Another day another hole.

Yesterday I showed the concrete beam, completing one end of what was supposed to be a ring beam. Today’s picture shows the hole where there is another gap in the ring beam. This time it is easy to see why our previous builder did not complete the ring beam as he was supposed to do. There are two eighteen-inch brick walls, one at each end of the gap, which he needed to break through. The bricks of these walls seem to be impervious to the kango hammer and the digger of our current builder and predate the house, which is 200 plus years old. As they abut the concrete laid down by our precious builder and are so solid, it was decided to leave well alone, letting them form part of the structure. This hole will now, therefore, be filled with concrete to form a beam to support the outer section of the end wall of the kitchen. The first wheelbarrow load of concrete has just been poured and is visible in the middle of the hole. This concrete beam will again be some 300 plus mm wide and more than a metre deep; adequate I think!