Construction 12: Roof and Pool

Bali is now green.  It is hard to believe that six weeks ago everything was brown.  Fortunately the roof construction is progressing nicely.  Roland estimates that the roof will be finished by the end of January (2016).  

Plumbers are busy too.  No photo for you of that.  Too boring.  Checkout the photo from the kitchen.  The construction staff is already enjoying delicious home cooked meals from the new kitchen.  We are thinking that we will update their appliances before moving in.

The pools guys are back.  They had another job, but are now back at Villa Cengkeh.  They are currently installing the tiles cut from local stone in the pool.    It will have a green or blue-green color.

Viewed from across the valley, west toward east

Kitchen is put to good use

Roof progress on the west gallery

Tiles of stone installation in the pool

Construction 11: Roof Continued

Ironwood Shingles

The rains have come and the roof progresses.  The roof on Villa Cengkeh is ironwood shingle from Borneo.  This tree is protected in Indonesia and cannot be exported.  Permits are necessary for its harvest.  A company in Surabaya is an authorized purveyor and has provided it for Villa Cengkeh.

The roof construction has multiple layers: rafters, planks, plastic/aluminium waterproof material, strips of wood and, finally, the ironwood shingles.

Main Door

Inside Over the Main Door

Construction 10: The First Trees, roof progress etc

The rains have come to north  Bali, thus it is time to plant some trees so that they can begin to establish roots before the next dry.

The water well has made substantial progress since drilling past some granite stone.  It is now at 110 meters.  This is a relief; however, the real relief comes when there is water found!

The roof is really beginning to shape-up now.  It was very slow and time consuming to get the frame joined together, but now they are at the stage where planks are being laid down and soon the wooden, Ulin or ironwood, shingles will be placed on top of vapor barrier aluminium and plastic sheeting.

The pool team is back and have been working on the steps and the pool equipment room.  If the rains keep up they will have a full pool too.

The first new trees, garage in the back

Roof over veranda and guest rooms

Roof over master bath

Pool steps in front, equipment room in back

The plaster man's son

Construction 9: Near and Far

Things are a bit slow now.  The pool crew has been on another job and the roof construction is slow due to all the handwork required.  The Javanese door that goes between the master bedroom and the dressing room has been installed and the plaster man has been completing the plaster work in there. The walls on the garage are nearly finished.

We drove around the valley that lies south and west yesterday and got some photos of the work from a new perspective.  Some rain has come and things are getting a bit green.

Villa Cengkeh from the south toward the Bali Sea

Villa Cengkeh from the west by Villa Kembang Kertas

Javanese door to the dressing room

The plaster man's soon

Construction 8: Roof continued

The construction of the roof continues.  It is a big job.  The timbers are cut and trimmed with hand tools, assembled on the ground to assure that they work together and have the correct dimensions.  Then disassembled and each piece are raised up one at a time.  Wooden pegs are slipped into the assembly to hold them together.  Subsequently, cross braces are bolted on.  Electric drills are used for the bolt holes; otherwise the tools are hand tools like saws, hatchets, chisels etc.

Everyday the wife of the roof construction boss comes with offerings to place in the newest parts of the structure.  This is a local Hindu custom.

Readying the column for the living room roof

Offerings to be placed in the newest roof section

Yes, those are stones on her head

East Roof

Final trim of the timber

Hand trimmed joints

The basic tools for fitting the timbers

Roof sections being assembled for quality control before raising

Construction 7: Starting the Roof

Did somebody say "swimming pool"?

We have returned to Bali and had a tour of the progress on the house with Roland yesterday.  Many things are happening, but the most obvious is that the roof construction on the house has begun.  In addition, we got to see first hand the pool.  The pool's concrete is setting still (one week old today) and soon the wood supports will come out and the water-proofing plaster will go on.  After that sets then the tiles are put into place.

The electricians have been burying the conduits for the wiring in the brick walls and the plumbers have been burying the pipings in the floors.  Plastering is going full tilt everywhere.  The well is still being drilled.  It is currently at 62 meters and cutting through stone.  It is a slow project all on its own.

The guest wing looking toward the sea (north)

Susan's pool from east to west

The drive coming up to the carport etc

Construction 6: Pouring the Swimming Pool Concrete

After extensive preparation for the past six weeks, Roland's crew poured the concrete to form the 25 meter long swimming pool that Susan has designed.  It is curved at one end to a nice swallow area for Dana and kids to play.

The pool form

The pool was dug down to paras stone and in some places even a half meter more.  Then a concrete block wall was constructed and a form built with wood.

They has spend the last several days bring in supplies for the concrete making which is done on site, including more than 30,000 liters of water.

Behind the scenes work

Don't miss the videos below.  They worked from dawn today, until dark.  All the concrete needed to be poured in one go without stopping to avoid leaks, Roland has said.