The real forecast

The forecast for this weekend, issued by the Bureau of Ownerbuilderology:

Earth, rammed with periods of sweat. The chance of an expletive by late afternoon.

I’m determined to get the first real wall panel up this weekend, weather be damned.

First on the agenda today is to set everything up ready for ramming at first light tomorrow. One thing I learned doing the test wall is key - preparation, preparation, preparation. The more I can get ready today, the smoother the ramming will go tomorrow. I already have the formwork columns and steel reo in place, so today the plan is:

1. Clear the work site so there’s nothing in the way to trip over or run into.


2. Get the forms bolted up and all the holes drilled for the clamping bolts so there’s no stuffing around with this tomorrow.


3. Set up the scaffolding so it’s ready for use when I get to the upper courses.


4. Screen a metric arseload of soil ready for batching.


5. Follow up on my order of a metric truckload of concrete sand.


6. If I have time, cut some firewood to take home with me tomorrow. It’s gettin’ cooooold :)