Several Critical Factors Must Be Taken Into Account When designing and constructing a precast portal to support a railway locomotive, especially one that needs to bear a “Class 1” load, several critical factors must be taken into account. These factors include the materials used, the structural design, and the strength of the concrete mix. This…
8 Simple steps to throw your concrete slab Building a strong and durable concrete floor slab is essential for any construction project, whether it’s for a residential home, a commercial building, or an industrial site. Steel reinforcing plays a crucial role in providing additional strength to the concrete, ensuring it can withstand the loads and…
Picture Above: A freshly placed concrete slab still wet on the top surface Cold Weather and Foundations The surrounding local temperature has a big effect on the setting time of cold concrete. The steps to take with foundations during cold weather are outlined below: Chemical Reaction Hydration is the chemical reaction when cement and water…
A Concrete Foundations Placing Guide Cast Your foundations This guide will help owner-builders to cast the concrete foundations. These foundations are for external brick walls around a new house, or for extensions of an existing house. THE NHBRC (National Homebuilders Association Council) requirements for house foundations: For single-story buildings with tiled or sheeted roofs in stable soil…
How to Decorate Floors with Concrete Concrete floors do not have to be drab and grey. Oh No! There is a South African company that manufactures and supplies specialised coatings, especially for you to give your floors that million-dollar look. Fairly easy to mix and apply it is also a cost-effective finish for your concrete floor….
A Table for Concrete Mixes by Weight in Kilograms by Bag, and by Cubic Meter, for Various Strengths We have had numerous requests for Concrete Mixes by Weight, by volume, and by mass. Here is a table that was released by the Cement and Concrete Institute for trial concrete Mixes by Weight from 10MPa to…
Concrete Mixes & Batch Ratios For Different Applications The basic techniques that will enable you to cast a foundation or slab are relatively straightforward. The secret to success lies largely in the correct concrete mixes and quantities being mixed together in the concrete mixes you use. Although the principles of mixing concrete and mortar are…
Concrete Slab Step-by-Step Whether you are casting concrete for foundation footings to support a simple timber structure, or for a solid slab that will form the floor of a garden building to be built from wood, the principles are exactly the same. Of course, if the concrete slab is to act as a foundation, it…
Caption for pool above: Empty and cracked, the rock pool went from being a dream to a disaster. Conned by a Fly-by-Night Pool Builder Why you should use a pool contractor who belongs to the NSPI South Africa’s building industry is rife with problems, so whether you are building a house or a swimming pool,…
Dozens of Residents Die When Building Collapses January 20, 2012: A badly maintained apartment block which was home to some 50 people, collapsed like a pack of cards in Beirut this week, killing at least 25 people. A teenage girl and her grandmother, an elderly man (73), and several labourers from Sudan, Egypt, Jordan and…
IT’S PLUMBER PLUMBING CRAZYThe Plumbing Saga Continues – Not a Registered Plumber Not being a registered plumber, or even someone who would try to work with pipes and fittings, all I can do is read the relevant national standards when I want to check the legality of fixtures and fittings. Not that the owner of…