Step 12: Concrete slab

Salam and g'day everyone...

So now, we're getting to the last part of the foundation of the house. with the completion of this step, the foundation of the house is now completed and we're ready to move on to the next stage which is the pillars and other house structure in general.

So, for this step, the concrete is poured onto the water-proofed plastic and wire mesh layer; covering them. the full base of the house is now visible

As it turns out the concrete slab is incomplete yet. there's still the ground floor bathroom and the front porch not completed yet and they'll have to come later for this

Alrighty folks...laters

By way of (one more post to go) AAMMJ

Step 11: More groundworks...

Salam n g;day everyone...

Well there's heaps of stuffs going on the last few days..they're not very visible on the structure but each are of great importance to the functionality of the house. I'll try to summarise them below for easy reading:

1. Water proofing the ground beam: I've talked about this at some length in the previous post
2. Putting back the soil in between the ground beam. So, the floor is won't be concrete slab all the way through. Soil is put back filling the ground beam until about half and inch thick. Only the top half inch will be filled with concrete slab
3. Treating the soil with anti-termite pesticide. I was away when they do this...very unfortunate as I have no picture of this...so, just have to trust the contractor then
4. Putting a layer of water proofed plastic? so this is put on top of the soil in preparation for the concrete slab later on. This has an interesting function. The marble / tile / cement floor here tend to feel very cold at night. This is actually due to water from the ground seeps through to the floor therefore making the floor feel really cold on the feet. So, this is the reason for putting this plastic layer
5. Finally, steel mesh is put on top of the water proofing plastic. The steel mesh will give added strength to the concrete that will be poured in next

So, to conclude this post, let me show y'all 2 pics of item 4 & 5 above

By way of (this is starting to feel like a chore) AAMMJ

Step 10: Water proofing the ground beam

Salam n g'day everyone...

So, now, before moving onto the next stage of the construction, there's the important step of waterproofing the ground beam. This is done mainly to avoid water from seeping through the land through the ground beam concrete which will make it conducive for algal growth (as the pic i found in the internet below)

So, in order to avoid this, bitumen are spread onto the inner surface of the ground beam as they make it waterproof (see pics below...the black stuff is bitumen)

Rightio folks...later

By way of (getting tired...but still going) AAMMJ

Step 9: as the concrete solidifies...

Salam n g'day everyone

....wood casting are taken off. As can be seen in pics below

So not much is happening on the house now...and they're focusing on other items which i'll describe later on...till next time

By way of (still full from the steak lunch..huhu) AAMMJ

Step 8: laying the ground beams...pouring on the concrete

Salam n g'day everyone...

Wow!! by now, I've exceeded my own expectation in posting today...this is alot of posts already and I'm almost catching up to the real progress made in my house construction.

OK, now onto the main dish...I've taken pics below about a week ago..

You might notice that this is the 1st time in this blog that my post has workers on it!! it's a Saturday, so I'm not working :p. So, today's activities is still completing the ground beam, they're now pouring concrete onto the casing / mold.

How many workers are there? well, there are 5 of them working on the house including 1 supervisor but wait...

There's actually another person driving the lorry. So, that's make 6 of them altogether today

K, till next time

By way of (OK, should be my last post b4 going out to KL) AAMMJ

Step 7: Preparation for ground beams

Salam n g'day everyone..

Well, well well...
I tot that I'm going out to KL already...but seems that I have more time....(not easy having to dress up and prepare 2 young kids..)

The next step now that the foundation is in place really is to putting together the ground beams. Ground beams are horizontal beams that is used to make boundaries of the house, the rooms and other important features of the house. They're also made of concrete, therefore the workers took a few days to prepare the wood bracing / mold for the concrete. As per the foundation, the steel are also put in place in between the wood molding (see pics)

Now, we can already see the boundary of the building therefore, what I do after working hours (besides taking pics obviously) was to measure the house boundary and see if they're similar to the Plan. As it turns out, they're similar to the plan which is good

Till next time

By way of (Wonder if I have time for another one) AAMMJ