Tar and pits
It is hard to accept that so much of our financial investment ends up underground. Or covered by so many layers of other materials. That it is really really necessary to have al these layers on top of each other to reach a qualitative result. Layers you will never see again (although we heard some may also be a heavenly dinner for whole colonies of ants… 🙁 ).
Asphalt
Alongside the bottom of the house, till a height of 30 centimeters above ground level, they brush a layer of black fleet-coat. This is a kind of fluid asphalt, needed so that a layer of real asphalt can be attached to the walls. The asphalt prevents water to penetrate through cracks in the foundation towards the flooring layers inside the house.
Next to the asphalt a layer of tela pitonada will be attached. This sounds like the name of an exotic actress. But it is another costly layer with studs, an alveolair drainage layer (you will soon receive your registration forms for the exam in building terminology) to prevent the asphalt being damaged by the gravel in the trench. Pfft. When I am cold, I’ll just wear another sweater. But it is unlikely we will ever be cold in this house. A lawful impossibility.
Drainage
The trench alongside the house has been excavated again. A lot of debris from earlier work was thrown in and filled it up unevenly. This was cleaned out. But we need to finish the drainage systems soon now. Autumn is in the air. And although summer temperatures and drought may fool us now, there is rain about to come as well.
Pits
Apart from rain there is also household water running through a different system. We didn’t know that we are obliged to install a pit on every crucial connection point in the drainage system. Each pit contains of several floors, for several sewages that follow different directions. In case of clogging you have multiple spots to check and restore. This means there will be a lot of ugly drain covers. Meaning also I’ll have to get multiple big terracotta vases with plants to cover up these yukky pit covers.
Altogether the money from our accounts is also swiftly going down a drain into a another bottomless hole. Invoices lay on our doorstep every day. The market has gone wild, there is no more guarantee on many quotes and prices. Many amounts have increased by 10, 20%, compared to the original budgets. We start to worry a little. Our bank account definitely has a bottom line.
