The House in September

At the start of the month we were here. The basic framework was in place, and the we had a first floor, floor.

By the middle of the month we had the framework growing upstairs and pillars marking the boundaries of the property.
By the month end we had the pillars and beams upstairs, the walls finished downstairs, a balcony, window frames appearing and a perimeter wall and fence.

Creating the framework for the beams on the first floor. Rose sits in what will one day be her kitchen. We can also see the hole that will we hope be the entrance to our basement.

Here we see the sewer pipes waiting to be laid. This area will be the utility room for washing clothes, ironing, and cleaning. Looking down inside the house from what will be our bedroom you can see there are no floors as yet. The ramp that will be the stairs is being used already. Upstairs the scaffolding is everywhere as the pillars and beams are erected.

Once the pillars and beams are in place the walls are added and the scaffolding removed.

Here we see the first sewage pipes in place. Upstairs the doorframes are stacked up ready to fit and in the kitchen tiles, toilets, and mandis await their turn.

On the back wall of what will be the main room the men start to piece together a wall carving.

The House in August

Before the concrete for the first floor could be poured we needed water, lots of water. So with the aid of a lot of buckets and a lot of people we got water from the drainage ditch and put it into water tanks near the front of the house. For the operation we hired a cement mixer and operator.

With the mixer running the bucket chain was formed passing the concrete from hand to hand from the mixer up to the first floor. This was an all day operation.

This was the view upstairs about midday.








Finally late in the evening the job was done. After a few days the surface was patched and tidied up. Now I began to appreciate for the first time how high up our house is.









Then the framework for the stairs was created and a first foundation of concrete was laid.