Subdivision Progress: Removing Underground Concrete Tanks And Clearing The Backyard

One of the subdivision requirements we have to do as part of excavating the backyard is remove two large underground concrete tanks - these are the old septic tanks which were decommissioned years ago when the house was put onto new septic (years before we bought the house). The tanks were no longer used but had been left in the ground (which is what they often do) and just filled in with sand and rubble.

But because we want to subdivide the block and someone will want to build a house on it we had to dig up and remove the tanks completely. This is to make the land safe without the concern that the tanks could cave in and cause damage to any buildings on top of them - the old paved patio area pictured below sat on top of the concrete tanks and use to get wobbly pavers as the tanks slowly shifted over time. So just imagine if there was a house on top of them, it wouldn't be very safe!

Before

After!

The problem is that it is a massive job - the tanks are heavy and made from solid concrete and need big machinery to dig them out of the ground and take them away.

We had a driver and mini excavator in to start digging them up and he discovered another tank we didn't know was there - it was made from bricks instead of concrete so a lot easier to remove as the bricks just fell in and we could dig them out. 

The concrete tanks are so solid - the driver lifted off the lid and cracked open the bottom of the tank and tried for a few hours without success to pull them out but his excavator wasn't big enough to do the job.

So we called it a day and made plans for a bigger excavator to come back and finish the job.

A few weeks later, after the Christmas break, the big excavator came and lifted out the concrete tanks, put them in a truck to be taken away, and both the excavator and a bobcat guy cleared the whole backyard.

Unfortunately I don't have any progress shots as I wasn't home at the time, sorry!

We also had a plumber come and redo the underground pipes and all the services for the new block are now done - plumbing, electricity and water services.

Our next task is to get the block surveyed again and have them measure and peg out the two areas - the back block of land and the front block (which will determine what will become the new size of our backyard).

Once the pegs are in place we will get quotes to have retaining walls and new fences installed. It is really going to take shape then as once the fences are in we can build a deck and landscape our new (and much smaller!) backyard and the subdivided land will be just about ready to put on the market to sell.

What a relief to have the tanks removed and the whole block cleared .... it's amazing how big it looks now that the patio, granny flat and big tree is gone.

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Curly Crafty Mom - The Creative Corner
The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays
The Plumbette - Thursday

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Subdivision Progress: Tree Removal, Lifting Pavers + Excavating

We've been making slow and steady progress getting our backyard cleared and ready for subdivision these last few months. 

It's hard to believe we got approval to subdivide almost a year ago now. This year has just gone so fast with our engagement and planning the wedding taking priority that although we thought we would have it finished by now and put on the market to sell, it isn't quite ready yet but we are aiming to get it finished early in the New Year.

The granny flat we had removed in September and was a massive milestone in getting the block cleared. The granny flat was taken away by the transport guys to try to sell, I'm not sure if they have sold it yet but I hope it goes to someone to turn into their home!

In October we had the large ghost gum tree removed from the backyard by tree loppers. 

There were 4 guys working on removing it and it took them about 5 hours to cut down from the top branches all the way down the tree trunk. They had their trucks and heavy duty equipment onsite and turned it all into mulch and took it away.

The stump was left in so that the bobcat guys can remove it roots and all. Tree removal is expensive we paid almost $2,000 for it to be removed.

 

We also wanted to save our patio pavers that we didn't need anymore but didn't want them to end up in the skip bin so we gave them to a friend who plans to extend her patio area.

So one hot and sunny Sunday, four of us moved 400 pavers .... lifted them up from our old patio area, stacked them in the ute, drove them to our friends house, unloaded them and stacked them again. It took 4 trips to get them all moved as we could only fit about 100 pavers in the ute at a time.

It was exhausting work on a hot summer day but the drinks afterwards tasted even better when you know you've earnt it!

Over the last three Saturdays we had a mini excavator and driver in to clear the rest of the backyard - take out the concrete supports from the granny flat, knock out the brick garden beds, concrete retaining wall around the patio area, and remove all the old building rubble and materials.

The excavator put everything into piles and then a bobcat came in and scooped everything up and dumped it straight into his truck. When the truck was full, the bobcat driver took the truck and dropped off the load and then came back to fill it up again.

If the backyard wasn't a dusty sandpit before it sure is now!

When there's machinery digging around you need to be careful of your services so you don't disturb pipes. We had drawings of where our plumbing pipes were meant to be in the backyard but they were wrong as we found out when the excavator accidentally pulled up our sewer pipe ... now I know where the term shit happens comes from!

