After our last project, installing our gorgeous outdoor shower, it was time to move onto the next task. As we’ve taken over project management ourselves, we’ve had to adjust how we explain what we want done to our team. Previously, we would simply tell the foreman all the different things we needed done. However, nowadays, it’s more efficient to give them a single project at a time. And so we moved onto the next one, something that we had wanted to do for a while.
 Avoiding the danger zone!
Most of our house is pretty safe, but there’s one section that is a death trap! It’s our garden wall. Well, calling it a “wall” may be overstating it! There are some parts that have wall that is about 2 feet high, with some plants in front of it. However, other parts in front of the pool have no wall (so as to not block the view), just a straight drop off to the ground about 4 metres. Our kids and pets know not to walk off the edge, but entertaining is a challenge because we need to keep a very close eye of all the kids to make sure they don’t fall off!
Building a wall
It was time to solve this problem. We need to add a glass fence to stop people from falling off, but not block the view. First up though, we needed to anchor a long steel reinforced concrete beam into the existing wall, as well as build some steel-reinforced columns that are about 1 metre apart into that beam. These columns will hold the glass in place. So the team measured up the space and we went off to the hardware to buy materials.
After putting in the metal frame and the concrete, the team finished the exterior in white cement. Next up, our glass guys will come and measure it. They’ll cut into the wall to create a space for the glass to be placed.
Buckets of sewerage?
Of course it’s wouldn’t be a Bali build if there wasn’t some bad with the good! Some parts of building are fun and glamorous, others are not. Recently, one of the least glamorous parts has been causing us some problems. You guessed it, it’s the sewerage system. We’d noticed that our son’s toilet was getting blocked more than normal. After a little trouble-shooting (and checking he wasn’t flushing toilet rolls down his toilet) we realised that there’s a problem with the sewerage.
I’m not expert but it seems that we have a lot of pipes from our toilets that run underground to a large underground septic system. This large tank processes the sewerage before it is released out another pipe. Unfortunately, it seems like the sewerage tank and pipes were incorrectly installed. It’s not a massive problem – the pipes still work – but the tank becomes full after a month or so and leads to my son’s toilet becoming blocked.
Unfortunately, all this stuff happens underground and the last thing I want to do is dig up all those pipes and tank, so I asked my team if there was another solution. And being the ingenious bunch of workers that they are, they found one easily – manually emptying the tank. Don’t worry it’s not as disgusting as it sounds – there are no buckets of waste involved here!
Instead, we put one end of a hose in the tank and the other end runs over the edge of our fence. After creating a vacuum the liquid magically travels through the hose and empties the tank in a few hours. Considering how gross I imagined it was going to be, I am certainly impressed at how easy it is. However, this will definitely be a hubby job.
Disappearing AC unit
Sometimes, little things get on my nerves. And once I notice it, I can’t get it out of my head until I solve the problem. Our next door neighbour’s AC unit has been causing me some consternation. Of course I’m happy for them to have AC, I couldn’t live in Bali without it myself! But, the outside part of the unit sits on their wall and is easily visible from my garden patio.
I couldn’t stop looking at it and it was driving me a little crazy, so I needed to fix it. Our incredible landscaper/gardener/ all round champion, Diane, happened to be around and said, “Why don’t you put a palm tree in front of it?” And so we did! Hey presto! Problem solved. While she was here she also replaced another palm that had not taken very well. I love Diane!
Sheila
