San Felipe Life

Roof Structure

Last week, the major roof beams were constructed. Smaller beams, made off-site, were now spanned across these.

They were all tied together with the rebar embeded in them and the rebar in the main beams and around the edge, plus additional rebar added along each beam, creating a complex interlinked structure.

Internally, the roof beams were supported by wooden props.

Insulation

Polystyrene blocks were inserted between and above the smaller beams.

The beams were spaced at exactly the right distance so that the polystyrene blocks were a snug fit.

Rebar for the future roof walls was added around the edge, and carefuly tied to the structure.

At this stage, wiring and plumbing for the air conditioning mini-split was also added, with channels cut in the polystyrene. This will mean less wires and pipes cluttering the roof surface later.

Pouring the roof

Finally, the day of the roof pour arrived.

Unusually, the day started out dull with a trace of rain. This was ideal weather for pouring, although later it got warmer.

The beach umbrella in the sand was to keep it dry, but there was almost no rain.

For a larger project, the concrete truck with a delivery pump would be used. but for a project this small with difficult access it was not really practical.

So concrete was mixed on site with an electric mixer, and delivered to the roof via a human chain of barrows and buckets.

Lunch was early on the day of the pour, as it would need many hours of continous effort to pour the roof.

The earlier thunder and lightning stopped, allowing the pouring to go ahead. (a roof with lots of rebar is not an ideal location in a thunderstorm!).

Concrete Vibrator

Around the edges and the top of the columns, it's important that the concrete goes right inside these areas.

Octavio used a concrete vibrator for this, as that allows a firmer (stronger) concrete mix to be used.

The vibrator pushes the concrete very rapidly, from a distance it looks like an air jet is pushing the concrete.

Smooth Finish

The roof concrete was finished off by hand, in the same way the the floor below was finished.

The next day, a sealant was added across the whole of the concrete. There will be other layers of waterproofing, but the additional sealant at this stage will help if those ever fail.

Wall

Before and after the roof pour, work continued on the perimeter wall, which has now reached its final height. By the end of the week, the first coat of plaster had gone on.

The vertical flat areas visible in the photo are used as guides for the second coat.

Although part of the wall will be a retaining wall (ground level higher on one side), both sides of the wall are plastered to the base in case landscaping ever changes the ground level.

A lot of water was run down and inside the wall the following day, to keep the blocks moist so that the plaster sticks better, especially in the long term.

What's ahead

Now that the roof has been completed, future progress will not look as dramatic.

But lots of internal features will be added in the coming weeks, as well as the external stairs, roof walls and further work on the perimeter wall. ..