11.

CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
11.1 Foundations
Below is one recommendation. Alternately seek advice from local engineers or follow common building practice. Mortar is used in the foundation brickwork Direction of bricks Mortar

Concrete footing Note: If it is necessary to step the foundations, use the Hydraform brick height in the step.

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11.2 Floor / Surface bed

Concrete floor

Concrete

Compacted backfill

Completed foundation block work

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11.3 Leveling the first course of bricks

Profile (50 x 50 mm Timber or Steel)

Water level

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11.4 Beginning the first course

Set up corners first always start with a half block

Builders line

Mortar

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11.5 Above the first course

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11.6 Above Lintel Level

Mortar between blocks above lintel levels Roof tie downs Mortar above and below lintel

Roof:

Follow the normal local practice for roof design and construction

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12. SERVICES AND FINISHES

For laying electrical conduits and wiring in your building, you may either have exposed casing running along the wall or run your conduits within the conduits within the conduit blocks. Conduit blocks are special blocks with semi circular recesses in the top and bottom surfaces of the block. You may however chase the masonry in order to fit conduiting as in conventional masonry, but you will have to plaster the chased area.

Other services such as plumbing and sewerage could be exposed. All pipes must be coated with water repellent paints and must have all joints sealed perfectly to avoid damage to blocks due to water leakage from the pipes.

Plaster all edges and corners externally. It is important to plaster the corner well beyond the joint.

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Skirting should be higher than the first joint from the finished floor. Skirting top should slope outwards away from the wall. They should not be finished flat, and never sloping inwards.

12.1

Agrment specifications for finishes x When building in South Africa with NHBRC approval, construction and finishes will need to be done in accordance with the Agrment specification. Agrment recommend both internal and external walls be plastered and painted. A full Agrment certificate is available from the www.agrement.co.za website under active certificates

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13. TROUBLE SHOOTING - CONSTRUCTION

13.1 If blocks are not sitting flush on each other and the interlock is not perfect when checked with a spirit level and plumb bob. x x x The blocks have not been cleaned well enough. The blocks must be cleaned with a brush & foreign particles scraped with a blade. The interlock will thus be much easier. The wearplates may need changing (block height must never exceed 118 mm see section 8, point 7) Also check the blocks for dimensional accuracy.

13.2

In spite of all the precautions the masonry is not in plumb.

x x

If it is possible, remove the blocks and redo the masonry. Otherwise take a flat hard plate of rubber, wood or steel, align it along the wall and hammer against the wall to get the blocks in plumb.

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13.3

If you find that some blocks appear to have sheared on loading. x x x Probably the blocks have not been made to interlock (well) with each other: therefore the blocks are not in plumb necessary for safe load transfer. Re-do the masonry and make sure that the blocks safely transfer the load by being perfectly in level and plumb. Wearplates may need replacing, replace wearplates when block height is more than 118 mm, (see section 8, point 7).

13.4

If you find chunks of blocks coming off at places where the brick force was hammered. x Probably the brick force has not been nailed in the center of the blocks. Instead the brick force has been hammered towards the edges. If this occurs along the entire vertical length of the joint such as a joint between a 220mm wall & a 115mm wall the masonry should be redone. If it is only one or two odd joints, the blocks should be repaired by pointing with a cement soil mortar.

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13.5

If you find that some of your blocks in the masonry have got damaged on the surface even after having done the masonry with utmost care. x x x The blocks probably got damaged during shuttering / deshuttering procedure or ladders were probably made to rest against them. Chisel out the damaged part and repair with cement soil mortar. However, in order to avoid such an occurrence altogether, it is a good idea to cover the ends of the ladder & scaffolding material with a cloth.

13.6

If you find water seeping in especially near the skirting. x x The skirting has been finished at a joint in the masonry very close to ground level so the water manages to seep in. Increase or decrease the height of skirting so that it is not flush with the joint.

Otherwise, slope the top of the skirting away from the joint and seal the joint with a sealant or point it with soil cement mortar.

13.7

If you find water seeping in through the masonry joints x x The blocks are probably not interlocked properly in the enthusiasm to build faster. Re-do the leaking joints, Make sure to hammer the blocks in position.

x x

Seal the joints with a sealant or point with soil-cement mortar. Avoid water running directly from the roof onto the walls, use correct roof overhang or a gutter.

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13.8

If you want to build another room next to an existing one. x x A planned expansion is much easier as you can use full blocks in the corners instead of half. These full blocks can also then become a part of the expansion. If your expansion is unplanned, chip off the plaster from the corner. Replace each block in the corner with a full block with the ridge shaved. You now have a corner to start expanding from.

13.9

Precautions As shown, when two block interlock one over another, the central recess and ridge of both the blocks do not touch while the side flanges of both the blocks touch each other transferring the load coming on the top block to the bottom. Hence, it is important that blocks are stacked truly so that actual load transfer can happen through both the side flanges.

Precautions The first course is like a base or foundation for all the upper courses. Slight errors in the first course would compound in subsequent courses. It is therefore important that the first course is done to desired levels of perfection even at the cost of increase in time.

