Professional Documents
Culture Documents
STEP (1)
Architect Drawings drawn up and approved by the city council. Make sure you hire an architect that
insists on visiting your stand in order to come up with the house design, this will ensure a design that
takes advantage of your stand positioning and orientation. Remember that Zimbabwe is in the
southern hemisphere therefore your houses (main living areas) should face north in order to get the
most sunlight.
The boundary pegs are already found and on view
Builder gets all required approvals for construction to begin
Your engineer will study the new house plans and specify where you will require certain beams,
structures and reinforcing, particularly with a double storey and sloping plots.
The Engineer will draw technical specifications which illustrate where the structural re-inforcing has
to be placed and how it is to be designed.
A copy of each engineers drawing are handed to the Building Contractor, Architect, Owner,
Municipality, (for inclusion with your original drawings). The Engineer will inspect each selected area
as it is finished before signing each one off.
GEO-TECHNICAL REPORT - The Engineer will require a report on your plot for samples of soil.
Depending on soil type, extra foundations or re-inforcing have to be built into the structure for
safety. Holes are dug all over the site and at different depths. Soil samples are analyzed.
Reports on these samples are given to the Engineer who can then establish where the re-inforcing
and strength is required. Get the Geo-tech report done whether it is required or not for the safety of
your family and your building in the event of poor soil.
Clay is the worst soil type and requires special foundations.
STEP (2)
Erect Wooden cabin (this will be used by the guy that looks after your stand and for the storage of
building materials. We recommend a 6x3 cabin.
The municipality will require a connection fee to erect a tap for you to get connected to the main
water supply and thereby water to site, if there is no water connection a 50 000litre water tank is
recommended ($550). It costs $50 to fill such a container.
Temporary toilet erected in place and connected
The site is leveled and cleared.
STEP (3)
Site is surveyed and marked out for building foundations.
Exact positioning of the home is marked.
STEP (4)
Foundation trenches are dug Plumbing line is dug and run from street to site
STEP (5)
Concrete is poured into the foundation trenches with re-inforcing steel where and if required.
Your steel and reinforcing contractor will have drawings from your engineers as well as other plans
of your building site. He will know exactly how and where to place his steelwork.
Steel normally comes in long rods which are bent and 'tied' together in major areas for support and
structural re-inforcing. Also done in Columns which are load bearing and in foundations, decking,
boundary retaining walls.
Steelwork is an essential element of a building and so too is it an expensive one. If any unusual
building is envisaged it normally involves steelwork and re-inforcing specialists. Your re-inforcing
Company must come recommended, registered and with good references.
STEP (6)
Foundation brickwork is built up
STEP (7)
Soil dug out of foundation trenches is backfilled and compacted.
STEP (8)
Soil is treated with a poison for ants (termites)
STEP (9)
DPC plastic damp proof sheeting is laid. (black sheeting) 200 microns minimum
Bricks are laid and built up
Re-inforcing steel and wire mesh is placed
Electrical conduit pipes and plumbing systems are installed and left exposed
Cement slab is poured
Brickwork is built up
Second floor deck is built up with metal plates on scaffolding in a double storey or flat roof home Reinforcing steel Concrete is poured and left to cure for a few days
DECKING If you are building a double storey then a decking contractor will position scaffolding
throughout your new home with large metal plates. After the steelwork (reinforcing) is in place on
these metal plates, concrete will be poured or pumped onto these and left for a few days to cure for
your second level flooring slab. A skilled, expensive and time consuming job.
It will include your engineer, the building contractor and his labour force, the steel re-inforcing
contractor, the municipality, the decking contractor, the cement contractor and hiring of pumps to
relay the concrete up and into. An extremely large deck should be done with a reputable contractor
to avoid any weakness in the mix and avoiding a "cold join."
And brickwork built up
Roof trusses are placed on walls
Roof Timber is painted with wood preserve
Beam fill brickwork fill between timber trusses
Plastic Sheeting placed on roof
Roof batons are placed
Tiles are placed
would want a power point and for what. Make sure there are enough power points within each
room to avoid using multi-adaptors.
STEP (11)
Floors are screeded - A light cement and sand mixture is placed and "floated" onto the slab for level
flooring
STEP (12)
Window and Door lintels are built in as the brickwork goes up
Window and Door Frames are installed
STEP (13)
Exterior Doors are installed
Entrance doors must preferably be solid wood.
The sculptured doors with different designs on them look beautiful on any home (if you can afford
them).
One can buy all sorts of different doors but commonly moulded hollow core doors are used for
interior.
Fire doors are used for entrances from your garage into the home.
The carpenter fits the window and door frames to the specified areas.
He hangs the doors into the door frames and if necessary uses a PLAINER to shave off pieces of the
door top or bottom to fit AFTER the tiler has been and gone.
He drills and gauges the cavity for the locks within the doors and fits the hinges, handles and locks
etc. The carpenter is a busy man without a doubt and his job is also to cut, nail and wood glue the
skirting boards around the bottom of all the walls AFTER the TILER has laid his tiles. A tip is to paint,
varnish or stain the skirting boards if they aren't already BEFORE they are nailed down, otherwise
some poor soul will have a very long and fatiguing task painting them down on the floor.
