Day-15: We are Starting...

We got the email from Metricon on 2nd April advising us that they have completed the excavation on the site and  will soon start the Piering. But looks like mother nature had different agenda. It started pouring the very next day and it did not stop for three days in a row. Piering was to start on 3rd April, but we all had to wait because of the bad weather. Anyway, Today things started moving as the Piering was completed. Hopefully the slab will be done soon as well in the coming one two days. We are happy as we can see some progress now on the site.

So as part of the excavation, they have carried out cut and fill. I remember sometime ago, there were a few Metricon people on site carrying out the measurements on the site. The objective was to streamline the area of the house build and also deciding how much the cut would be made to make way for the slab to sit on.

As part of the Piering, we do not know as to how much linear meters and cubic meters the Piering was done. I could see quite a few spots where the ground was drilled to  make the Piering. But these are things I will be discussing with the SM when I meet him on Wednesday morning. As per the contract we have opted for 1200mm Piering, but there is no mention of as to how many of them would be put though. But my gut feeling is that there is some standards to be followed depending on the area of the house. There should be around 50-60 piering done on the site in total I presume.

So what is Piering after all? Piering is a form of reinforcing the foundation of the building that might suffer subsidence or settlement due to instability in the soil substrate. It involves the installation of a number of vertical support columns or posts, in conjunction with a series of horizontal cross beams, otherwise known as capped beams. The piers or columns and beams are made of reinforced concrete or high strength steel and are attached to the existing building or its foundations. These supports penetrate through the problematical strata of soil to a solid foundation of bedrock or more stable strata, and are designed to halt further instability.

We have got our first appointment with the Site Manager on Wednesday morning i.e. 10th April. I had a phonic conversation with him and he seemed to be quite good. We have been advised that we are lucky to have him as he carries pretty good reputation as a Project Manager so we are happy about it. After all a lot depends on him as things will revolve around him only.

Here are some of the photos that I took in the evening when I was at the site: