A month of dodging rainstorms and filling in low spots on our ferrocement roof is finally yielding the results we want. As the heavy roof work winds down, we can start making plans to take down our cement elevator, pictured here. Water ponding, and leaks, are the biggest pains in the keister for owners of flat roofing. It's been a long process, but is about to start paying big dividends. I guess you could say "all's well that dividends well..."
As I have been filling in low spots, I've been able to start using our elastomeric sealant to finish up the roof. Here's a photo of both "before" and "after" sections of the roof. With the weather this cloudy, it's hard to see how well the reflectants in the sealer bounce sunlight off the roof, but we'll sure be able to feel the difference in August.
While I wait for another gig's payday to go buy a few more buckets of sealant, I start applying cement stucco to the inside walls of the master bedroom suite (more and more of our work will now be turning to inside work - a good thing with winter coming on). You can see some of the nylon mesh fabric we're using as a matrix to hold the cement in place.
A closer look at how the cement stucco provides a good finish coat over the cement blocks. When we cover this with a good paint, it will be almost identical in appearance to an adobe wall, although much stronger and with better acoustical insulation. Painstaking work like this, plus the use of cement as our primary building material, means this house will last for centuries. I think about how this house will look in 500 years frequently as I work.
All three members of management have met and decided it's time to go back to the house to check on the supply of dog biscuits. I'm only too glad to comply since your humble correspondent is tired tired tired. As 2004 draws to a close and we mark 2 and 1/2 years of hard work building The Garage Mahal, we think we'll go back home and smell the roses and maybe get in a cat nap at the same time.
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