Chapter 8

The next morning the locals arrived with wheel barrows, rakes and shovels. The women folk were setting up trestle tables for refreshments, they decided on a barbeque when the pour was finished.

Just after eight o'clock the first truck arrived and it head down and arse up. Mick directed where to dump the barrow loads and as soon as there was enough to start levelling he was in there with a shovel.

After he was satisfied that the menfolk were dumping the loads in the right place he told me to grab the other end of the screed bar. We started to saw it back and forth, gradually levelling the concrete.

We had a short break before the second truck arrived. A few cold drinks, a bit of a snack and we were back into it again. As the first section started to go off Mick handed the screed bar over to Fred leaving him and me to continue levelling.

Mick started his helicopter machine and commenced smoothing the now partially set concrete.

Five hours from start to finish, we now had the start of the cabin. Mick dragged a roll of hessian from his truck and we covered the slab. "We'll need to wet it down before we knock off for the night," he warned.

The rest of the day we enjoyed the barbecue and had a few beers to wash it down. Most of my home brew was consumed so it couldn't have been too bad.

...

After allowing the slab to cure I rang Alex White and told him we were ready to start erecting the cabin. We arranged for the first load to be delivered in two days time.

"I'll come over and help you lay out the base Jim, if that isn't set out right the whole cabin will be out of wack and some of the parts won't fit properly."

"Thanks Alex, that'll be a great help."

Two days later the truck arrived with the first load. The truck had a fork lift locked into the back of the tray, this made the unloading easy. Alex had arranged the loading so as the base components came off last.

Each component had its own number. Alex had told me when we were looking at the preliminary plans in his office, that everything was computer controlled. Each log was machine to fit into its own place.

"Have you machined these logs Alex? The look very round, surely they don't grow like that."

"No Jim, we have a contract with a plywood manufacturer. When they cut the veneers for the plywood they have a machine that works like a pencil sharpener. The log is spun against a knife and the veneer is peeled

off, when it gets to the size that our logs are it become unpractical to continue, so we have nice smooth round logs."

The first thing Alex did was to set up his laser and survey the slab. "Mick did a great job of getting his levels right Jim."

"Yeah, he was pretty concerned about getting it right, I think he was worried his uncle might have gone crook at him if he stuffed it up."

Alex started at one corner and laid out a string line along the length of the slab. He then used a laser measuring device to set a point at ninety degrees to the line thus defining the end wall. Next he measured down the string line to the first opening, from this point he then measured diagonally to the second point. Triangulation he called it.

I looked over his shoulder and saw that he had the floor plan all marked out with 'triangulation' for all the points. "The computer makes it easy Jim, we have a program that gives us the exact measurements for each point."

Once Alex was satisfied that all his measurements were correct we took a break and had a cup of tea.

"Our next job is to lay out the channels for the base Jim. Each one has a specific place, if we follow the floor plan we can't go wrong."

The local men all pitched in and with Alex directing the placement we soon had the outline of the cabin with the internal walls defined. Starting at the first corner a bead of silicone was put down and the first channel set in place.

Each channel was galvanised and pre drilled for the holding bolts, Alex brought out a Ramset gun and 'shot' the hardened bolts through the holes and into the concrete. One of the men followed up with washers and nuts. This procedure continued until all of the channels were secured.

Next came the uprights, again, these were galvanised channels to hold the ends of the logs, they went at the corners and at the door openings.

When we broke for lunch Alex said, "We can start putting the first course of logs in after lunch folk, once they are in and secure I'll leave the rest for you to finish off."

Lunch over Alex directed the placement of the first course of logs.

"As you notice, each of the first course logs has a groove cut in it so as it sits flush over the bolts. The tops side has a convex angle, the next courses have the convex angle on the top and a concave groove on the underside. Each join requires a bead of silicone to seal it."

"What holds the end channels Alex" asked Fred.

"If you look at the upright channels you will see a predrilled hole every four courses. There's a bag of four inch nails over there, just drive one into the end of the log, OK?"

"Yeah, that makes sense, you sure have worked this out haven't you?"

"That's how we stay ahead of our competitors Fred."

After we had set all of the first course logs into place, Alex went home and the folks decided to call it a day

...

Early the following morning Bruno brought the Sisters and their flock over in our newly acquired bus. The new paint job made it look quite impressive. When it pulled up the kids spilled out and made a beeline to Rosie, laughing and giggling as she play butted them.

"All right children, all gather around me," called Sister Mary. "Jim will tell you what he wants you to be doing today. Jim, they're all yours."