Work on Block B looks like it might finally get on its way!Today when I visited the site hoping to meet Ntate Sello and discuss the courtyard and the “DPM sandwich”, I was very happy to discover that the Roof Structure man was back and had started to erect one of the roundavlos.
It should have started last week, but anyway I’m actually happy that it started now… I already had to rectify a small detail, an maybe if they had done it lat week this week we would be discussing the same problems as we had on Block A. What is past is past and now we should only look ahead and carry on to finish this building ASAP.
Ntate Sello was not there, he had to come to Maseru to buy extra materials, but he told me that I could show Tau how to do the “DPM sandwich”. Upturning the DPM is not a standard practice in Lesotho, and it had been causing great problems so in order to make everyone’s life a little easier and allow us to move forwards, we have devised a solution that avoids the use of mesh! It’s actually quite simple, behind the existing plastic DPM you paint a Bituminous layer (2 coats, one pure paint, the second, at right angles, mixed with ruff sand, then over this mix you sprinkle extra sand, the whole purpose of this recipe is to provide a good key for the plaster), now that you have your Bituminous layer you upturn the plastic DPM and cast your sand and cement screed. After that you can cut the excess plastic DPM because (hopefully) the pressure from the sand/cement screed plus the 50mm overlap of DPMs will be enough to make it continuous. It is not an ideal solution but I believe it will work!
This is supposed to be last month here, to finish the LCCU and go home, but never have I received so many requests for new projects. I cannot start them and follow them through to the end so I’ve sent them all to “London”, for A4A to decide whether it is possible for them to commit to these new proposals.
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