4 years of work

Over the last few days we have slowly been putting on the concrete render of the wall by the entrance.  It has taken a while to get this far. First the roof to the water tank was added.  then we built the wall round the edge. and now all it needs is a lick of paint. The photo below shows how it looked 4 years ago and how it is now.

Block up

Just a few blocks added here and there today.

First a few blocks go on to form the wall of the vent hut.

The another couple go on to bring the steps up a little, now this is ready to make the base of the small recess in the back of the steps which will house the valves for the watering.

A better photo of the wall that I mentioned earlier.

Venting

One of the little jobs that had to be completed before the painting of the walls could continue was what we call the “vent hut”. On the roof we have always had this little  square block and underneath was a circular hole which we believed was for a heater before the hole was made in the wall to connect the kitchen and the rest of the house.  Our intention is to use this to make a ventilation system to help keep the house cool in the summer.

Helen through the hole.

once the cover was removed from the top and with a board placed below it was time to insert the pipes that will handle the air extraction, the water feed up to the solar hot water heater that will be fitted one day, and control and power cables.

Then we built a wooden frame to make the base.

Fill with concrete and job is done for today. But there was time just to finish off a few little other jobs, like prepare the wall of the bathroom ready for the render. The blue is a mesh which is fixed on the wall to help the render stick and not crack.

A Step in the right direction

Work still continues on the step extension and the lower patio. we’ve put a few more of the blocks on to bring it up to the level where we can think about putting in the all important first step, but we have now run out of big blocks.

The blocks laid and ready to get in filled both in front and behind.

The whole ramp can now be in filled up to the height.

And with the left over material finished off rendering the inside edge of the roof.

Curves

Finally got the curve finished on the top of the bathroom roof parapet. Following the curve that was drawn on the wooden board at the back it was just a matter of building it up with rocks and cement

Now that Does Look Good

With all the roofs clean its time to paint them with waterproof paint. Not much to to say a bout doing it. But I do have one observation:  Once you have painted the roof you need to keep a good eye on it, as if any small holes appear then they need to be patched quickly as water can collect under the paint and WILL soak  through the roof.

But it does look nice when it is done, and the walls have been painted!

Kitchen end of roof, and entrance way

Main roof all red

There´s a Hole in my Roof… Somewhere

When it rains hard the old kitchen roof leeks. But I am not sure where the hole or crack is, so it is time to do some remedial work on it.

The first job was to clean off all the old paint, there was not much of it, and any lose cement etc. Once that was done I put down some new mortar to fill in the holes.

Patching and cleaning done. Back of kitchen roof.

And the other side.

Once this is dry I will wash it over with a cement and water mix to seal all the small cracks. Then after a week or so it can be painted.