Stepping Up

We were hoping that the first floor slab would be cast this week but that is not to be.  The necessary equipment has been booked for Monday afternoon though, so perhaps it’ll finally happen then.  A visit to the site this afternoon showed lots of action, although we suspect that the last week has been a case of two steps forward and one or two back. On our last visit we thought all the lintels had been laid, but we found the whole building team engaged in re-positioning them over the livingroom today.

It’s an interesting experience arriving on the site unannounced.  The foreman was nowhere to be seen and the men were working under the guidance of Alfred, the ‘boss builder’.  They acknowledged us briefly and kept going.  Conversation was animated and loud and not for the first time, I really wished I could understand even a little of what they were talking about.  I felt reasonably sure it had nothing to do with either the house or us, the onlookers.  I caught the word “Bafana” (our national football team) a few times and had the feeling there was a spirited debate on the go as to whether they were likely to win their next match or not.  Zulu seems to be the main language used, although I know there are men on the site from Swaziland and Lesotho as well, so it is a melting pot of cultures and language. Whatever it is, everyone always seems happy. Which is fortunate.  It could be a dangerous setting for tribal clashes.

View from the driveway. Retaining wall around the cottage on the right.

We couldn’t quite work out what the conveyor belt was for and were not up to the linguistic challenge of trying to find out.

Eventually this will be the driveway.

It’s still quite difficult  to navigate the site and I have put off even thinking about landscaping for a while.

Conveyor Belt?

It was a nice surprise to see the staircase starting to take shape.  It will be cast in cement but will be finished in wood.

This is taken through the ‘staircase window’ to be.

It’s a little difficult to see, but the dark patch on the left is the first flight of stairs and the wooden crossbeam is where the landing will be.

Better view of stair structure taken from inside.

Garage Stairs as taken 10 days ago.

Below is a close up view of the stairs leading to the suite of rooms above the garage.  In this picture you can see the doorway into what will be a toilet and wash basin (sink) specifically for the use of outside or casual workmen. This staircase is now complete and today, for the first time, I was able to get up to the first floor level of the garage where the guest suite or staff room will be.

Door to Outside Bathroom.

Looking Down from the Top of the Garage Stairs.

The photo above shows the compacted earth forming what will be the ground floor of the cottage.  Hopefully it will not rain before Monday and the slab will be thrown over it, along with the upstairs slab in the main house.

Lintels over the Livingroom.

The heavy wooden beams – which you can see in this picture – are positioned beneath the concrete lintels to prevent them from sagging when the concrete is poured.  The metal poles keep the planks in place.  Once the concrete has been poured (hopefully on Monday) it will be left to set and only after that will the wood be removed.  We are having a combination of wooden floors, fitted carpeting and tiles upstairs, all of which will be laid on a concrete base.  This is a fairly typical way of building a double-storey house in South Africa.