Diy LOW COST HOUSES

This is the work that I am most proud of.

The idea was born when I was doing some work for a friend that has a pre-cast wall business.

DIY DRY WALL

This was a tough one. Mostly because of the sheer size of the project.

First off, after determining the layout place the tracks in position and fasten them to the ground with fisher screws.

Note: You can cut the track with a plate sheer. Don't cut the openings for doors yet. This is to keep everything nice and straight. And please, use a straight angle.

After the tracks we started by cutting the rails to size and rivetting it into position.
We then riveted the top rails to the track and fixed it to the roof, making sure everything was nice and level.

Note: Do not rivet all the track into place. Rather insert them as you install the drywall boards. This is so that you can make small adjustments where necessary.

Here we started putting the drywall boards up.
After fastening the first board with self tapping screws, we inserted the rail so that it would be evenly spaced between the first and second board.
Continue doing this with all the boards.
We then used a special tape used for drywall to seal in between the boards.

Note: When cutting drywall to size, run a blade along the board where it needs to be cut. Flip it over and snap it like you would a piece of glass. Then cut the access board off where it is bent.

Here we put some insulation inside the walls before we repeated the process of putting up the boards to close the walls.
I must say that I didn't really notice a difference with the insulation inside the walls. Only difference I saw was on my budget, cause it was expensive.

Next we Filled all joints and holes where the screws were put with crack filler.

We then started the mega job of sanding everything down.

Some good advice would be to spread the filler thin and evenly to save time and energy when sanding.

After cleaning up the mess, we started painting all the rooms.

After painting and some more cleaning we finished everything off with some aluminum skirting.

And that was the way the cookie crumbled.
I must admit that this project was a bit upsetting, but it was mostly because of the sheer size and we only had two weeks. And we are only two.

DIY WOODEN DECK

This is probaly one of the easiest project I can think of, but the results are amazing.

First off we started by planting short poles into the ground.

Note: Do not concrete the poles as this will lead to rotten poles.

We had limitations on the removal of soil, so we had to dig trenches for the cross beams






After painting the cross beams with tar we put them into place and used gut to make sure everything was straight and level.

We then fixed the beams to the poles with screws.

We bought some deck planks from our local hardware and cut it to size.

For spacers you can use some off cut hardboard
or use tiles depending on the gap size.

Note: Make sure to use two screws on the ends and at least one screw on each cross beam to prevent the planks from lifting.

After finishing screwing the deck, we gave our deck a quick sand down to get rid of any unwanted splinters.

We then used a water based deck sealant that we sprayed on using an old poison pressure bottle.

Water base sealant works well and it also eliminates the headache of cleaning the swimming pool and paving afterwords.


And that is that. 1.. 2.. 3..

DIY SPLASH POOL

This project will leave you with a low cost funky looking splash pool!
We decided on a small pool for the space we had, but you could make it larger if you want.

We started by digging a hole the desired depth keeping in mind that we had to throw a concrete floor that would be approximately 100mm thick.

Also the hole had to be larger than the final product to accommodate the double brick sides.

After throwing the concrete that was reinforced with steel mesh, we started building the walls.

Note: If possible use second hand bricks. This will reduce seepage problems and it is also cheaper.

Note the hole on the side is as deep as the pool. This would become the pump's new home.






You can see in this picture that we left out one row of bricks in the front for the water overflow.

We also constructed cheap water spouts using half inch galvanized pipes that lead via a plastic pipe to the hole where the pump must go.

Now you can start plastering. Enjoy.






We built a fore in front of the pool that went around the side to join with the hole where the pump goes.This would become the filtering system and will also be a nice feature to the pool.

We decided on a rough tile to give the pool a rustic look.

Here you can see the fore going around the corner of the pool. Install a piece of galvanized mesh between the hole and the fore.

We then started sealing the tiles with tile sealer and also painted the whole pool with pond sealer. We decided on charcoal but there are many different colors available.

Note: For the filter, fill some bags with sand and put them snugly inside the fore. This will filter the water as it falls over the pool's edge and runs to the hole where the pump is.

Fill the filtering system with some nice rocks to finish off the fore.

This method of building saved us loads of cash as we didn't need an expensive filtering system. We even found that using a cheap pond pump work like magic.

And there you have it. Easy as pie.

DIY LOOKOUT POINT

This is a very easy project that should not take longer than week to complete.
The result will be a lovely lookout point for having sun-downers and watching wildlife if you are as lucky as me to have a little getaway to African paradise!


After identifying the location we started by digging holes 600mm deep and planting the four main poles (6.6meter) that would become my lookout point's "legs".

Note: DO NOT CONCRETE poles into ground!

Water that runs down the pole will funnel in between pole and concrete resulting in rotten poles. Instead you could dig the holes a little deeper than 600mm and throw some concrete for the poles to stand on.

After making sure the posts were level, we decided on a height for our platform. Make sure you leave enough length on your posts for constructing a roof (approx 2400mm).
Drive some 9 inch nails halfway into the posts at the desired height for the cross poles to lay on. Make sure that everything is level with some gut and a level.

We then cut the cross poles to size and placed them into position. Then drilled 10mm holes through the poles and the posts and fastened everything with 10mm threaded rod. Note: use galvanized threaded rod to reduce rust.




We used pine planks with tongue in groove for the floor. This is for extra strength.
Then screwed it to my cross poles.

Also see the poles we installed to make the whole construction rigid.







Had some relatives over... Always thought I was adopted.









After deciding on a height for the roof, we cut the posts to size. cutting one side a little lower than the other so our roof would have a small angle for rain.
We then installed the cross beams on the same principle as the floor's.

We used corrigated sink for the roof as this was an inexpensive option. You can then cover the underside of the roof with lathes like the ones in the foreground.



Hand rails were made by cutting lathes to size and nailing them into place approximately 150mm apart.

See that there are no entrance yet. This was to make sure everything was kept straight and in position.







We used two lengths of pine 230mmx35mm for the stairs. Then cut out the actual stairs and made the uprights.
We then marked out the positions and screwed everything together.

Note: Caution should be taken when marking the stair positions, so that the height between the landing and the stairs would be the same.

Also remember that this is a lookout point, so you don't have to make the stairs very broad.


After nailing the completed stairs into position we cut out the opening and made a hand rail from a piece of pole.

We then sealed the floor with a sealer and we were done!!








So there you have it. Completed in four days.