it good. As I was leaving, I stepped into a
cow pat.
In the front part of the library, looking through the walk-in wardrobe, toilet and
bathroom. The blue box in the ceiling is one of the return air vents for the air
conditioning, as is the aluminium-coated duct.
Another view into the ceiling of the library. This blue box is the main air distributor of
the air conditioning plant. Lilac got up into one of them (the second on the right), through
a non-return valve, and was stuck in a duct for a day before we found her and got her out. We
had to replace the duct. Hans Overbeeke of Affordable Air Conditioning said he'd never heard
of that happening. Two days later, Monty did the same thing, but we found him before he made
a mess of the duct.
A view in the back computer room, looking into the studio and the other computer room. The
duct hanging down is the one from which we extracted Lilac. The grey pipe across the middle
is a water pipe.
On the same day, Stegbar came along with the glass for the windows. Some was OK, some was
broken and some was the wrong size.
May and June 1999
The carpenters, painters, electrician and plumber did the second fix. Nothing of great
interest happened. Stegbar came a couple of times. The first time they had some of the glass,
but other glass was broken again, and two panes were of the wrong kind. The second time they
installed all the glass, but they put one of window handles on the wrong way round, and they
forgot to install the fly screens.
Monday, 5 July 1999
ETSA came and installed three-phase power. This was
our third encounter with them; once they had been called away for an emergency, and once they
had got their truck bogged down in the paddock and had to leave it there overnight while they
looked for a suitable towing service.
