Coming along slowly

The best laid plans of mice and men. So the story goes. Well to tell the truth I never really expected to remain on such a tight schedule for completing most of the back garden this summer. After 5 weeks we've not accomplished half what I wanted. Oh well.

First the deck is almost finished. There's that damn 'almost' again. Really all that remains is to adjust a few of the deck boards and then trim off the ends flush with the support. Its an hour's work at most. What odds can I get on it not being complete next week either?

As was the plan we now have space for the old bistro set. In true dung heap fashion its the sunniest spot in the garden. Ever since the last board went down its been cloudy and raining. Bloody typical.

The only casualty was a couple of planks got coloured fence green when they shouldn't have. Oh well.

Moving on, we've actually managed to dig out and level the space for the greenhouse. Talk about overkill. The greenhouse manufacturers require a solid brick plinth of exact measurements and perfectly level. Ok, I can understand that. However, they go on to say the best way to achieve this is to construct a concrete footing a minimum of 100mm thick.

After a lot of digging, swearing, more digging, more swearing, and an under estimation of concrete required,  (Misread the bag as they put m² at 50mm thick and I was working on m³ which is what most concrete is sold by) we were ready to start building the foundation.

We started by constructing a wooden slip form which was the exact width, length and height for the longest of the ends.

The first side was poured, using the infamous instant concrete. Simple really, just pour the bag into the slip form, tamp, level, and sprinkle with water.

With one side in and perfectly level we were able to use it as a reference point for the other long end. I'm glad RC spotted that multi-level set the other week. Its more than paid for itself.

The second side went down parallel, and after 24 hours the slip form was dismantled and recycled to make plain staked in shuttering for the 2 ends.

After 5 stop start days including some nasty wind and rain we have a base that is level and square to within 2mm all round.

Once the concrete has a couple more days to harden off properly we can get on with the brick plinth and assembling the greenhouse. I don't have the heart to tell RC just yet that we are going to have to fill in the middle of the foundation with slate chippings and a cobblestone walkway. Maybe next week.