Site Update: Concrete, Cameras, and Container Living

It’s Tuesday, the 27th of January, and we’re chipping away at the concrete. Today was all about concrete breaking, site security setup, and making our little container storage feel a bit more like home.

Breaking Ground (and Concrete)

The big task of the day was more concrete demolition. The team from Nyanda was using a 3-ton excavator to chip away at the thick external beams, which we discovered are even chunkier than expected. The 25-ton machine with a ripper attachment tried to pull sections up, but some of this concrete is seriously thick.

You can see the slab’s internal structure now—the 100mm thick ribs and the orange damp-proof membrane. They’ve also started pulling out sections of the old revetment wall.

Tomorrow, a ring saw/concrete cutter arrives to make cuts close to the edges near the rear stairway through the steel reinforcement, which will let the excavator peel everything out much cleaner (in theory).

Building Our Security System

One of the most exciting progress points for me is establishing our site security. Instead of paying for a temporary security monitoring service, we’re building our own system that we can later integrate into the finished house.

Obviously, the cost benefit for choosing an option like this depends on the duration of your project and your project budget. Big site security design considerations are theft, site damage/vandalism such as copper theft, cutting of copper wires, copper plumbing given copper ATH spot prices as well as monitoring deliveries, site access an egress and site attendance.

The great part about using a Ubiquiti system is its ease of setup, modularity and configuration. A small, 2x camera system, NVR and 4TB HD will cost around $985 for harware. Add come CAT6A cable and som Rj45 joiners and your up and runnning once you add the system to you UI Account for remote access.

We received a delivery of two, 8-meter-long steel posts (75x75mm Duragal coated). To these, we’ll weld plates and mount two Ubiquiti Unifi G6 Bullet cameras on each post. I’m a big fan of the Unifi ecosystem for its simplicity.

The plan is to run the cables through 20mm conduit into junction boxes with weatherproof connectors. From there, they’ll feed back to a Unifi Flex switch, which will be powered by a 60-watt POE injector. That switch then connects to a Network Video Recorder (NVR) that’ll live in the future site office on top of our container.

For internet, we’re using a tiny Teltonika RUT241 4G router. To boost the signal, I’ve ordered a 4G/5G MIMO antenna to mount on one of the poles (or side of the container), keeping the router itself safe and dry inside.

The upfront cost for this hardware setup was $2,880, and the steel posts were $541 delivered. Compared to a typical site monitoring service at about $138 per week, this system will pay for itself in under 8 months for a long build like ours. Plus, the homeowner gets to keep the cameras!

Im thinking about getting two more cameras and the Unifi Siren as an alarm function/trigger on event device. More about this later on.

The Container Command Centre

Our site base is taking shape. We’ve got temporary power running to the container for essentials: a fridge, microwave, and most importantly, the coffee machine. An electrician is coming soon to install a proper sub-board and a 32-amp industrial plug on the side.

Why the big plug? We unexpectedly got two electric utes on Friday! We’ll have the electrician make a heavy-duty extension cable so we can charge them right here in 3-4 hours. While they’re here, we’ll get every cord on site tested and tagged for safety.

We’ve also pinned down the geo-fabric with tent pegs (I might have speared the soaker hose, but at least the tree is getting extra water!) and plan to build a simple bench out of 90x45 timber attached to the container. It’ll be a barbecue and surfing bench, giving us a shaded spot to cook and relax.

The next steps are to level the container (no one wants to work in the "slanty shanty") and build a little deck with stairs at the back for easier access. We’re still waiting on the site office to be delivered, too.

The running joke is that we should cut a window in the container, use the awning, and sell $2 hot dogs to the neighborhood. A pop-up site café might be a future side business.

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow, the ring saw action will be the main task to help demo progress. We’re also navigating a challenges with the boundary wall. We’d like to rebuild it, but the neighbour has services running through part of it, so we need to figure that out before proceeding further.

That’s the wrap for today! It’s a mix of heavy demolition, tech setup, and making our temporary site life functional for us.

Every day we get a little more cleared, a little more secure, and a little more organised.