Casting the In-Situ Walls

Having settled on the use of plastic moulds to create the fair faced finish on the internal surfaces of the in-situ cast walls and agreeing the pattern for the ties (see previous post) to hold the moulds in place work in the early months of 2014 was focussed on setting up the shuttering for casting the walls.

Start of setting up the wall moulds and shuttering. Photo courtesy Pela - Crete Construction.

Detail of north west corner moulds and shuttering. Photo courtesy Pela - Crete Construction.

East wall shuttering. Photo courtesy of Annie,

With only a few periods of prolonged bad weather good progress was made over the winter months with the casting of the in-situ walls starting in March. Great care was taken in the pouring and tamping of the concrete to ensure that the ties were not damaged and the fairfaced finish to the walls contained the very minimum of blemishes.

Careful pouring and compacting of in-situ walling. Photo courtesy Pela Crete Construction.

With the good weather holding the first half of the wall casting hhad soon cured sufficiently for the shuttering to start being removed. This was our first sight of the fair faced finish. It looked great. Just what I had in mind.

First view of fair faced finish. Photo courtesy Annie

The fair faced finish for the living/dining/kitchen area. Photo courtesy Annie.

With the moulds and shuttering removed the first half of the walls that had been cast could continue to cure whilst the shuttering was completed for the remainder of the walls and the walls cast. Great care continued  

The team start on the second half of casting the in-situ walls. Photo courtesy Annie.

Close teamwork essential for this task. Photo courtesy Annie.

Careful pouring. Photo courtesy Annie.

Careful compacting. Photo courtesy Annie.