there were a few unpleasant surprises during this project, mostly having to do with unexpected costs. lots of extra cement had to be poured to shore up the surroundings of the big hole that was dug for the recording room. the house, pool, and surrounding earthen embankments all needed support in order to prevent them sliding into the hole. the external ducts for the hvac were addressed in the last post; next up in the raid on our bank account was the mid-five-figure expense of pouring 230m3 (8,100 cu ft) of gravel into the embankment around the new building. ouch! it all adds up. couldn’t someone have thought this out before we started the project? not that it would have made it any cheaper.. 

the sight of gravel that looked like five franc coins shooting out of a tube reminded me of a cornucopia in reverse.