One Building’s Construction

Its another dreary day of Huê’s rainy season, but work continues.  Notice the bricks on the top – it appears a small room is being built atop the third floor.  This is a common place to add a laundry/storage/kid room – most of the other houses in the neighborhood have such a room perched on top.  At the extreme left of the picture a similar room can be seen.  The wall around the house is now being built, and the entrance gate’s construction is underway.

Today, we get our first peek inside.  Paul and Mel were correct – all those bags of cement are being used to finish the interior walls.  As I prowled around, I found that the room seen in the photos and seen from the outside is the only room where finishing has begun.  Notice there is no drywall – the finish is essentially fine cement applied directly to brick.  Paint will eventually go on the cement.

And this is how its done.  The woman mixes the cement, sand and water on the dirt floor using the “mound-of-mashed-potatoes-with-a-gravy-filled-crater” method.  She then tosses a shovel full up to a man on the scaffold.

The crew has gotten used to seeing me.  Today I spent time building relationships – in good Vietnamese fashion.  Digital cameras are wonderful for making friends – folks can see themselves in an instant.

Comments

[Paul Stanley]

In Colombia, the little room on the top was usually a utility room for doing laundry. There was a tap and sometimes a sink, then a place to dry the clothes outside or under a roof for when it is raining. Otherwise, the construction is very similar to Colombia so far. Note how the put in wood jambs for the windows and then run the finish plaster right up to it. I bet they'll be wood windows, as that is what I saw in most new homes while in Vietnam. The doors were generally wood and almost always lacquered, not painted. That's a luxury here in the states, but with labor so cheap in Vietnam it seems to be the norm.

[layered]

Nice touch with the decorative pilaster capital detail, and the ceiling coffer detailing.
They will also need a lot of cement bags to plaster the exterior of the building.
Please check to see how many coats of plaster they install over the brick or clay tile.
thanks,
-- Mel