After three assorted visits from Octopus surveyors and installers, I’ve finally agreed how we can make a heat pump work. It needs to be part-way up the garden, so noise does not affect neighbours’ “habitable rooms”. As I don’t own the fence on that side, it means me putting up a line of posts next to the fence, to support trunking and services between the house and the heatpump.
I discover that the fence sits on a couple of inches of soil, and below that is the projecting remaining solid footing of what was clearly once a substantial brick wall, so the posts have to be set about 7cm out from the fence line. And once one gets down 10cm, it’s into solid grey clay …
I agreed that the top of all posts should be to the same level – as the land rises away from the house, the furthest-away posts will be much shorter. I’m going to need to do a total of eleven: today’s effort managed three. Lift pavers, dig out clay, cut post to size, wedge and check with spirit level, pour in quick-setting post-mix. After that has solidly set, hack pavers into appropriate size pieces and re-lay on a bed of mortar, making up around the post so there’s not a rot-inducing hollow. I have yet to screw the caps onto the posts (to prevent rain getting into the end-grain and causing rot). There are, of course, plant-pots and three half-barrels to move out of the way as I work my way up the garden … oh joy!
