Well this was the first of many learning and challenging experiences for all who will be taking part.
Today I started off with painting vanish on the timber wood. We used an oil based vanish which was pro-nature based. Thus protecting the wood from the elements such as wind, waterproofing and also from breaking easily. We had to apply three coats on all sides for each timber beam. One coat, allow 12hrs to dry then apply the next etc.
OBSERVATION ON SITE: today we finished up digging and setting out the holes for the foundations of the gum pole columns. The foundation was 800x800x800mm. The 150mm gum poles were inserted in the centre.
I observed that the site was set out using some type of rope, this I will ask later. The formwork was made up of timber beams to hold up the gum poles.
-crushed rocks and put in to the foundations as primary compaction.
- Added rubble= from demolished structures etc.
- The poured concrete, readymade, ratio= large rocks in the concrete- this is due to the looseness of the soil on site.
The fire place= we opened it and turned it around so that it may be outside and opened to the structure that we are building. Then we closed it off on the inside by starting to build a wall. This fire place is now turned into a braai space.
SITE SET OUT
After lunch we had a quick lesson of the site set out and how it is generally done in a typical build construction.
- Fix point to start and create a straight line(- - - - )
- Then made a right angle (3, 4, 5 triangle) this is to be able to find a right angle and a starting point for all other measurements.
- For the height reference pole, the main pole needs to be cemented into the NGL and only removed after construction is finished. This datum pole is to line up the different heights.
This day I learnt more about concrete and lime.
- Lime takes a longer period to harden (example: the London bridge build of lime) yet concrete takes longer thus will deteriorate quicker, which it does after it has hardened.
- Concrete is more natural than lime as concrete also contains parts of lime.
- Spoke more about the components of lime yet did not understand therefore will have to learn more.
Water pump = measuring correct vertical levels using gravity of water- most correct as it works with gravity.
TEAM WORK OBSERVATIONS: today I learnt that working in a group needs to be organized and be about the team working together the same goal. In the group that I was working in today, we came up with a system of painting and drying which worked very well for us as we managed to paint a large amount of timber. We worked and the job was done well, in time and we had fun.
UnTiL nExT tImE...!!!
