We came down the following morning to check the slab and find that it has hardened sufficiently to go down for a closer inspection. Putting the laser level on points across the slab make me feel better about the exploits the previous day, as we are generally only 2-3mm out…
The day has finally arrived to pour the concrete slab and we went out early to check all the levels again. All appears to be fine and nothing has moved. Two pumps arrived on ahead of schedule and the drivers we both excellent and helpful. However, the self-placing (beton autoplaçant)…
Two more rows of L-Shaped rebar have been installed to accommodate the shallow end and slope. We have chosen to make single level slab for the main pool basin, which should allow us to make the block-work wall more easily than trying to create different levels, with slopes between them….
Ensuring a good connection between the slab and walls is critical for structural integrate. We have chosen to connect these two components together by 60x60cm L-Shaped 10mm reinforced steel bar (as seen in the foreground below). This has been laid at 25cm intervals all around the perimeter, which should result…
We bought a number of individual parts from various places, including the local DIY store (Bricomarche), to make up a pressure testing rig that we can use to test the connections on various plumbing parts. In the simplest of terms it is a hosepipe connector attached to a central heating…
The second layer of reinforced steel mesh has now been laid. It is at this point that we realise why the full size ST25C would have been useful. We have to place two sheets per width, which means that in some places we have four sheets overlapping, causing potential high…
Only a few hours on it today, but good progress, with the first layer being fully tied and the spacers arranged ready for the second layer. We have used 90mm snake spacers, which despite their flimsy appearance are really strong and will spread the load when walking on the second…
There were a couple of high spots on bare rock, which meant that in some places the gravel did not bed down into the normally smooth surface. Therefore, we decided to add a layer of geotextile membrane to help ensure that the polythene sheet was not compromised. Polythene membrane laid…
The formwork has now been setup, which was a little bit of a hassle as the boards are not as specified. They range from 175mm to 190mm in height, with none of them being 200mm as per specification. However, after some effort, they have been setout to give a level…
It was a busy morning this morning, with the delivery of the necessary materials to do Phase One (concrete slab). The delivery included a 200 x 8mm steel reinforcing bars, 34 sheets of ST25CS steel reinforcing mesh (3m x 2.4m of 7mm rebar in 15×15 mesh), 150 L-Shaped 10mm rebar,…