14 March 2008

So, the end of the second week in the now sunny Bistrets. Spring has finally sprung, the birds are tweeting in the trees and we can have lunch outside in the sunshine. Winter seems like a long time ago but i know i will get caught out by the changeable March weather conditions!

The entire week has been spent do like structural work. The main workload this week has been on the upstairs floors. The original wooden beams in the house on the most part were OK but some of them needed replacing. A few had been scorched in an old fire but after a bit of a clean the damage was only cosmetic and it had smoked the woodworm's out of them! The damaged beams were removed (by chainsaw) and replacement beams sourced and selected to blend in. A bit of a fiddly job but one that definitely needed doing. Over the old beams 10cmx10cm rough sawn joists were laid and leveled.


The extra joists were laid to level the floor and to strengthen it. It sounds like a quick job but getting everything level was slow. The original beams were crooked, the new joists warped, the floors between the rooms had to be the same level etc etc. Add to this trying to squeeze a staircase in (cutting even more beams and supporting them), moving doorways and it all adds up to lots of man hours.


This week my electrician paid his first visit to the site, top start the first electrical fix. There was much scratching of his head when i explained i wanted two lighting circuits in each room (for some interior design ideas i have). I speak Bulgarian well and it took ages to get through to him. He is also one of those who thinks if he talks loudly i will understand better (remind you of any of the other Expats you may have seen?). My guys always enjoy this spectacle and sat back to watch the show. They understand me completely and find it funny that he doesn't but the sparky is a good hardworking guy so i keep using him.

Work also started on the battening for the wooden paneling on the second floors. Again the usual problems of nothing level or straight in the house and lots of fiddling to get it all vertical. The client has chosen to go with expanded polystyrene insulation behind the paneled walls instead of the usual rock wool. He feels it will be a healthier environment to live in. I disagree but he is a doctor! The polystyrene will require lots of cutting to be able to fit in every where so i think i may have to design a hot wire cutting machine for it (if i have the time). I will post pictures of this potential death and fire trap.......

Other work of note was the reinforcing of a main supporting vertical wooden post the previous builders had put a big stone over it and covered it with cement) and mini foundations for the stairwell.

The client is visiting from Norway this week and he is very happy with the work. So, a good week all around!

7 March 2008

The end of the first week in Bistrets. We missed out Monday because it was a Bulgarian national holiday (liberation from the Ottoman Turk Empire) but still got a good amount of work done.


Last Friday was our first real day on the job. We stopped in Golyama Krushevo first to pick up all surplus materials from the clients previous renovation. and then headed out to the property. The first day is always an unknown. Will there be water and electrics? Yes! Sort of...I was rather surprised that there was electrics in the property. There had been a new first fix installation previously (which i thought in the most part was a good one) but if it was all connected and their the bills had been payed was another matter. I took steps to cover myself by bringing my generator and buying some fuel for it but..there was electrics! Good start to a new build.

The water looked promising too. There was new pipe work in the house (functional but not that good), so i was hoping it would all work, However because the water meter had been left uncovered all winter, the actual water meter had frozen and come apart at the seams. This meant if the water was turned on, the meter leaked badly. The stop tap too had seen better days. This meant the meter would have to be replaced and the stop tap along with it. The stop tap is not a problem and was changed live (why does this keep happening to me?) but the water meter will have to wait. A new one will have to be bought and tested somewhere in Bourgas before it can be legally fitted.

As least i have water and electric to work with though!

The first thing to be done was break out the concrete floor on the ground floor. This had been newly installed but firstly was cracked all over the place (nice) and no DPM (damp proof membrane) had been installed under it. It took all day to get it out but it allowed me to see what was underneath the house (almost bedrock!) and to fit a DPC and underfloor insulation at a later date.

Before the floor can be relayed, there is some structural work to be done. The first is to open out the ground floor by removing half of a load bearing stone wall and the second is to replace a lintel in a kitchen window.
I love structural work. Changing a building and creating space and light inside Bulgarian houses is always fun and interesting work. The first order was to install a small forest of Acro props inside the house to support it when i remove a major wall. When this was done the old stone and mud wall was pulled. We found two old mice nests inside! It makes a change from old wasp nests though. We also disturbed a small lizard that had made his home there and it was the first one i have seen this year. My guys said they make good eating.....

With the wall dropped there was an immediate change in the feel of the house. It was lighter and more open. The remain part of the wall will divide the kitchen from the living room. Formwork was erected, lots of steel placed inside and the new concrete columns were cast. These will support the two new RSJ's (reinforced support joists or steel lintels) that will span the new opening. The new columns are cast in situ and will tie perfectly into the walls. they are not little things either. A quick bit of math reveals that they hold about 1m3 concrete or over 1.5 ton of material. Two of these, sitting on bedrock, with lots of reinforcement will now probably outlast the house! The formwork for these guys is heavy duty. They had to be massively supperted to prevent the concrete breaking out. This will be left for a couple of weeks to cure and then the Acros can be removed and the concrete ground floor laid.













The other structural work that had to be done was to replace a lintel in a kitchen window. This lintel had been cut in two by the previous builders to make way for pipework. The lintel and beams above it were now unsupported and dropping down. Quickly a new lintel was inserted and the sides beefed up just in case.

With what work that could be done downstairs completed attention was turned to upstairs. All the floor boards were lifted and new beams laid and leveled perpendicular over the top of them. Doors frames were fitted and one of the bathroom doors was removed and repositioned 40cm to the right.

At the same time, trenches and a start on the septic tank was made. make hay when the sun shines!

One of the excitements of the week was on Thursday when 33ton of sand and ballast was delivered. This came in a massive lorry and trailer. The driver was scared of trying to get the lorry into the garden due to the angle of approach into it, so unfortunately it all had to be dumped in the street. Not a missive problem, its longer to fetch it with a wheel barrow but the major might complain and people might help themselves to a cart full or two. But, no other option was available.