Our most reliable supplier/contractor to date, Sebastião at Monteprazeres, turned up as arranged - in fact, one day sooner than originally planned and he messaged to agree that too.
The task was to rip up the existing ugly, uneven, broken concrete driveway.
Because we had erroneously thought that the work in the dungeon would be started in June as originally discussed, we arranged for the driveway to be removed in July so that we could relocate the electric supply to the workshop into an underground conduit and make various other preparations for the exterior rendering to the house, the new driveway and the gate automation.
Of course, none of the planned work on the house has even started but rather than put off the job and risk having to suffer further delays in the future, we decided to get it done anyway.
Expecting a couple of workers with jack-hammers, picks, and shovels it was a surprise to see just Sebastião, his tipper truck, and a mini-digger. We had arranged in the same job that he would also remove the mountain of soil and rubble that we had previously dug out from the dungeon.
By 9am he was underway, loading up the truck with the mountain of rubble. After two loads were taken away he began digging up the driveway, skillfully breaking up the concrete with the machine. Another two loads were removed and half of the drive was already gone, just in time for lunch!
After a break of little more than an hour, he was back on the job. By now he had reached the concrete which was exceptionally thick but the man and machine combination was more than equal to the task.
The was a small surprise when the chunk of concrete next to the doorway to the cellar was removed and we found that the main earthing cable to the house was actually embedded in the concrete, with no sign of an earthing rod. It was simply a length of the cable with the insulation stripped off which had been curled up inside the concrete, bizarre. With no access to an earth loop tester, it is not possible for me to check the effectiveness of the earth connection but I will be installing a proper rod and new cable to make sure it complies.
However, the job was completed in less than a day and needless to say, we are extremely happy because this means that our work can continue even if we are still waiting for the professionals.
It would have taken a few weeks to do all that by hand, working until around 11am each day before the sun became too intense.
The driveway is now just a dirt track and, of course, will be a muddy track when the rains arrive but we do have plans for the driveway and extending the garden - but more about that in the future.