The Hole is Dug!

We have a hole! On Saturday our backyard became one big construction site. It was originally going to be on Tuesday but some of the people were not available to do the work.

My 20-month-old boy thought it was Christmas. He enjoyed his front row seat to the digger as the mound of dirt and hole in the ground got bigger and bigger. Dean our pool builder was on hand to make sure the bobcat guy dug the hole exactly to specifications.

Usually the dirt is taken away on the same day but because the truck guy wasn't available on Saturday, the dirt was left on site. Lucky we have a big enough yard so this was possible. The dirt was collected on Monday. 

There are two things at this stage which could potentially cost you more money. The first is if you have rock under your soil. If another marchine is required to break up the rock, be prepared to pay a couple of extra thousand dollars. This is specified in most contracts. We were lucky we didn't have boulders down there. Lots of shale yes (as we suspected) but no huge rocks. 

The second thing that could be an unexpected expense is where the soil gets dumped. Some contracts say if they have to dump it outside of a 5km radius from your house, you will get charged more. Our contract did say this. However, I clarified with Ivan our sales rep if we would be slugged with extra costs. He said no as I'm assuming the cost to tip to wherever the closet tipping site was had already been calculated into the price. It didn't hurt to ask though so no nasty surprises. 

So digging the hole caused no dramas which was a relief. We hit no wires or pipes under the ground and nothing got damaged in the process. 

Here are some photos of our site:

Sometimes you will see water left in the hole. This will be suctioned out before the pool goes in. 

Here are just two things to be aware of once all the action starts in your backyard. Dates could easily change. Our digging date was originally Tuesday but it changed to Saturday. Our pool delivery date was Thursday but now it is Tuesday. If you plan on taking time off work for these things be prepared that dates could change at the last minute. 

The other thing is the weather. If it started raining this weekend then everyone's pool gets pushed back. This again could stuff up the annual leave you booked so be prepared to be flexible when you are dealing with the pool trade.