STEP (14)
Interior and Exterior Walls are plastered
STEP (15)
Glass is fitted into windows
Windows can make a luxurious home look very plain indeed. Send for catalogues of available
window sizes and shapes and so on. In most cases you can get windows specially designed for your
home bearing in mind frames must be inserted between glass (if it is a large window) for safety and
strength.
A window sill can be wide or narrow, painted or face brick, quarry tiled, plastered or wood.
Aluminium frames are less maintenance and don't rust. A timber frame will look shabby quite
quickly unless you are fastidious in the varnishing, sealing and cleaning. Your glassing contractor
measures frames and fits glass. Different glass textures can be chosen for different rooms. For
example a downstairs bathroom would require a FROSTED GLASS. Glass can be tinted for glare.
STEP (16)
Ceilings are installed Conices are installed If you are having a tiled and timber roof then the
carpenter will install RHINO BOARD (ceiling board) onto the walls. He will then plaster this ceiling
board with a thin coat of RHINO LITE for a smooth finish. These boards are not large enough to cover
the space of an entire room so CEILING BOARD TAPE is used to tape the sections together. The
RHINO LITE is plastered over this. This sets very hard and when dry can be primed and painted.
The carpenter places the CONICES the (the ornamental moulding) onto the ceiling and the wall. This
seals the gap between the two. The conices are nailed and glued into place. If there is a slight gap
where the plastered wall does not meet the Conice evenly a FILLER is smoothed into the gaps and
once painted won't be noticed. Flat roofs do not require conices (a saving) and only if you specifically
want the decorative look of them. Conice fitting is a lengthy, messy job indeed. However these days
some beautiful WOODEN conices are available and are neater and easier to fit and work with.
STEP (17)
Baths and showers installed It is essential to waterproof all showers.
STEP (18)
Waterproofing a flat roof involves using a bituminous primer which is laid onto the roof and then a
torch is fired onto that, melting the primer onto the cement as a waterproofing system.
STEP (19)
Drills holes through ceiling for electrical light fixtures
STEP (20)
Electrician pulls his wires through conduit pipes
STEP (21)
Plumber lays his pipes
STEP (22)
Window sills are placed
STEP (23)
Ceilings and Conices are painted
STEP (24)
Walls are painted inside There are different interior and exterior paints for different areas in the
home.
STEP (25)
Walls are painted outside If your home is face brick then a brick sealer is painted over the bricks
STEP (26)
Baths and Basins are installed complete including toilet roll holders etc.
STEP (27)
Geysers are either placed within the roof on a lintel or inside the home within an area specified on
the house plans. The PLUMBER must be responsible for laying the pipes for sewerage, storm drains,
drain pipes, down pipes, guttering and connects to the municipal mains at the road verge. He should
be responsible for the fitting of your baths, toilets, basins, taps and geysers, including the supporting
STEP (31)
Curtain Rails are installed Skirting laid down
STEP (32)
Lights and switches are fitted Stoves etc. are fitted and connected
STEP (33)
Electrician Lays cable Electrician connects up
STEP (34)
Kitchen cupboards are installed Get the best you can afford for kitchen furnishings. The kitchen is
the busiest area in the home and requires adequate space
STEP (35)
Built-In cupboards are fitted
STEP (36)
Ballustrading, security gates are fitted Get various quotes for metal work you require. Burglar
guards, security gates, driveway gates, dog control gates, fencing and automation. If affordable get
the biggest and fastest motor for your driveway gate as the cost is negligible and you might want to
put in a heavier and higher gate at a later date. All metal work should be galvanized without
exception. If not you will have a rust problem very quickly, especially at the coast. Rusting burglar
guards are dirty and smelly and become very hard to repair once the rust process has begun.
STEP (37)
site is cleaned up and rubble removed
STEP (38)
Alarm is installed
STEP (39)
The driveway is paved Driveway gates are fitted
STEP (40)
Washing Line poles are cemented in place
STEP (41)
Landscaping and instant lawn is laid
STEP (42)
A 3 months maintenance period is then lapsed and any defects in the home are rectified.
BUILDING FAULTS A new building will suffer from plaster cracks and in most cases are not serious.
The dried plaster forms hair-line and perhaps in some cases larger cracks mostly around windows
and doorways. In some cases the conices will lift from the walls after movement or 'settling' in of
your new home. Most of these cracks are in the horizonal. A good filler and touch up is all that is
needed.
However more serious cracks caused by foundation movement are much wider and normally run in
the vertical. These should be seen by a qualified person or inspector who will advise you what action
to take to rectify the problem.
STEP (43)
An inspector from the Municipality Local Authority will do a FINAL INSPECTION to see that your
house has been erected according to the plans specified and you must give him the original
certificates for safe-keeping.
STEP (44)
Local authority issues a the home owner a CERTIFICATE OF HABITATION.
STEP (45)
Move IN!