Now that the base slab for the top floor is complete and the concrete is curing, they are starting to shape the soil to turn the hill the house is on into a series of terraces.
Starting to Move and Level Soil Click Image to Enlarge
My favorite view of the work is the one below, that shows the finished top floor base slab and the view, with the digging equipment up the hill from the front of the house.
Looking at the ground floor columns and this base slab reinforces [pun intended] my security in the strength of the construction.
Completed Ground Level Structure Click Image to Enlarge
The remainder of the pictures from today show some of the heavy work relocating soil from in front to behind the house to make the terrace levels.
(I’m not quite sure what the reinforcing steel bars shown in the last photos are for. I’m sure we’ll find out in the coming days.)
While searching for something else, I came across the first email Kevin sent that proposed that we build new rather than buy an existing house and improve it.
This email came as we were trying to firm up what houses we’d see on our June 2016 trip.
He eased into it …
Thinking about this completely differently.
Then he proposed his alternative. He was right that we were expecting that we’d have to do some work, but we weren’t looking for a complete restoration …
Instead of spending all or most of the budget and given that you are open to a project requiring some work, we approach this completely differently.
Here’s the pitch …
Attached is an article set to appear in ITALIA MAGAZINE. The subject is right-sized houses. Places that are done in a smaller overall volume but deliver all the beauty and function of larger houses, WITHOUT the cost and maintenance. There’s a house, CASA IDEALE, with great views, privacy, proximity to town, an open plan architecture and three spacious bedrooms, all done in a roughly 140 sqm format for around €300k. It’s even designed so if it’s just two people, they can live entirely on the ground floor. Projected construction time is 10-12 months. I attach the designs.
And his close …
This sort of approach could be excellent.
Advertorial Click to Enlarge
Now, it turns out that the “article” was really advertorial, but the idea was a sound one. I was trying to keep the size of the house and the cost down.
Since our spec list really focused on buying an existing house in pretty good shape and doing only minor improvements, I might have rejected the idea out of hand if I hadn’t worked with Kevin in 2015. I felt he had a good sense of what we wanted and what was available.
The size and floorplan referred to in the article aren’t very close to the plan we are building today, but we did bite on his concept. And here we are, not with Casa Ideale, but our own Casa Avventura.
The concrete crane is here to distribute the concrete. It gets a supply of concrete from a truck that sits behind it and pipes it up to the top floor.
Concrete Crane and Truck Click to Enlarge
Before the concrete trucks arrived, a first step was to lay a grid of rebar on top of the Poroton blocks that was tied into the rest of the rebar. Here’s a picture of the grid in place, after they had started the pour.
Grids on Top of Poroton Blocks Click to Enlarge
This shot shows the strength of the perimeter rebar that ties the grid together.
Earlier this week they started putting the pieces in place to create the reinforced concrete slab that acts essentially as the ceiling of the ground floor and the floor of the top floor. This slab, which is 25cm (10in) thick, is supported at the edges and around the stairway cavity by 40cm (16in) thick beams, giving us confidence that the house can survive the earthquakes which will inevitably happen.
A key component in the construction of this slab are the Poroton blocks. These are sort of like cinder blocks, but made of clay: strong, with an internal cross structure, like a honeycomb but with square rather than hexagonal cells. Here’s a picture with the block enlarged:
Poroton Block Close-Up Click to Enlarge
Another thing I like in this photo: it shows our driveway with the olive trees on the side.
In the picture below, they have nearly completed putting the Poroton blocks in place. Soon, the whole layer of rebar and Poroton will be ready to be encased in concrete.
Top Floor Base Ready to Pour Click to Enlarge
Finally, this picture highlights the stairway cavity and shows how the structural columns are closer together, so this opening doesn’t create an earthquake risk.
Closely-Spaced Columns Around Stairway Cavity Click to Enlarge
There has been a lot of progress during the past two days and we have the photos to prove it.
The first step was to start adding the composite panels that form the underlay of the ceiling. They also provide thermal and acoustical insulation. The lower surface is a bit rough, giving some texture to the ceiling. (I thought the ceiling would be plastered, but apparently the paint goes right on this surface.)
Here are pictures of the panels in place, from above and below.
Ceiling Underlay Nearly Complete on One Side Ceiling Underlay, Beams, and Supports
The next step was to start installing the horizontal rebar cages that will tie together the structural columns. In these two pictures, you can see the cages being placed, and the tied into the column rebar and to the beams which are lagged into the connection. These will all be encased in concrete.
Rebar Cage Placement Linking the Rebar Together
Final step for today was to begin installation of Poroton blocks. These are a special type of clay blocks that are insulating and very strong. They are part of the anti seismic structure and will be linked with the rest of the structure in the coming days.
