Digging the hole for the pozo was by far the most time consuming task of the small cabin septic tank for various reasons including that the soil was mostly rock after about 2 feet down and also that they dug with just a pickaxe, shovel and ice breaking bar. So after about 4-5 days of digging they were finally able to move on to the next steps in building the tank.
Once it was dug, they needed to make footers for the bottom. In order to do this, the wheelbarrow method of hauling concrete was once again employed.
Lots of grunt work!
Setting the footer
Next was to bring over all the cinder blocks and then start to build what we called our “castle.” The castle that holds poo.
First line around
More hauling and dumping
The castle and the cabin
And the final step was to do the top of the tank. This will also serve as a landing for the stairway up to the deck of the house.
Forms ready!
First they made the molds/forms for the concrete. Then yet again more mixing and hauling of concrete by hand through the jungle and then finally, they smoothed it out.
Nice and smooth -the small hole will be used to take out the wooden forms once it cures and a cover will be made
We are enjoying this space on the other side of the property more and more as we can start to see our vision manifest into reality. A building project of even this size is not for the faint of heart. This takes quite the commitment, especially the way we have gone about it (aka the hard way) and there have been a few nights of tossing and turning, mulling over our decisions. We are constantly checking and rechecking and trying to avoid or correct mistakes (there will ALWAYS be mistakes), but it’s on days like these when we see big progress toward our goals, we know we are on the right track. After all, the challenge is part of the reason we moved here in the first place! It’s just hard to always keep that in the forefront of our minds.
Silly turkeys playing in the cabin!
The project will be slowing down for a few weeks, but the next step is in the other direction: the roof!
Cool Paint Job! (In San Juan, not the plane I was in)