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14. METHOD FOR PRODUCING 1500 HYDRAFORM BLOCKS PER DAY

An 8 man team (excluding sieving and curing) can produce 1 500 blocks per day if the following procedure is followed. A full team with curing and sieving is normally 9 11 people. 14.1 The soil must be sieved with a minimum of 2 days lead-time i.e. 1m per 100 blocks or 15 m sieved soil for one day production of 1 500 blocks/day. 2 men can sieve 15 m soil per day. The water must be available close to the operation. Preferably by hosepipe from either a gravity fed tank or by municipal pipeline. Cement must be stacked next to the operation. The full days supply must be stacked before any production begins. x 5% cement = 21 bags for 1 500 blocks. x 8% cement = 36 bags for 1 500 blocks. The labour employed should not be weak old men or old women and most definitely not young girls. The labour should be healthy, strong men that are willing to work hard. Mixing by hand: To run one machine, 8 men are required. This excludes the carrying of the cement to the production area, curing of the blocks, stockpiling and sieving of the soil. All activities other than running of the machine must be done by separate personnel. The block production team and function of each of the 8 men area as follows: Machine operator. Soil loading by bucket. Carrying blocks 2 persons. Mixing of first mix. Mixing of first mix. Mixing of second mix. Mixing of second mix.

14.2

14.3

14.4

The second mix is the most crucial mix, if the second mix is not always 100% ready, the machine will have to stop, and wait for the mixing to be completed. If the machine stops, production will fall by 4 blocks per minute. Therefore if the machine stops, between each and every mix for only 7 minutes to catch up, the production will fall by 30 blocks per mix. To produce 1 500 blocks per day 15-20 mixes are normally done. The production would drop by almost 600 blocks per day if there were a 7minute delay per mix waiting for the second mix to catch up.
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Pan mixer: If a pan mixer is being used then the labour complement numbers 7 as follows: - Machine operator - Soil loader - Stacker/block carrier x 2 persons - Mixer soil loader - Cement and water loader - Mixer discharger 14.5 Production pay is normally the most effective method of paying the block production team. The team is paid a fixed amount per good quality finished blocks. The incentive will ensure production is maximized while ensuring the team will always have a goal to increase their daily pay. Example: 8 men X daily labour rate/1 500 blocks = value of labour for 1 block. Curing is extremely important and should be done by a responsible person who is separate from the 8-man team. This person should also be used to carry the cement bags before production begins and also to prepare the ground for the newly stacked blocks. Tools should be of good quality and there should be no shortage of tools forcing people to share.

14.6

14.7

14.8

Lunchtime- before the team goes on lunch, they should prepare the mix for after lunch, the cement bags should be placed on top of the soil ready to be opened and spread out over the soil. No mix must be left unused before lunch, if the cement has been mixed into the soil it must be used before lunch. The lunchtime must be strictly monitored, keeping in mind that 4 blocks production is lost per minute when the machine is not running. After lunch the full team should help to get the first mix ready. End of the day- before packing up, the soil must be measured out for the following days first two mixes (without adding cement). The machine must be filled with Diesel and cleaned. The next morning there must be no delay, the machine should be ready to run within 10 minutes after work begins.

14.9

14.10 The blockyard should be set out properly with sufficient space to move freely. The blocks should be set out neatly to not waste space. 1500 blocks should take up approximately 1,8m x 12m.

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15. BLOCKYARD LAYOUT FOR ONE MACHINE

HYDRAFORM MIDRAND BLOCKYARD (not to scale)

BLOCK PACKING AREA

BLOCK PACKING AREA B L O C K P A C K I N G A R E A B L O C K P A C K I N G A R E A B L O C K P A C K I N G A R E A B L O C K P A C K I N G A R E A

1 5 0 0 B L C K S

1 5 0 0 B L O C K S

1 5 0 0 B L O C K S

1 5 0 0 B L O C K S

1 5 0 0 B L O C K S

1 5 0 0 B L O C K S

1 5 0 0 B L O C K S

1 5 0 0 B L O C K S

M7
CEMENT STORE
COVERED MIXING AREA 6 X 2 METERS W A T E R

BLOCKS

T A N K

6 X 3 METERS 50M

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Annexure 1 HATZ DIESEL SERVICING THE 1D81

1.1 Engine

Air filter element

Fuel filter element

Oil filter element

Changing engine oil

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1.2

Removing air filter

Undo wing nut by hand

Remove housing cover

Remove air filter elements

Wipe the housing clean

Check this seal, if broken, replace

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1.3

Replacing air filter element

Fit new air filter elements

Replace housing cover

Tighten wing nut by hand

1.4

Oil check and oil filter

The oil filter is under this cover

Check oil level here-on-dip stick

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1.5

To check the oil

To check the oil level Pull out the dipstick and check the oil level on the mark. Wipe the dipstick clean and replace

1.6

To replace the oil filter

Use a no 22 mm socket to remove oil filter cover

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1.7

Fit new oil filter

Remove old oil filter and replace with new

Wipe this area clean before replacing cover

1.8

Oil filter housing

Housing with filter removed

1.9

Fuel Filter

This is the fuel filter

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1.10

To replace fuel filter

Use the filter strap to remove the filter Turn to the left to undo

1.11

Remove and fit new filter

Remove old fuel filter and fit new Put a little oil on the rubber seal Tighten new filter by hand do not over tighten

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1.12

Draining the engine oil

This is where you drain the engine oil

Use a no. 19 mm socket to undo the drain plug Turn to the left

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Place a container below the drain plug for the oil to drain out

Fit a new washer before replacing the drain plug

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1.13

Fill with new oil

And a clean container When filling the engine oil

Use a clean funnel

This is where you bleed the fuel system

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Use a 17 mm spanner to loosen bolt turn to the left until the diesel starts flowing. Let the diesel flow for a few seconds till all the air bubbles are gone Do not remove the bolt Retighten the bolt

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