Pipes and Plaster

The walls have been chased and all electrical conduits and water pipes are in place. Tomorrow the gas man is coming to add the pipe for the gas stove. Meanwhile we are plastering all of the walls.

I have also finished making 12 600mm bulkheads which go along the east and west walls of the living room (pics in next post). (Joined together)
Along the tops of both these we will run LED Strips for ambient lighting and also led strips on the underside of the west bulkhead.
Along the bottom of the east bulkhead we will add adjustable LED down lighters because that is where our few pictures will be mounted.

More lighting will be mounted on the Tie-beams in the rafters.

Notwithstanding the increased capital cost of LED lights quite an economical solution.

And early next week the Roof Trusses and Chromadek should arrive.

Washing Machine and Spin Drier go here

Fortune plastering an inside wall

He obviously likes plastering

Look carefully and you will see chicken mesh nailed around the openings

And a substantial pillar to hold the two 140 mm I Beams

The Brickie's Party

A lunchtime braai to celebrate the completion of the gables. In case you are wondering why David is in the picture - he qualifies on the basis of having laid a row of bricks.

Now for the creative part

B

The Solar Power Control and Battery room

By tomorrow lunch time Gibson's team will have added the gables and all the walls will have been chased and the electrical conduits will have been fixed into the cavities. We will be having a party to celebrate the progress

 What follows is

• The Roof trusses are fixed in place
• The Chromadek roof, Sisalation, 100 mm insulation plus ceiling board forms the roof
• A screed 50mm is laid in the interior
• The structure is plastered inside and out
• By this time the Chief Fossil will have completed the manufacture of the living room bulkheads
• The house is wired and the LED Strips, Down lights and Ceiling Panels are installed together with the outside strip lights.
• Alumininum Windows and panels are fitted
• Floors are tiled
• The Shower and Vanity and Toilet are added.
• The Kitchen is installed together with back splash
• Solar Panels are fixed to the roof and wired into the Gizmo Room 
• The Main Gizmo is as attached to the main circuit board and the batteries should begin charging and there should be 220V ac at the main board.
• Yours truly fits out the dressing room
• Water Plumbing and Gas and sewerage is connected
• Balustrades are added to the Wrap around porch (need to manufacture these first)
• Steps and ramps are added
• A drain is built around the South and East perimeter of the house

If we have any money left clear guard shutters are added (a kind of stainless steel insect screen with intruder proof properties)

Sounds like a lot of work and I am sure that there are items I have omitted.

Andy can you hold that beam up until mid August?

Gables are about to be added

Chasing the walls in the small study/library

Gable on West Side Completed

Kitchen - Installation 2nd Week in august

Here are several views of the final kitchen. Now that we have the walls up we we able to get exact measurements.
The kitchen cabinets are made from solid Canadian Maple and fabricated in China. All drawers are soft closing. The price including installation was actually about 20% less expensive that Melamine units and I would have to do the installation.
We have chosen a darker stain on the doors and side panels to those shown in the pictures.

Up to roof height

Next step is to build the gables allowing for glass panels above the lounge windows.
Considering using glass brick as an alternative to these as they would be more energy efficient.

And the walls go up

All of the exterior walls are insulated with 50mm  Polystyrene in the cavity. 
Trouble is that cavity walls are tied together with brick force  which prevent you filling the cavity with large sheets of polystyrene. We resolved the problem by having the polystyrene cut to 340mm sheets  which is exactly the distance between the layers of brickforce.
So there are no are gaps and the cavity fits  snug as a bug in a rug. At this rate we will be able to get the truss manufacturers to take exact measurements for the roof  trusses by Monday morning.

        

The floorplan is being translated onto the plinth

By the end of tomorrow we will have all the walls up to 4 bricks high and I will be able to show you the floor plan translated onto the plinth. And the internal walls should also be completed.

With the walls its Plan B

As my friend Guy remarked "there is margin in mystique". 

The steel framing method where a mobile factory and arrives on site and extrudes all the sections in a day may be the best way to go overseas but locally the contractors are killing the market with ridiculous pricing.








So plan be is to build a cavity brick wall with a 50mm cavity and pour the insulation into the cavity as the building goes up. The product (Thermopour) comes in 100 litre bags and is mixed like cement.

Completed plinth

Fritz has arrived with his dirty great mobile concrete pump. 15 cubic metres of concrete was pumped and leveled in about an hour.  The plinth is reasonably level you can see some low spots in the picture. Possibly we will use some self leveling screed to even this out although the modern tile glue will enable us to ensure a level surface.

Next step is to erect the steel skeleton and roof so that framing and cladding can begin.

In the meantime we are plastering the plinth and designing ramps and rockeries and soil retaining features  that will lower the profile of the plinth on the west and north sides  And of course shaping the bank behind the house.