Pipes and drains

There are various pipes around the outside of the swimming pool to take the water to the sand filtration unit, which is compulsory for a "public" pool, which is what this is considered to be. The pump then takes the water through the heat pump and brings it back to the pool - it will circulate the entire volume of water (70m3) in one hour. There is also an additional tube, which will feed the waterfall feature. These have to be covered in fine sand to protect them, before we can infill with gravel.

The same day, we excavated a couple of trenches. One to take a drain from around the pool in case the ground gets waterlogged and disturbs the pool structure. The other trench was to feel electricity to the pump house. These were quickly back filled (before I had a chance to get the camera out) and you would almost never know there were there!

All of this work was washed down with a beer for the boys, whilst I did the school run!

A problem that has been looming for a while has been how to fill in the hole which will be the future sun terrace - soil will settle and create subsidence problems, concrete is too expensive and hardcore is difficult to find.

Yves "found" a ...fallen down stone building in one of his fields - it was at the edge of the field covered in brambles, we thought that we could make a start with that - 8 trailer loads later (about 15 tons each) we had an impressive heap which Stefane started to level with his digger.

Smooth bottom!

I've been so busy working that I've not had time to update the progress here. About a week ago we skimmed the bottom of the pool to give it a smooth finish to take the liner:

Rain stops play ....

The pool has been "drying" for the last couple of weeks and the rest of the work has been held up by the rain (and a little holiday of our own, where thankfully we were spared the rain!).
In the mean time I have been sanding down and oiling the garden furniture - 8 tables and 30 chairs - ouch my arms hurt!