BEGINNING TO TAKE FORM

The cistern taking form.  Note all the steel in the foreground... a ton (or more) of lugging.

Dan was busy this weekend getting things to a point of stability before heading for an off-island break.  The cistern is pretty well formed and will be poured when he returns.  In addition to holding 24,000 gallons of water in two separate compartments, this will serve as the base foundation for the cottage.  A slab will be poured as a cap and back into the excavated hillside for the ground floor which will have 3 small bunk rooms.  The main floor with kitchen/dining/living and another bedroom will be built above the slab.

The box that is being built into the forms will create a spillway between the two compartments of the cistern.  When the slab is poured over the cistern, this is where a through-hole will be left so both compartments will be accessible from one point.

BRINGING IT

The first pieces of steel arrive at the Lovango dock.   This video cam from Dan this morning- unloading the boat is the third of 5 handlings that move the rebar from St Thomas to the site.  From the dock it gets loaded on a truck to get hauled up the hill and unloaded at the site.

BACK AT IT

Cistern taking shape.

After finishing up another project, Dan is back on the job, beginning to set the forms to pour the base footers and foundation which includes the cistern that will hold about 23,000 gallons of rainwater.  Local regulations require that all new construction have rainwater water catchment and containment.  Every square foot of roof has to have 1 gallon of water storage built in to the house; 1.5 gallons per square foot for roofs on 2 story buildings.  With our mix of single and two story build we need cistern capacity of somewhere north of 12,800 gallons.

Hoping to have this base poured before Dan leaves for vacation late July.  The challenges of the (remote) island build are being felt- all material- forms and steel- need to get touched 3-4 times to get them from St Thomas to the dock, to the boat, off the boat, to the site.

Hoping to get all concrete work done in two pours- First = cistern footers/walls; Second = back retaining wall, first floor, and cistern cap.  Seems like alot to juggle in two pours but the challenge of getting concrete to the site (pumper trucks on barge) is driving the math here.  Much still TBD.