We fly back to the island on Monday 15th May. The plataforma is finished. We can 'walk' around the house, imagining wandering through the front door, down to the living room, out to the porch and terrace overlooking the sea. The place looks enormous, but I assume that when walls go up it will look smaller.
I lay the cornerstone on 18 May.
This is what we found when we arrived back on May 15th.
The plataforma concrete is set, concrete blocks have been delivered.
Proud owner stands in the Guest Wing.
View from the north-west corner.
View from the east, looking west at the Med.
Over the next two weeks, the walls start rising and rooms take shape. The wall locations are marked up, damp membrane goes on, and the first row of concrete blocks is laid. We had to build a concrete layer on the base of the upper level so that blocks would fit with the lower level, but apart from that it was just a question of putting up lego blocks. The blocks are 20 x 40 x 20 cms. Many have to be cut with an angle-grinder. Cement is mixed onsite and wheel-barrowed over. Pallets of blocks are delivered as needed.
Marking up the wall locations.
Damp membrane.
Eric lays the cornerstone, and makes a silly face.
First row of wall blocks.
As the walls grow to each multiple of 4 rows,
the vertical steel rods are concreted in and new rods wired on.
Guest wing taking shape.
Guest wing looking south to living room and master bedroom beyond.
Now we can really 'walk' through the house.
Living room. The yellow column will support the main pine beam.
Master bathroom.
Guest wing (north-west corner)
Concrete levelling of upper level.
Six rows up.
Living room. More blocks delivered.
West facade at the end of May.
The other big job during these two weeks was building the pool and cistern. Reinforced concrete floors for both, then reinforced concrete walls. All steelwork is built onsite.
Cistern reinforced concrete floor is in, now wall reinforcement is being built.
Flamen fixing rubber base membrane to ensure seal between floor and walls.
Lowering steel shuttering panels for cistern walls.
Shuttering finished.
Running special glue to ensure bonding of new concrete to existing floor.
Concrete mixer.
Pouring concrete for cistern walls.
Big vibrator gets air out and settles concrete into shuttering.
The finished product. Well, nearly. There is more to do.
Note inlet pipes on left wall.
Building wood roof on cistern, to support reinforced concrete roof.
This wood will of course be removed when the roof is set.
Roof steel and concrete blocks set in, shuttered and ready for concrete roof.
Next week...
Pool steelwork for floor being built.
Pool overflow on right.
Pool steelwork
Main pool outlet pipe in place,
and below, overflow basin return pipe being set in.
Concrete being craned in.
Pool floor
Pool floor
Pool floor levelling, angling and smoothing. Laser is used to get angles right.
Final touches.
Finished pool floor. Now needs waterproofing, then tiling.
Machine room base.
Machine room base.
Pool and machine room floors are set. Now start on pool walls.
Much more steel. The walls are 30 cm reinforced concrete.
Start shuttering pool walls. More next week.
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