Chip and Clada Self-Portrait

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                                   Building Our House in the Caribbean

                                                                             Step 5 - Gray Water Cistern and Pumproom


           
We are officially building!   In less than a week, we're ready for our first concrete pour.....but it's a 2-week wait for concrete.....



                                              THE SITE IS LAID OUT                                                                                   FOOTINGS ARE DUG

    Site Laid Out  Site Laid Out2                     Footings1 




                  FORMS GO IN                                                   STEEL IS BENT                             THE GROUND IS TREATED FOR TERMITES
                                                                                                                                                              AND VISQUINE IS LAID DOWN   
    Forms1            Bending Steel              Visquine



      THE STEEL CAGES ARE BUILT AND THEN TIED TOGETHER, THEN STEEL FOR THE WALLS AND  WATERSTOP IS INSTALLED                                                                                                                                                                              
      Steel Cage Rebar Tied Rebar for Walls  Waterstop                                                                                                           

     ... AND WE'RE READY TO POUR CONCRETE                                     JOSEPH IS OUR BUILDER AND THIS IS HIS TEAM!
         FOR THE GRAY WATER CISTERN AND PUMPROOM
         FOOTINGS

              Ready to Pour                                        Building Team
                                                                                                                                               
Joseph, Sylvan, Gus, and Richard


                                                                                                                                       
THEN THE CONCRETE WAS POURED!

                                              Steel in Place                   Concrete Cometh   



                                                         Chip had a new penny, which he tossed into the first pour!  Got concrete?  Yeah--so far so good!


                                                  New Penny              Chip Tosses


NEXT, THE TEAM INSTALLED THE INTERIOR WALLS, TIED THE REBAR TOGETHER AND INSTALLED THE EXTERIOR WALLS.

                 Walls Go Up  Clada Ties Wire  Steel Cage2
                                                                                      Clada helps out--but mostly stays out of the way!


                                     Walls Braced    Outside Walls Go Up    cistern walls completed
                                                        We're ready for concrete...but the plant is broken down so we wait...and wait....and wait....

    THREE DAYS AFTER IT WAS SCHEDULED, LATE IN THE AFTERNOON, THE CONCRETE TRUCK FINALLY ARRIVES!

concrete arrives   trent pumps    concrete flows

                             concrete pumped  team effort
                                                 It is a team effort to drag a hose filled with cement around narrow, high walls


                            
gus and sylvan vibrate     truck2
                               Gus and Sylvan vibrate the concrete as it is poured              We were happy when the last truck arrived!

                                 THE WALL FORMS ARE REMOVED AND CONSTRUCTION STARTS ON THE CEILING

forms removed   ceiling constructed   ceiling constructed2   ceiling constructed 3

ceiling constructed 4   steel epoxied   steel tied   cistern cover installed


                                     THEN, PLUMBING AND ELECTRICAL CONDUIT IS INSTALLED

           plumbing goes in                 glenmore installs conduit                 
And next we wait for concrete.....

But this time, not for long....


                                                       AND  THE CEILING IS POURED!

Pumproom ceiling3   Pumproom Ceiling2   Pumproom ceiling

                                     WE HAVE OUR FIRST STRUCTURE--IT NOW LOOKS LIKE WE'RE BUILDING


                                                                          cistern lid done

                              And THIS LEVEL SERVES AS THE STARTING POINT FOR THE HOUSE FOUNDATION....

                        drain installed  Clada installs drain 
                                  Clada started the burying process and installed a french drain for water run-off
                                           


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