Sleeping (2)

Although the underpinning work is finished, it took us a little time to move back to the main bedroom.    We got the room in order, but then the Council started work on the nearby tennis courts – lots of noise early each morning, so we opted for a more peaceful existence.

Work at the tennis courts

That was until we discovered a swarm of bees had taken up residence in the chimney leading from the open fire place in the bedroom we were occupying, with the occasional bee making its way out of the fireplace.  True, the bees weren’t so active at night-time, but sharing the room with bees wasn’t something we wanted to risk.

So we relocated, but nevertheless arranged for the bee wrangler to persuade the bees to move on.

 

Sleeping

We changed bedrooms because part of the underpinning work was taking place in the main bedroom.  So we were sleeping in a room away from the street.   I had never realised how much street noise there is, even in our not-so-noisy area.     It’s not only the small amount of traffic, but building work in the neighbourhood, trains in the distance and all the other noise that floats around at night.   Less of the noise is heard in the room further away from the street.   The result?    My quality of sleep improved significantly!

Even though the work has finished   it will take a little while before all is restored to normal and we can return to the main bedroom.  I’m sure we will do this, but in the meantime, I’m enjoying the better sleep quality I’m experiencing.

 

Underpinning (3)

With a final burst of effort, the underpinning work has been completed.  The last day involved some jacking up of the foundations and two deliveries of concrete (together with the concrete pump truck).   Things weren’t helped by a power outage and a lot of rain the previous evening which made work in a number of the pits messy.   And somehow there was more water around than expected, which led to suggestions that we need to review the drains.

When all was done, there was some effort at getting the place back in order, but  “making good” is over-stating it.  The carpets had to be rolled back to enable the work to occur, so will never be the same again and will have to be replaced.    There’s dust everywhere in the rooms that were affected, so the cleaners have been called in.   Outside, the storm-water needs to be re-connected, and we’ll have to get the walls patched and re-painted.

But some of the cracks closed up slightly and the front door now closes properly.    At least the house should be reasonably stable for the foreseeable future.

Activity!

Storm water drains need to be re-connected and the drainage has to be checked. Then we’ll be looking at re-paving.

Hopefully the lawn will recover without too much effort from us.

Underpinning (2)

The underpinning works continue:  noisy, intrusive and dusty.   But steady progress is being made, so there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

The first concrete pour has now occurred:  a big truck in the street with the concrete pumped into the excavations through a hose.

Halloween

Like last year, we went into “scrooge” mode for Halloween this year.   Some years we do participate, but we’re in the midst of underpinning works, and there are some big holes in the garden.

We thought, safety first and kept the gate closed.

Hopefully we were a little more subtle than one of our neighbours!

Underpinning

We called the plasterer to fix some cracks, but he said we ought to fix the basic problem.  So we called in the underpinning people.   It’s not cheap, and we were warned that it would be disruptive.

On the first day, two big excavations were made outside the front wall, but on day 2, work started inside, with holes being excavated (by hand) under the floorboaards.  Although the guys doing the work are quite neat, the work necessarily involves the removal of dirt and the inevitable dust associated with dry soil.  We’ve retreated to the other end of the house, but the whole process is obviously intrusive.

So far, we’ve only seen the digging part of the works.   It’s been explained to us that concrete will be poured into the excavations in a couple of days time, so we’re feeling apprehensive about that!

Our foundations

The contractor who is going to fix up our foundations arranged a geotechnical report as part of the preparation work.    The geo-technician probed around the house and gave us a verbal report.

In short, our house, like much of eastern and south-eastern Melbourne, is in an area of “Brighton Group sands”.   We’ve got sandy loan to a depth of about 600 mm, then clay beneath that.   Unfortunately, when our house was built, the footings only extended to the top of the clay, so when the clay shrinks and expands (as it does as it dries out and becomes wet again), movement occurs.

Gotta do something about those cracks!

The “good news” is that our soil is typical of the area.   Other parts of Melbourne are built on silty sediments, which apparently require much more work in order to be underpinned.

I tried to research the underlying (pardon the pun) geological issues, but when I encountered this article, I gave up!  Obviously geology is very complex and technical;  hardly surprising given the millions of years during which the earth has developed.  And all we want is for our house to be stabilised for the next few years!

How long will the house last?

There was an interesting piece in a recent issue of the Australian, exploring the issue as to how long will houses being built today last?

The point was made that the average European house (masonry and wood) lasts for about 120 years, although in central Paris, it’s a struggle to find anything younger than 150 years. But the article asks, how many of the houses that we’ve been building in Melton, Point Cook and the like will last for more than 50 years.

I guess the answer – as suggested in the article – is that these place will need to be maintained.   I guess that’s what’s happening in our inner suburbs now, but perhaps the need will be greater in coming years, as it seems that a lot of the construction that’s occurred as we struggle to accommodate the population growth will need more maintenance sooner than later.    The article stated that a lot of modern-day skyscrapers (and perhaps residential high-rise) have a life expectancy of about 60 years before they need an overhaul.

Additional support for the roof

We’re certainly well aware of structural issues that can develop.  Our Federation era house needed work to overcome a sag in the roof a few years back, and we’re now planning on some underpinning work to overcome deficiencies in the foundations.