My First Grotto.

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links to products that I use and love. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. 

                                       

     

So I start with the foundation.  Clear out the space, mix up the concrete. For this I used the ready mix bags from builder's warehouse. Mix, cast, leave to set.  The following day I used up the left over blocks from a previous project to build up the base. This is the load barring part of the structure.  I  proceed to fill cavities and gaps with cement.
Now this needs to dry and set so that it can be filled with rubble and compacted. Then I close the top with dry cement....topping.

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Now the base is done, it time for the actual arch.  I need a form to build on.  Shutter ply and hard board/Masonite. To get this right I measured the statue, head to toe and finger tip to finger tip and then added about 10 - 15 mm right around.  Fortunately for me I was  building up against an existing wall so there was no need to do anything around the back of the grotto.  After positioning the form into place it was time to start the stone work.

                                                     

                                                  

                                         

I started by sorting the stone, gabion stone I used. They are hard. I kept all the small to medium sizes together. Mixed up the cement and started placing stone upon stone. Fitting, removing and refitting the stones like a puzzle. I kept my mortar on the wetter side so that its more sticky than dry. It took a while. After I had completed the dome I proceeded to clean the stone and fill any gaps.
I was tempted to pull the form out to see how the grotto would look.  With the stone work still wet, I decided to leave it just as is.

"It might collapse" I thought. Step away, step away.
I returned a week later to remove the wooden form. While praying, I gently cut and tapped at the wood until it came out. I sighed and smiled with relief. The grotto didn't collapse or fall.

             

Now once everything was dry I could clean up and finish. I used a wire brush to clean away the dry chunks of cement and cement dust.  Then I plastered the inner wall.  Around the base I layer facebrick. Pretty straight forward. Between blocks and facebrick I chalked a strong cement mix. This is to act as a glue. Thinking back I probably should have used pins/pegs to tie the two together.

This was an awesome experience a lot of fun and lots of hard work. I got my sons in to help me fit a little door.

         

       

Block Bench

 Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links to products that I use and love. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. 

So my cousin came to me and asked "Ricky, can you build a bench with bricks, cement an stuff?". I glanced at her from the corner of my eye and giggled "yes".  She went on to explain that the people she was renting from wanted a bench next to their pool.

Later that week I went round to have a look and to here what the client wanted. The mother and her two daughters handed me a picture downloaded from the net and ask " can you make it?" I said nothing and took the page.

They lead me out the door to the back, the pool area, to show me the space.

 Picture to the left is what I found. The client told me that they got a guy in who claimed to be a bricklayer and he said he could recreate the bench on the page.  They where mortified by the result.
I'm standing there smiling thinking "Damn, this guy is gonna make me look SO good".
I proceeded to break the existing structure with my hammer and chisel. Cleared the space out. I use a straight edge and spirit level to level out the ground.

I marked out a curve in the sand and packed out the blocks to create a visual. Then I called the girls, and granny, to come look. Granny took one look and said "it too big, make it a bit smaller". I did. Then called them out again. They where happy with the size. Lucky their gardener was on hand to help bring closer the sand, stone and cement. Together we mixed up a gauge of concrete. We cast the concrete foundation. Then let it set over night.

Next day started with the block work. Block by block. Brought the bench up. The seat I left hollow. The seat I filled with rubble and sand. Compacted that.

I layed a row of blocks on their side as seen in the pick to the left. Good bum to seat ratio.

I started to plaster the structure up. I'm not the best with a plaster trowel and hand hawk but the job came out Beautiful.

I went ahead with the levelling of the area in front of the chill area. Layed the pavers that were there and spread the stone about. The painting was done by the family themselves. They did an excellent job.

Water Harvesting Tank Installation

Catch and Create your own water

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links to products that I use and love. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. 

With the resent scarcity of rain, water has becomes the new 'rare commodity'. Soon we'll be trading it on the stock market if things continue the way they are. With low to no rain fall coupled with a "....I pay my water." attitude we are heading for trouble. So in keeping with the 'green' trend and the save water campaigns being run by government, here's what I did.

I installed a 5000l water tank. Simple as that. Rural South Africa has been doing it for years.
First I cleared out a space for my tank and leveled the space out. Then I proceeded to mix up a batch of dagga...mortar, not weed! Cast a circular foundation and let that set and cure, 24 hours.

Since I was on a tight budget I opted for stone instead of buying blocks or bricks. Stones were free and I happen to like a stone finish. It was time to tap into my inner stone mason. I had to tap quite deep. I'm not gonna lie, it was labor intensive. Collecting and carrying. Then I sorted them and began to lay my first course. It was like doing a puzzle. Looking for the right piece to fit in and those that didn't cooperate got chiseled to fit. I must say, with all the chiseling, mixing and carrying my arms got quite the workout, it would have been great to have a mortar mixing machine but my protruding veins and glistening skin from the sweat gave the ego a great boost.

I brought my master piece up six courses. Cleaning the cement off the stone. 

                    






 

I filled her up and compacted the earth and rubble till it was hard. I now had a hard solid platform for my big green water tank. Now an empty water tank is not that heavy. It's getting ones arms around the thing to that may cause problems. At this point it's good to have a second pair of hands to help lift and position.

Right! Once I had it up and positioned I anchored it down with wire. On the top are 'pikes' that are for tying the wire round. Within my stone work I build in steel pegs. As the tank is positioned under and at the end of the roof, one can simply redirect the down pipe to run into your tank.
Now when it rains all the water God sends, you catch....amazing!

Now what happens when it doesn't rain? Well you make your own water. How? Easy, an what's more you've been making it the whole time and you didn't realize it.
The roof on your house is a water making machine. Condensation people! We have been wasting liters and liters of water. But now with my snazzy green water tank I get water even when it doesn't rain.

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