McCARTHY HILL
Project Name: Conversion and Completion Project – McCarthy Hill
Role of Jacob West: Construction and Finishing
Location: McCarthy Hill
ORIGINAL STATE OF PROJECT
When we took over the project, the main structure had already been built and roofed with the burglar-proof installed in all the windows. The main building, along with the boys quarters had not been plastered.
The interior of the building was sloping to one side. This indicated to us that the original builders of the property did not factor into account that they were building on a hill.
OUR PROPOSAL
After assessing the building, we proposed to make some changes, alterations and modifications to the building. These changes include the creation of a new master bedroom, a garage and an en-suite for a few of the rooms. We also suggested the creation of a car port in front of the building that would also double as a balcony.
THE PROJECT
What We Have Done So Far
- We procured the needed materials needed to begin the work and transported them all to the site
- We began the screeding of the ground floor. We wanted reduce the slope of the living room and even out the floor.
- Changes were made to existing building by blocking off some areas and modifying some rooms
- The carport in front of the house was built according to the updated design of the building
- Piping works for both electrical and plumbing works were done
- Screeding of staircase and the first floor
- Plastering work for both the interior and exterior was done. The blocks that were used for the building were not good so we had to increase the thickness of the plaster.
- Dressing of door and window frames were also done during the plastering stage.
- Construction and plastering of the fence wall
- Fixing of all windows
- Fixing of temporary doors
- Purchase of main exterior doors
- Wiring of the entire house
- Fixing of insulation material and plasterboards
- Skimming of plasterboards
- Fabrication and fixing of gate
- Connection to the national electricity grid.
What We Have To Do
- Tile work
- Purchase of sanitary ware
- Purchase of electrical fittings and fixtures
- Skimming and painting of both the interior and exterior walls of the house
- Adding the design feature to the wall
- Fixing of permanent security doors
- Landscaping
CHALLENGES
Building On a Hill
One downside of building on a hill is that it costs more to transport materials to site. With the building being in the location that it is in, now many vehicles can climb up the hill especially with all the bad roads that lead up to the site.
Land guards
While working at this site, we run into few issues with land guards. The first issue with land guards came when we were plastering the building and the second issue came when we were building the wall.
These run ins slowed down the work considerably for a number of days and moved our deadlines back.
The reason why this issue was particularly challenging, was because the safety of our workers was at stake. These land guards were in the mood for violence so it was imperative that we acted quickly to avoid them from harming our workers and bringing the work to a halt.
Re-engineering the existing building
When we took over the building, there were quite a number of issues that we identified with the engineering of the building. From the use of weak blocks to the slope of the building, we had to re-engineer a few things structurally to get the building into good shape.
Some of these processes slowed down our progress by some days but in the end solved the problems that existed.
CURRENT STATE OF PROJECT
