Tag: concrete

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Plastering, plastic and patience

The last few weeks have been great. Well that’s a lie. They’ve been ok. I have now entered the phase that should really be contractually accompanied with at least four therapy sessions.

For someone who has a problem deciding on exactly what colour toothpaste to buy, the idea of choosing an entire house of objects and colours leaves me overwhelmed – and completely excited!

The plastering has started – walls are now being smoothed over leaving large areas of colour decisions. My door and window frames started suffering from all the plaster work and I have now insisted on all of the wood being covered – tape and plastic now protect the Iroko frames as the plastering continues.

I have also changed my mind about 1 or 2 things including the addition of TV and extra power points in the two bedrooms. We have also knocked down the concrete bench and are  re-building it at a lower height – it was built too high.

This week sees the first test installation of the glazing around the clear layer of the house – Craig from Glassmen in Cape Town has been the go-to guy on all the glazing and has been great. This also means that I have to make my final colour decision on the steel posts and I-Beam.

I have finally signed for and bought the small strip of land that lies next to my erf – this means I gain about 30m2 of garden area. It also means a slight re-design of my entrance area and gate –  another council submission and more planning.

The question most commonly being asked is when will I move in – the answer is unclear – hopefully by the beginning of next year.

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Roof, plumbing, bench etc

The last few weeks have been quite trying. Between working to pay for the house and the multitude of decisions to be made I might have aged a bit.

I have been shooting for the last week which was preceded by two weeks of prepping a rather large job – this meant that any progress decisions on my house had to be taken quickly. So far so good.

The cisterns are all in place. I used a company called Flush Bathrooms in Paarden Eiland for my sanitary-ware. I have used them before when I renovated my house in Bo-Kaap – they carry most ranges – from cheap and standard to ludicrously expensive. They are professional and helpful and more importantly, price competitive.

My roof is almost done. I went with a charcoal grey for the main structure as it seemed the obvious colour to match up with its background, Table Mountain. I also re-looked the bracing between the steel posts and the new bracing looks much better.

The concrete bench in the main bedroom/balcony has been cast and the room is starting to take shape. Door frames have arrived and are waiting to be installed.

The next week brings many admin hours with it – I have been consumed with work for the last few weeks and so I have had to let certain admin issues slip.

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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.

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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.