1. Decide where you would like to build a house and then set out the wall boarders using pegs and string.
2. Dig trenches about a foot wide and deep, using a hoe then a pick to work at the harder earth and a shovel to dig out the lose earth from hoeing.
3. Move big stone blocks into the trenches and cementing between each block- use bricks when you start running out of blocks.
4. Shovel any left over dirt and sand in the inside of the foundations up to the level of the stone blocks.
5. Straighten large metal poles using smaller metal poles looped around the larger metal poles (I can't explain how this one worked, but it did, after a decent amount of effort), Straighten medium sized metal poles using a hammer and stone, and bend small bits of wire into loops which are then used to loop around the medium metal poles and make grids. All this was then cemented into the foundations.
6. Start brick laying! String guides the line of the wall and after dumping cement on the surface where you want the brick with your troul you then attach using your troul a pyramid or 'icecream cone' shaped bit of cement to one edge of a brick then line that up with the brick already laid and tap it down/ sideways to line it up with the rest of the wall.
7. Cement also has to be mixed- Mix some sand (which had been sifted by shoveling through a wire screen) and cement using a shovel, make a pond like shape then add a ton of water (either carried from the rice field, pulled up with a rope from the well or brought up from a muddy 'pond') and slowly move the sand/cement to the edges until it is all mixed in with the water. This then needs to be taken in bucket lodes to each brick layer.
8. insert windows and doors. The frames were basically balanced using a long stick weighed down by bricks at the base and with a brick tied to a bit of string tied to the top of the stick and hung over the other side of the frame. It worked so long as you didn't trip over the stick and all the bricks used to balance it.
9.Adding water and rocks to the floor and then pounding it with metal weights on the end of handles. And then repeating the water/ rocks/ pounding process again. Remember that we only had a few water buckets which had to be either carried a decent way or brought up from a deep well. Also no wheel barrow for the rocks- we had 2 people using empty cement bags piling the rocks on top and using it like a sheet.
10. Cement rendering the walls. Use your troul to dump a decent amount of cement onto a larger, flat metal surface with a handle on the back then press this against the wall at an angle and move it up- hoping a decent amount actually stays on. Strength didn't mean success and even the builder did many patch up jobs. You also smoothed the whole wall over using a bigger wooden tool and some chunks would come off, which you fix and go over with a troul.
11. Build a front step. Dig a trench around the front and one side of the porch then lay some bricks to the desired height and width. Then cement render the whole thing- again with the smoothing/ fixing process.
12. Carry a heap of cement into the floors of the house (which now also included many cigarette butts of the builders!) even it out and with a plank of wood, smooth out the cement evenly on the floor. Then with the same wooden board with small handle on back, smooth out completely the cement floor using a circular motion and adding any cement to any holes that turn up.
13. Using a liquid cement (very watered down cement) and a troul, poor it over the troul onto the floor then wave the troul over the top to make sure it's smooth- Mich and I tried this one and sucked big time to the point that we gave up ......we were almost ripping up the floor- happened to the builder to but he fixed it in the next wave and we just had no idea- the builders did this part of the process.
14. Cement wash the outside walls, then white wash the walls- both inside and out. For this you use brushes that you've made out of a stick with a bunch of straw attached at one end with bits of wire. There were often bits of straw being left on the walls that we had to try and pick off.
15. Paint the walls, using the same types of paint brushes. There were also some small paint brushes that look like Aussie brushes and were used to pain the window/doors and trims. All our houses were painted blue (must have been a sale on blue paint) with either red, green or a diff shade of blue trim.
16. Add your metal roof- again don't know the details of this process, the builders did it- too high and dangerous for us!
Finished product- well actually the floor doesn't look done at that point, and you can see our water buckets and floor ponding tool next to the colunm. Just to show off! :) I personally painted the whole front of blue paint on this particular house! Also some of the brick laying and floor making- not to mention brick/stone/water/cement carrying around.
This house now belongs to an old man named (pronounced) 'Guy'. He watched and tryed to help out a bit. His sister also visited us at the temple to say thank you and offered us 2 chickens! While we were working on the house a friend came and talked to me in a bit of English to say thank you. (His original house is the pic in the last post).
Mich on a cyclow- the guy on a bike is to the right out of pic (and she would kill me if she knew I'd added that pic!)
An ancient Hindu, now a mix of Hindu and Buddhist, temple that we did the touristy thing at.
Mich on a cyclow- the guy on a bike is to the right out of pic (and she would kill me if she knew I'd added that pic!)
An ancient Hindu, now a mix of Hindu and Buddhist, temple that we did the touristy thing at.
First experience of being on a motor bike Vietnam style- ie. no protection. Nah trang was fine compared with Siagon, but even there you had bikes all around you going crazy directions. Also glad i had Tam our friendly interpreter as the driver.
We visited monkey island- which i actually wanted to do- the monkeys were not quite the cute friendly animals i had invisioned! These ones surrounded you and sat in trees above you waiting to pounce at the slightest hint you might have some food and they would often nick your stuff.
Random fishing boat- for your viewing pleasure.
First experience of being on a motor bike Vietnam style- ie. no protection. Nah trang was fine compared with Siagon, but even there you had bikes all around you going crazy directions. Also glad i had Tam our friendly interpreter as the driver.
We visited monkey island- which i actually wanted to do- the monkeys were not quite the cute friendly animals i had invisioned! These ones surrounded you and sat in trees above you waiting to pounce at the slightest hint you might have some food and they would often nick your stuff.
Random fishing boat- for your viewing pleasure.
Met Melb group of Vietnam Ozquesters at the Airport and then Qued for over 1 hr just to check in- crazy amount of people! So none of us got to choose seats or sit together, except by freak chance, me and Erica were next to each other, in the emergency exit- plenty of leg room and company for me!!!
