Adding the second floor!
As of the day this post was written, construction has been going on for ten weeks. In this time a lot of progress has been made. I am very happy with the progress and the quality of construction. The thing that has me even more impressed is the amount of labor that is being used on this build. The only heavy equipment that was used is when the original building on site was knocked down. All of the lifting and moving of materials has been done by hand. The other large equipment is the cement mixers and pumpers. Those two pieces are essential for a proper build.
Now the balconies are defined.
As the masons are laying the block the electrician and plumbers are adding the ruff in work. In the picture you can see how the drain pipes are in place for the next story. As they build up they add more tube and for electric, water and sewer. They also raise the rebar columns . The purpose for the the p.v.c. tubing for the electrical wires is so there will always be a path, or a way to pull in more wires if needed. As each floor is constructed all the mechanicals are done at the same time. This speeds up the building process very much and I believe makes for a better product in the end.
Also in this picture you can see how they are framing out for the headers across the front door nd windows. The way this is constructed is to create a rebar column and frame it in horizontally . This supports and redistributes the weight above the windows and doors to the columns on either side of the openings. After this is done the framing is added for the next floor. After the wood is in place rebars is added and wired together in a grid pattern and wired to the vertical columns. This ties the building together to form one structure . After the rebar is installed the electricians and plumbers install the tubes for the electrical wiring, water and sewer lines. This really speeds up the pace of construction.
After all the prep work is done a cement truck and a pumper truck arrive on site to fill the form in with concrete. This takes a day and its great to see the building take shape. The laying of brick for each floor takes about a week. The framing and preparation for the next floor takes longer. All the rebar gets bent and cut on site. It really is a sight to see. Then as the floor is being poured the masons have a viberator to work the concrete into the bottom of the forms and to remove any air pockets .
View of the new second floor.
On my Facebook page John Kumpel or Casa De Compai I have lots of videos showing the progress! Thanks for reading!
