Slab it up
Principle 6: Produce no waste Ordering the correct quantities of materials on a building site is a real challenge. How much does a cubic metre of sand look like? Experience tells. At A$60 per cubic metre for sand and A$213 for concrete you want to make sure you get your numbers right - or at least close. All up I used 14 cubic metres of packing sand during this stage and 6.6 cubic metres of concrete. Structural concrete requires a mix of approximately 3 parts stone, 2 parts sand and 1 part cement. Both the sand and river stone were sourced within a couple of kilometres of the house site, not sure about the cement yet, while the supply depot is only 500m away. So transportation costs were kept to a minimum. The reinforcing was sourced from Sheparton, about 75km north. I've spent about A$10,000 on getting the slab up, including excavations, materials and labour. Quentin spreads the first 200mm layer of packing sand. The 'Bobcat' was used to load the sand and is in the process...