Final Slab

It’s been a few weeks since the last update. Bedroom 2 has started taking shape and the walls have gone up.

The last few weeks have been spent prepping the final slab for the main bedroom. The slab also forms the ceiling of the lounge & dining area.

The usual steel and conduiting was laid. There have been many decisions regarding lighting and electrical points as most of these have to be cast into the slab. There were some oversights in the last slab that will have to be corrected – additional lights will need to be core drilled into the slab.

Plumbing has also been a discussion and wether to lay water pipes into the slab or not was a debate between plumber and engineer, engineer triumphing.

The steel I-beams have been installed and the slab rests on a series of steel posts that rise from both the I-beams and the walls. The only  problem that we foresee is the positioning of the glass on the I-beams. There is very little tolerance where the glass passes the posts, exasperated by the welding joints that make it difficult to place any brackets around that area.

Hopefully the glazing guys will be able to figure that one out.

The slab was poured today – another sunny winters day – and it all went really well. This slab was probably the most tricky part in the design and construction process of my home.

Pouring the Foundations

After a few emergency engineering drawings and some scratching of heads, the foundations are being poured.

The fact that my property is approx 1.5m higher than my neighbour’s means that I have to get my foundations down to a level below their’s. This means my foundations are now about 1.9m deep.

The soil test results varied  – in some places it was good while in others additional support in the foundations was needed. The engineer made the following observations in relation to the complexity of the foundations.

a) The proximity of the neighbours lower level structures to the new structures

b) The fact that the neighbours retaining wall is not common, thus all new structures must be independent.

c) The existence of an old swimming pool which intersects the new foundations and thus introduces foundation and ground slab bridging complexities.

d) Subsoil and surface drainage issues.

It has all been taken into account and I will now have rock solid foundations and a slightly emptier wallet.