Installing the grade beams

After the footings are dug (footings here are called sapatos or shoes in English) they are filled up about 3/4 full with concrete. Then they dig a trench between each footing, form it with some pine boards and install rebar.

After the rebar is installed and connected to the rebar in the footing, concrete is poured. All the rebar from the different systems is then connected.

The picture above shows how the rebar from the footing, grade beam, and the future column are tied together.

Here is a good shot of the columns sprouting out of the grade beams. They are all interconnected and ready to be formed up.

To the upper left you can see a young guy with a pail of concrete. Almost all of the concrete was mixed by hand and then transported with 3 gallon pails.

Digging the footings

While some workers were demarcating the site, the contractor (to the right,holding the hammer) built the stairs and a shack to the left to hold tools. I had heard from many Brazilians that I should be careful of things being stolen but I haven't had even a nail stolen yet.

The pine boards on the shack were completely infested with termites within a few months. They will eat anything except the dense wood. I'll be talking plenty about termites later.

 The contractor assembled a bunch of guys and they started digging one meter square holes (39.25 inches) about 10-12 feet apart and about 5 feet deep.

 All of the holes are dug by hand. The soil is not rocky but it is still a lot of work. The contractor has a big extended family so he always had plenty of labor available. One thing I found curious. The tools used to dig didn't include a spade shovel. They use what they call an enxada  (which is that tool that looks like a big hoe), a pick axe and a long pike to loosen the soil, and then they use a flat shovel to discard it to the pile.

I had already bought a spade shovel but when I asked if they wanted to use it they politely refused. When I later used a spade shovel here I could see why. The design was different, with the blade being much broader and the point was not sharp. It really didn't penetrate the soil very well. I thought it would be much more efficient with a good old proper spade shovel. But don't think I'm being arrogant and I think we do things better in the US. We can't be too arrogant when we still haven't adopted the metric system.

Starting out

 I know most of you think I'm down here in Brazil sipping margaritas by the beach. So I'm here to dispel that notion and say that you are wrong. I'm sipping mint juleps.            

I originally showed the beginning of this house on a forum on finehomebuilding.com. The builders and others who follow the site seemed interested in the project since there were a lot of differences from the way we do things in the US. But after time ,Fine Homebuilding changed the layout on their forums and deleted many of the photos, probably to save space for other things. I thought that was too bad since if anyone was to build a house here,or in the rest of South or Central America,they could learn a lot from an experienced builder who had little experience in Brazil.

Believe me, the second house I build here is going to be a lot easier. So if you are like me,and a nice Friday night is to curl up and read the newest issue of Finehomebuilding or The Journal of Light Construction,come along for the ride. One other word of advice: I think we had better get out more. 

The first floor will be constructed in the typical Brazilian style by a Brazilian subcontractor. I'll take over and get a chance to make my mistakes with the second floor and roof. I'll be framing that in light gauge steel.

 They start out by demarcating the perimeter of the structure with pine boards which are attached to eucalyptus poles. The pine boards are also placed level around the structure to provide a benchmark for future leveling. 

Notice the vinyl tube that is hanging by the coconut tree. That is called a water level and  a form of it has been used since at least to Roman times. It uses a basic concept that water seeks its own level. By filling a clear plastic tube with water you can walk 100 feet away and the level of one end of a tube will be exactly at the level as the other.

 It is a  low cost tool that is very accurate in leveling long distances. In the US we would probably use a laser level or a transit but the water level is used exclusively here. I use one a lot now that I'm used to it. In fact it is much easier and faster to use a water level to go around corners.

I'll show how they dig the footings by hand next post.