A cracked pipe, a call to our plumber, and a quick trip to the hardware store for supplies and Mr P fixed it using a new pipe and repair couplings which have rubber rings and hinges to clamp around the new pipe which makes it much stronger and secure for underground plumbing.

Problem solved in about an hour and we could safely flush the toilet again!

Mr P got busy separating all the timber and plastic from the brick and building rubble so that the truck could take it to the rubbish tip - they will only accept brick and building rubble there. If there's timber and plastic in there as well they process as a different type of rubbish which is more expensive.

It worked out cheaper for us to get a bobcat in to load it into a truck, which did a few trips to the yard to dump the rubble.

Our local council supplies us with a few skip bins a year so we loaded all the timber and plastic into the skip bin for it to be removed at no cost - winning!

The backyard has been cleared and the next job is to remove the large underground concrete tanks (the old septic tanks which were decommissioned but not removed from the ground).

We also need to have a plumber in to move our drainage pipes.

Then we will get the surveyor in to peg out the back block and advise us on what level the land needs to be so we know how much retaining we'll need - retaining walls and fences can then be installed.

Then we can design our deck - I can't wait for the deck to be built it's been a dream for so many years now!

We are getting there slowly but surely!

Sharing with link parties:

Curly Crafty Mom - The Creative Corner
The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

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An Update On Life Lately ...

Firstly, I must apologise for my absence on the blog front, besides some book review posts that I had already scheduled, I have a long list of blog posts I want to share from the wedding, honeymoon, renovating updates and home projects but I haven't yet found the time to write them all! 

The reason for my absence is I've had some health issues that have put me on bed rest the last few weeks but I'm happy to say that I'm feeling much better now and even got out of my PJs this week for the first time in a long time! 

Being stuck at home these last few weeks I had a lot of reading time on my hands - from my Mum's 5 year old dusty Women's Weekly magazines, a pile of books from the last 3 months of book club reads, plus ebooks I'd downloaded to review from NetGalley - I have been spoilt for choice on the reading front and have a lot of book reviews I'll be posting in the coming weeks. 

Have you read any good books lately?

Being unwell has made me try even harder to cook healthy wholesome meals for Mr P and I and I have gone back to writing menu plans every week to stick on the fridge. This helps keep us on track to make meals that include a few servings of fresh vegetables but I still find it hard fitting in the required 4-5 servings of vegetables every day.

I want to try my hand at making my own fruit and vegetable juice as well .... yes I'm jumping on the healthy juice bandwagon! 

What is your go to healthy vegetable dish? 

Are you juice fan?

A big project that has been taking up a lot of my time is my city apartment which was my bachelorette pad before I met Mr P and is now my rental property. After a bad experience with a Real Estate company not managing it properly I now look after the place myself which means it's up to me to find suitable tenants. After 3 months of it being empty and everyone that applied for it wanted it furnished, I finally succumbed and have decked out the apartment with furniture, decor and art. 

This has been a project which took about a month to complete and I'm happy to say that after just a few days of advertising and one home open I have found new tenants! I really enjoyed staging and styling the property and will be writing a blog post about that soon. 

Styled with Kmart, Target and Gumtree finds! 

At home the subdivision plans for our block are progressing - we had the tree loppers in to remove the large ghost gum tree in the backyard. It took 4 guys about 5 hours to cut it down and turn it into mulch.

We are now waiting for a bobcat and skip bin to come and the guys will clear the rest of the backyard of all the old building material and rubble, the stumps leftover from the granny flat, break down all the brick garden beds and retaining, and put it all in the skip bin and take it away.

Tree Removal .... Before, During and After!

We have finalised a design for our front courtyard and kerb area and want to lay reticulation and then pave and lay grass. Once that's done we can landscape the rest of it and create some kerb appeal. 

I really wanted the courtyard landscaping to be finished before Christmas but I just don't think it's going to happen now as we have had to focus on other things so it looks like this will be a project for the new year.

The courtyard is desperate for some kerb appeal!

We had new downlights installed in the laundry and power points which has been brilliant because for the past year I've had to run an extension cord into the kitchen to use the washing machine!

As soon as I've found a mirror for the powder room I'll do a before/after post of the laundry/powder room renovation .... Yes I know I have been promising this forever but it's coming just as soon as I find the perfect mirror.

Why is it so hard to find a mirror that fits the spot AND looks good AND within budget?!

