With the worst of winter behind us and
summer approaching, the time is opportune to begin work on the
swimming pool. The pool will have an internal length of 10m, and a
width of 2.6m, with steps to one side of easy access and egress. The
hole was excavated by hand, and the excess soil distributed over the
site. Thereafter, a steel mesh was laid on the pool floor with steel
reinforcing bar bent and tied to the mesh to form a ring of risers at
200mm centres. A 200mm thick concrete slab was poured over the mesh,
and once set, construction of the pool walls began. The walls were
built of 190mm wide concrete blocks, which were threaded over the
steel reinforcing risers. Once the walls were built, concrete was
poured into to the concrete block cavities to tie the entire
structure together. All concrete and mortar mixes had a liquid
waterproofing compound added to ensure that the structure is
watertight.
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| The big hole, soon to be the swimming pool |
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| Pool walls built |
The built in braai/BBQ structure has
also been built. First the foundation walls for the structure and
the Pool Pavilion room were built. The infill under the slab was
compacted, and a damp proof membrane laid over. This was topped by
40mm rigid foam insulation, and a 100mm concrete ground floor slab.
The braai/BBQ structure was then built up, and topped with a
cylindrical fibre cement flue. We are currently awaiting the
delivery of the cowl to top the flue.
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| Insulation goes down before the slab pour |
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| The braai/BBQ structure topped with the cylindrical flue |
