A couple projects around the house

After more thought, responses as well as the lovely wife's inputs I think the glass block is probably out. The view is quite nice from the rooftop area and it would really be a shame to hinder that.

cabb put forth a few ideas that we will have to look into. I guess my main thing is that I want whatever method to block wind and rain either when we are hanging out or if sideways rain is coming when not upstairs, is to look good both when in use and when stored.

Obviously I need to think more about this and am asking for more input as many folks have great ideas.

Thanks!

Shawn

 

It has been pretty slow rolling since I've been home; weather and finding workers has been a struggle. The excavation has been dug for the water collection system, the rebar cage is looking on its final stages, cement, sand and gravel have been ordered and delivered. The cement mixer is up and running as well as the water pump...still need to get the plate compacter running well...starts rough.

Set-up with the miter saw, table saw and the always handy circular saw so should be able to make the formwork.

Also plan to put in a small CR (6'X8' interior) next to the Nipa guest house; was not an issue before but we have someone staying there on a fairly regular basis so running into the house at night is a bit inconvenient.

Like I said a bit slow but expect things to be picking up in the next few days.

Shawn

 

Things have been slow as I only had 2 workers; as of yesterday I am up to 7 and will have them through Saturday so hopefully I will be able to get the rain water tank and the small CR done.

With that said, anything that could go wrong yesterday did. First our water pump finally succumbed to the elements and died. To bring it back we will need to order some spare parts, could not find a rental in Tanjay so off the wife went to Dumaguete to buy a new one for d*mn near 15K pesos.

After that delay we were getting ready to place concrete for the CR foundation and the cement mixer would not start. Fortunately the wife's BIL is a pretty good small engine guy and came over after work and got it running. The sun was down by the time we were ready to place concrete for the CR.

Tomorrow we will place concrete for the floor of the CR as well as the floor and wall of the rain water tank. After that we will form the top of the tank and the walls for the CR (I'm going all concrete...refuse to use the block here).

Shawn

 

Got the concrete placed for the CR floor and the floor and sides of the rain water collection tank today. We'll get going forming for the walls of the CR tomorrow.

Shawn

 

Me and the wife had to run to Dumaguete to extend my visa...another story... check on some materials and find out the status of the couch we are having made.

The amount of work completed when we got home was not enough so my lovely wife just about lost her mind and was ready to fire 4 of our workers...I had to calm her down and reiterate that we have had a hard time finding workers and we really needed them to place the last bit of concrete.

Her message must have been loud and clear as they stayed until around 2000 getting formwork done as we would like to place concrete tomorrow for the top of the rainwater collection tank and the CR walls. After that we can get by with 2-3 workers.

Shawn

 

Do you remove all the internal form work from the rain water collection tank or leave it in place after the concrete has been poured? I have often wondered about this as my old Dutch Boss in Oz removed all of the form work after his son and I hand dug underground water storage tanks for him that were 14' deep and 12' across internally. I have spoken to Papa regards this and he says it is fine to leave it, no need to climb in and remove all the timber, my thinking is it will rot, make the water taste bad and clog the pipes as it breaks down.

 

The internal formwork will be removed, though I will give the concrete a week to cure before pulling it out. There is quite a bit of timber used to support the top so I would not consider leaving it.

Shawn

 

Here are some pictures from yesterday. We will be forming the second half of the walls for the CR today and getting that concrete placed. Our husky decided to walk across the concrete for the rain water collection tank...decided to leave the paw prints.

Shawn

 

Got started on the formwork for the upper portion of the CR walls. Time consuming as it takes quite a bit of shoring in a very tight area, didn't help that the wife pulled half the workers to take out the dirty kitchen cabinets. We'll look at placing concrete next week.

I wanted some airflow for the little outdoor CR but really did not think glass windows were the right choice so we are going with those slanted blocks. Should provide some airflow without anyone using the toilet or shower worrying about anyone seeing them. We are forming openings like you would for windows. My plan is to only tile the floor of the CR, I'll grind down any high areas and apply a skim coat to the walls and paint.

I went with a mix ratio of 1-2-3 with the proper amount of water; the workers absolutely hate working with it as it is heavy but with the concrete vibrator we have not had issues with honeycombing (voids). It gives us the correct PSI for a concrete tank plus the strength needed for the CR since we went with 4" thick walls instead of 5". The CR has a pretty decent foundation plus it ties into the floor and into the walls, probably a bit overkill but I build stout structures.

Shawn

 

The past couple days have been slow with the weather, we should finish the formwork for the CR walls tomorrow and hopefully place concrete in the afternoon to finish that up.

Also pulled forms from the interior of the water collection tank...only been 5 days compared to the 7 I originally planned, but felt good with how concrete cures in this environment to pull them out.

Originally I only put in a culvert under the driveway and left the "drainage ditch" as pretty much it was; the wife wants a concrete ditch in front of the house which will give her some space next to the exterior fence to put some plants. So a couple of the workers are digging things out. She has a plan so she gets to run with it.


Shawn