PLUMBING & ELECTRICAL
Right about now, lots begin to happen in such a project. The guts of everything from plumbing and wiring begins, the window maker begins his work on ensuring the placement of all things are done right.
The major part in this thread would be the ROOF which we will pay a little attention to and can be found lower in this post.
Im also not going to go into the nitty ditty details of what kind of pipes and grades that we used. What I will say is that throughout the home, we didnt use any copper pipes because we made a safe decision that we are going to have children and we will not have them scaled by an accidental push of hot water.
Neither am I going into the pump we are using for the house because for what we need, our Grundfos is doing well for a 4 room home. And neither am I going to delve into shit like what kind of water filter we are using, and all that stuff. All of this is really where any lowyater can continue to debate what kind of water filter is going to be best for their little puny bodies that has the least amount of purities and what kind of filters will work best for their transparent ice cubes in their cocktail glass. Forget it.
What I can share as advise / experience is that its important to do a pressure test on the property once all water pipes are in to see any leakages. Water is put into the pipes, and pressure is held for 3 - 5 days to see how much of a pressure drop there will be. Some pressure drop is expected. But here, we have a good reading at our bathroom downstairs.
If you have a double storey of any kind, ensure your pressure is taken at the lower level as that is were you will have the most pressure from. Ensure that no water is used during this time, so its best to do it on a weekend.
Pressure Testing
What I will say is that we are using the right class of pipes, and all is well. The focus will be more on the Roof.
For documenting purposes, these are some images of the wiring works and plumbing works
What I can say briefly is that we went for Mega Cables that were to be used all around throughout the property to ensure that the wires do not heat up. On specifications further, I wont bore you but we went for a decent thickness for both 20 amp and 13 amp uses respectfully.
Subsoil Drainage
Our neighbour made us get Subsoil drainage done and with Indon Design Sdn. Bhd. they installed the Pipes wrongly, they had to be corrected and lucky for me I was there. They faced the holes facing upwards towards the soil, and not downwards.
I had to correct them and they looked at me like I was the one who didnt make sense.
Well, here is a little lesson to you little lowyat folks, when it rains, water accumulates from below and raises up in the soil, and if it has nowhere to go, it will pond on the surface.
These Indons thought that water will be captured from the top of the soil and it would drain in the pipes. LOL !
A Non Woven Vinyl (Just like your Bags sold at Supermarkets) is used around the tubes to prevent soil from entering the holes drilled into the pipe, it serves as a filter around the pipe. Crusher Run or Aggregate then is used to bury the pipe in and slow down slightly the process of water accumulating quickly around the Subsoil Drain Pipe.
Covering with Crusher Run
Subsoil Drainage and Septic Chamber
Septic and Subsoil Pipes
Electrical Pipes being plastered
Electrical Pipe works
More electrical plastering works
Plumbing works and electrical works
ROOF WORKS
This is where its another milestone in progress where the home takes on a further shape. I didnt go for a Concealed roof where the property would end up looking as interesting as a Cherasville modern home. This was after all going to have a Roof visible.
I was very blessed to have my Dad's good old friend who actually is the owner of the manufacturer of the Original KLIA Aeroplane hangers roofs. This was helpful, as I know their products are damn good.
He then put me on to an installer who was just as impressive as well. We decided on something humble in materials and nothing fancy or flashy. It had to be clean and simple, thats all. No large overhangs and all that stuff.
The Roof to me had to have somewhat decent materials used and it had to make sure that it had to perform, and cool down the property well.
For most common folks, and lowyaters, the first thing that a roof will be looked at in consideration would be Colour. For us, that was just the last thing that we would look at.
The design of the Roof and materials used for Insulation, and Ventilating your roof are highly important. There are a few things that need to be considered here when looking at insulating your home and cooling it down which include
1. The height of your floors (our floors totaled in at the maximum height allowed from council)
2. Your plaster ceiling height
3. Where your hot air is rising from the building
4 The colour of your Roof - if its reflective like Silver, or is it some Cheras Trendy Dark Grey ?
5. Insulation - be it on the Bubbles, Rockwool or other materials
6. Thickness of your Insulation
7. Roof Ventilation - to allow for air to pass freely in the Roof so Hot Air is not trapped. We used breeze blocks to allow for air to move in and out
8. Electrically Vent / Mechanical Vents (this we didnt do, but its ok)
So while Lowyat folks look at what colour would be nice as starters, it requires a bit of intelligence.
Even our trusses used were not the light blue ones, they are of a better thickness and load bearing. Something lowyaters dont know about ;)
Today, Im happy to say that our roof works pretty well, and in the hot months, the building inside is cool, and in the rainy months, its a bit warmer inside. The building insulates itself very well and keeps everyone comfortable. We dont turn on Airconds in the day at all, we just turn them on at night.
These Roof Boys were something, and they worked fast and professionally, showing up on time early. Did that make our Indons work any different ? No
I managed to climb up on the Water Tank level, and this was what I saw, I like it
Ill find a way some day to have some plants cover the view of the homes, and just have the skies and trees visible one day
Trusses start coming up quick
By the next day more was fixed
Beautiful Skies
The Roof is not connected here, as the Water Tank Slab sits here
By the 3rd day
All fixed and ready, but we cant move on
It would take another 3 weeks more because,....
Our guys didnt finish the Roof Brick works
Thats due to the many breaks that they have. You cant get upset, its good, because the slower they run, the slower we pay them
24th September
Our Roof material arrives. No, we are not using tiles like tradtional old PJ Homes, we went for Sheets. In a Natural Silver colour. Wasting no time, the whole process of installing the roof will be finished in just 5 days, but it took our workers 2 weeks to do their little brick work.
The Sheets are good as well as its also a safety measure from thieves who have climbed in through roof tiles into peoples homes.
In addition, the sheets unlike Tiles, are less heavier and also faster to install.
Sheets arrive
This will reflect the Suns heat well
Finally the Trusses are done due to our Workers
Insulation also arrives
Our Ventilation Blocks / Breeze Blocks will allow for air to pass through freely, there is no worry for rain entering these blocks, it also is applied with Aluminium Mesh so insects, lizards and birds do not find their way into the Roof
Fascia Board is being installed with 9mm thick Cement Board
Envy this guy what he is able to see from our Roof. Visible here is also our Ventilation Blocks on the other side of the building
Gutters are installed. We went for a simple looking gutter, nothing fancy
Gutter Works going on
Roof Sheets going up, its a nice Silver
Insulation Sheets are all done within abut half a day once they are in place and cut to size and mounted in right
Flashing Works being done at the corners of the Roof
And Voila, as quick as a Lowyater can give you the price of how much will a Tong Roro cost, we have our Roof. Its really nice because the Roof colours adjusts in time with the change of weather. Its a bit darker when its coloudy, its a lighter when its Sunny
Im sure all of this could have been done in a much shorter time of a week, but well, what can you do with people who work slower. Maybe they want more wages out of their employers. Maybe they are not paid enough. Who knows. We were dealt this time with these blokes.
Now starts the process of Plastering which will be in the next Part. Visible here is also some plastering works done. This is where our boys will reveal a great talent and suddenly, all is revealed what their true talent and work experience is all about.
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