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Friday, 29 August 2014

Progress Friday 29th August

The roof and all its layers are in place. Barge boards and gutters will be installed shortly
The roof and all its layers is in place.
The walls have been given a skin of Rhinolite.

That means that a lot of tasks can begin on Monday.

On Monday all of the machines in my workshop will be installed in the house so that I can complete the interior carpentry in short order. On Monday we also install the windows.

This gives you some idea of what the vaulted ceiling will look like.
The Area above this wall will be clad with dry walling. The wall has been given a coat of Rhinolite.


All of the walls have been skimmed with Rhinolite

Thia will become a walk in closet hopefully during the next week 

Tuesday, 26 August 2014

Raising the roof

Most of the cement ceiling panels are in place

The bedroom wing
The roof is almost done.
It consists of several layers.

Layer 1
Concrete 9mm ceiling boards are nailed to the trusses. We pre-painted the ceiling  boards on one side to make the final painting less of a hassle.


Layer 2
Then purlins are nailed to the trusses through the ceiling boards and a 70mm thick insulating blanket is laid between the purlins.

Layer 3  
On top of all that is laid a layer of sisalation which acts as a vapour barrier and has insulating properties as well.


Layer 4
Finally the layers are covered with Chromadek sheeting which has the colour of the roof (dove grey) baked into the surface of the metal. A capping piece is fixed to the apex of the roof.

Gives one an idea of what it will look like from the inside
The importance of completing the roof is that most of the interior works can be multi-tasked.

We will also be able to install the Solar Geyser and Solar power panels.

The next two weeks should be quite eventful.
This in not an old man,s Meccano set. It will become a Battery Rack for the deep cycle batteries







Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Andy you can let go now the cement has dried.




Andy can you hold that beam up until mid August?

And the beams go up.

Beams viwed from west side.
The Beams for the vvaulted ceiking above the great room are mostly in place and the steel holding plates are being attached.
The trusses in the bedroom portion of the house are in place. SWMBO would like conventional ceilings in the bedroom wing -  who am I to resist - so I have changed the plans accordingly.
Beams over the bedroom / bathroom part of the house.

The fossil ramp which doubles as David's BMX course






Wednesday, 13 August 2014

A brainwave for the dressing room

The prices of cheap and nasty melamine cupboards for the dressing room cupboards are over the top.
So I had a brainwave and why not use steel filing cabinets instead of the standard drawers in our dressing room and fix the hanging rails to a 500mm bulkhead that runs across the dressing room walls?
So off we went to a place in the boondocks that sells second hand office furniture

And this is what we came up with instead .......
The unit is 113cm wide and about 90cm tall. The interior frame is steel and the drawers are industrial strength bearing mounted telescopic runners.
There is quite a bit of storage space in each drawer and the plan is to custom fit each drawer using 6mm pine plywood.
Even SWMBO is chuffed.
We bought two units - one for each side at R950 each
The total cost of the dressing room is reduced from R20 000 to under R5 000 and the Quality of the end product is far superior.

Tuesday, 12 August 2014

Fossilpad Progress 12th August

One of the beams made by stitching two IPE140 sections together.
Last week we laid a 50mm screed to cover the interior of the house and also the 25mm conduit piping at foundation level. The openings have all been measure for shop front grade aluminium door and windows.

And we constructed brick formers for the ramp and Patio Stairs.

Trusses and timbers that have been sanded and varnished
All of the items for the roof except the Chromadek sheets have arrived and are scattered over Debby's lawn where the items have been sanded and painted.

Two rather hefty looking steel beams have been fabricated and later on today we will fix them in place ready to support the trusses and cathedral ceiling.

Yesterday all of the components for the Solar Power system arrived and all storage places including my workshop are piled to the rafters.

The Ramp leading to the entrance

More timber - not too many planks to sand and varnish
Some of the sealed and painted Nutec cement boards that will be used in the ceilings


Garage 12 metres deep filled with bulkheads, tiles, electronic gizmos.
 
Some of the 14 Photovoltaic panels






Friday, 1 August 2014

Totally Plastered



 The walls have been plastered completely with the exception of the window and door reveals (These are plastered after the door and windows are fixed. The gables are plastered when the roof trusses are in place.

The roof trusses have arrived and consist of some large laminated pine beams. The roof goes up on Tuesday.