The last project to do inside the house is to replace all the internal doors with new ones, paint them, and install new handles.

The doors are a bit of a labour of love so we do a door every few months and have a few more still to do but I'm happy to say we are getting there and have nearly finished this project. 

I'll be sharing a post on how to hang and paint doors very soon!

I've been a married woman for two whole months now and Mr P and I are still on cloud nine from our wedding and even though we have lived together for years it feels really different now to be married. It is such a wonderful feeling and I find myself walking around with a big smile on my face whenever I think about it!

I have some DIY bride craft projects on how I made my own wedding bouquets, DIY photobooth, plus a wedding recap just as soon as I receive the photos from the photographer!

Lexi really wanted to be the flowergirl/dog!

So that's what's been going on in my life and around the Jarrah Jungle lately.

It's a really busy time now as we head towards the end of the year, with Christmas shopping to do, catching up with friends and family, parties to go to and plan, it's all happening!

How have you been my friends? Tell me what's been happening in your world lately?

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Removing The Granny Flat - Up And Away!

Anyone that has followed my blog for the last year will know that we are at the stage now when we're ready to subdivide our block and as part of our subdivision plans we cleared out and emptied our Granny Flat that we've been using for storage for 6 years so that it is now finally ready to be removed from the backyard.

Since then we've been waiting for the crane truck and truck removalist to be free on a day that we could be home to supervise the removal ..... we thought an hour would be enough to get it in and out but turns out it was a lot more involved than that and took the entire day - over 7 hours from start to finish!

Wait until you see the photos it really was surreal to see the granny flat being lifted off the supports and into the sky, over the house, and down the side to be placed on the removalist truck and taken away. 

The first obstacle was to get the crane truck down the side of the house into the backyard, across the sandy driveway - we had a bobcat come in a few weeks ago to flatten the sand and get it ready for the truck - but the sand was still too soft and boggy and the truck kept getting bogged and we had to keep getting it out!

If we had of known the sand was too soft we could've laid down some road base and we wouldn't have had all the problems we did ..... hindsight is a wonderful thing!

The crane truck can get itself out of being bogged by extending the outriggers, putting planks of wood underneath them and moving the truck over. The front and back wheels can be lifted off the ground at different times too. 

It was really awesome to see something this big get itself out of a tricky situation!

Once the crane truck was moved over enough to get it balanced the crane came into action - the crane was massive, it carried a bar across to the top of the granny flat, the guys secured straps around it, and then lifted if off the supports.

It took a few goes before it was ready to be lifted - they had to keep adjusting the straps and securing wood chucks so it didn't cut into the walls and frame of the granny flat, as you can see there was some damage to the side but it wasn't too bad.

The granny flat weighed 5.5 tonne and the crane was 50 tonnes.

They lifted the granny flat up and over our house and down the side of the house where the transporter truck was waiting.

It was swinging near our new roof, eaves and gutters ..... and on the other side the neighbors house ..... with just centimetres to spare on either side it was a very tense time!

To add to all the excitement the granny flat got stuck on the neighbors fence, luckily they weren't home at the time because Mr P had to get out the hammer and hack away at the fence to free the truck and granny flat to get it out!

The fence has to be replaced anyway but you should've seen the look on their face when they came home to it! Mr P has fixed it up for them temporarily until the new fence is installed.

It was pretty touch and go there for a while until they could secure the granny flat to the back of the truck.

Then as the transporter truck was driving out it got bogged - with the granny flat on the back! 

So then we had to wait for a big truck to come and pull it out.

We had 2 pilot vehicles with their oversized signs and lights flashing at the ends of our street directing the traffic. Once the transporter truck and granny flat was pulled out they moved really quickly with 2 pilot vehicles to get it on the road and off to the truck depot.

It was so bittersweet seeing the granny flat loaded up and going past the house .... I actually waved goodbye to it!

But it wasn't over yet ... now we had to get the crane truck out of the backyard! Luckily it can get itself out of tricky situations with it's outriggers but it still took another hour or so to get out.

All the guys left just in time as over sized trucks can't be on the road late afternoon ..... they had just enough time get back to the truck depot!

This was such a huge milestone for our subdivision plans and a momentous occasion in the Jarrah Jungle renovations to see our plans come to life after 6 years of talking about it! 

Now for a final goodbye granny flat - you were awesome to us for storage and saved us while we renovated our bathroom, toilet and laundry. 

You will be missed but I'm sure you'll make another family happy now! 

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