Steps and terrace at Renata

8th December 2007
Work has started on the new terrace and steps at Villa Renata in Javea, Spain. During this winter we will be renewing the tiling on the naya at Villa Renata, raising the level of the open terrace off the end of the lounge, and creating a stunning flight of steps from this new terrace to the lower "naya" and swimming pool.
This is what it all looked like before work started on 7th December 2007:


The plan is to create new steps, wider and shallower, that will provide easy access to the lower "naya" and to the swimming pool area.
As usual with this type of job, there is a small problem! The septic tank is, we think, under the flower bed and we don't want to build over it without leaving some sort of an inspection cover. So the first task is to locate the exact position of the tank. Here we go:

The first thing we found was the "false" tank! This is an ingenious system for watering the flowerbed from rainwater caught by the guttering on the roof. But it goes nowhere - just into the soil. Very ecological, but not what we are looking for.
So, is it here?

No!
What about here?

Yes! This is where the tank is. We finally discovered part of the concrete top of the tank. All we have to do now is break into it, make sure it really is the septic tank, check it for roots etc, build a "chimney" up to soil level, and put an inspection lid on so it can be found easily in the future!