Concrete Slab (Touch-up)

~~~ Day 17 (Monday) ~~~

The manors took out the wooden mold for building the concrete slab but still left some sticks to support the slab. Then, they were building the so-called 'leg' of the benchtop. At beginning, the constructor was reluctant to cover the side of the benchtop with bricks because he pointed out that the rebar on the wall are robust enough to hold it. At last, upon my mother's requested, he was willing to build three of them; one at each ending and the third one in between.

<- The 'leg' was built with bricks at one edge near the sink. At the mean time, a wooden stick was used to support the slab.

Another at the other edge and the 3rd one in the middle.

My brother prefer to have the sink buried a little lower than the top of

the bench. Therefore, the manor had added more mortar to raise the benchtop after fitting the sink inside the hole.

While they were taking break, I was checking the going-to-be benchtop. I was disappointed with the concrete slab especially beneath it. The surface was not smooth and some concrete sticking on the tile.

<- Is this good-looking? Or I was too demanding? I think the concrete made the surface rough and the tiles dirty. I guess it was the excess concrete that drooled on the tiles and harden.

I told my mother and she asked the constructor's opinion. Later, he grabbed a putty knife and scraping the tile underneath the bench. :( I was worried that will worsen the situation. In order to clean the harden concrete, shouldn't he use it along with water and sponge?

Before they left, they were clearing the room, swept the floor and

cleansed it with water. The following day, they were going to level the ground by adding a mixture of cement, sand and water.

<- The floor was a mess.

After the washing, the floor was tidy but wet.

Thereafter, I inspected under the bench again and noticed few of the tiles there were cracked. I was very sad and regret. I should have clean the tiles myself. The constructor was very reckless himself :(. What can we

do towards the constructor? I felt like buying a defect computer but cannot get a replacement. Can you give any advice regarding this matter?

~~~ Day 18 (5 April 2011) ~~~

5th April is Qing Ming Festival; a day to clean the ancestors' graves, worship and give offering for the deceased in Chinese custom. It is similar as All Souls Day. As for Daniel, it is a HOLIDAY ! That is the advantage of studying in a Chinese school.

As planned, they started to mix together Portland cement, sand and water. By observing the mixture, I assumed the proportion of the sand was much more than cement and water.

<- The constructor's child was fetching sand from outside the house compound.

Then, they covered the kitchen floor with the mixture. The manor was pressing the mixture to make it compact. Lastly, he smoothed the surface with screed and checked whether it was level or not. Now, the current floor is as high as before the floor demolition.

By noon, the floor was left for curing and they went home.

<- A part of the fence was cut to allow them to enter the compound from the backyard, instead of the front door. This was my mother's idea as she was afraid they will make the whole house dirty and messy. They were doing so since the beginning of the renovation.