Virtual-Doug

One Building’s Construction

How about marble for your stair steps?  Pretty classy, eh?  They were just beginning the installation of the slabs when I was there, and I was asked to be careful when walking on them.  On the second floor I found two workmen preparing interior doors for installation, and these too looked quite nice.   Notice the blue tarp on the floor to protect the newly installed tile flooring.

In the next room, another worker was hanging out the window to spray stain on the window frames.  Safety rules?  What safety rules?

Alas, with only three weeks to go before our departure, I won’t see anyone move into the house.  I guess that will have to wait until our first return visit.

One Building’s Construction

Okay – its been awhile since I’ve written about the new house, but the folks have been working.  My bum ankle prevented me from walking across the street, but now that it has healed, its time to check out the construction.

Looking nice on the outside.  All the window frames are in, and the base coat of paint has been applied.  The faux brick tiles look nice, as does the wall and fence.

But most of the recent work has been on the inside.  All the interior walls have now been finished – and rather nicely too.  Of course, the stairs need a little work . . .  For reasons I don’t understand, most interior walls of nicer homes in the Huê area are painted the same shade of buttery yellow.

The majority of the work being done is installing flooring.  One almost always walks on either cement or tile in a Vietnamese home.  This makes for very “live” rooms.  I have never seen carpeting in any home, except for the occasional throw rug.  By the way, I have noticed that the same crew has been working on the house since the beginning – the workers seem to be “jack of all trades” kind of people. Of course, some specialty areas, such as plumbing or electrical work, require skilled workers, but most of the rest is done by the same people.  I see the same guys doing tile work who did the wall finishing who did the foundation pouring who did the window installation.

Have you noticed how long this house has taken to build?  We started following this on September 17th   – and it has a long way to go before anybody lives in it.  There are no quick construction methods here – labor is cheap.

One Building’s Construction

I had noticed some nice new decorative brickwork on the outside recently, and that piqued my curiosity.  A visit was in order  – but nobody was on the construction site except the kind old gentleman who sleeps there at night as a guard.  I’ve never heard him talk, though he is very friendly, and always has a smile for me.  He waved me through the gate, and let it be known I was welcome to wander around as I chose.

I noticed that the layouts of the second and third floors are exactly the same, with small balconies off the bedrooms, and bathrooms for each bedroom.  Only a few of the windows and doors are not installed yet.  This shot gives you a look at the new tan brick as well as the metal railings for the narrow balconies, and the wooden window frames.

Work is starting on the kitchen.  This will be a good-sized room.  Most Vietnamese kitchens are rather spare with only a few appliances and furnishings. I will be curious to know if the sink is set up with hot water as all the kitchens I have seen in Việt Nam do not have it.

I’m having my doubts the house will be completed by the time we leave in June.  I guess I’ll just have to come back to see, eh?

One Building’s Construction

Its been a month since we last looked at the new house.  In fact, it has been five months since we began watching this house last September.  Having taken five months to get this far, I doubt if the house will be ready earlier than next September..

All the work being done now is on the walls, both inside and out.  The same crew does all the finishing work, though the number in the crew seems to vary between three and six.  As far as I can tell, the interior and exterior walls are finished with the same material.  In an earlier post, I described how the cement (its not plaster) is mixed.  Its brought to the application men by the bucket.  One man applies the cement, another spreads sand on it, and a third uses a wet brush to smooth it out.

The three “regulars” know me by sight, and always wave and yell as I go by on my môto.  I need to repay their hospitality by giving them some prints of the photos I’ve taken.  One lady in particular has taken an interest in my visits.  She loves to have her picture taken.  And, with a face like hers, I love taking it. 

One Building’s Construction

I was a bit startled yesterday when I walked over to take the usual photos – and nobody was around.  The gate was padlocked.  Hmmm.  I suspect folks are getting ready for Tết.

Though the weather has been nice lately, little work has been done outside the house.  Since the gate was locked, I couldn’t get inside to see if more rooms had been finished out.

Paul had once commented that he was curious how the windows are installed in Việt Nam.  Here is a closer shot of some of the second story windows.

One Building’s Construction

Watching the new house come alive has taken a back seat to Christmas.  But – work continued.

It is now obvious that the side we have been watching most of the time will eventually have another building built right next to it.  That is very common in  Việt Nam - that a home be built within an inch of another building.  It may be awhile before the second house is built, so it is not unusual to see a house with one side devoid of windows, doors, or decoration.

Instead, we’ll focus on the other side of the house from now on.  The wall being built is obligatory.  Every house, except one belonging to a poor peasant, has a house with a walled courtyard.  I’m sure we’ll soon see a decorative gate installed.  Notice also that there is decorative work taking place on the roof.  It appears this will be a rooftop gathering place.  Work continues inside as more rooms are finished out.

One Building’s Construction

This picture is taken from a new angle. The first few pictures in this series were taken straight on – in this, I stood to the left so you could see that they have begun plastering the exterior.  Notice too that the smaller room atop the house is taking shape.

I know nothing about construction work – nothing.  But, I’ll be damned if I can understand how the cement cures and dries in this weather.  As you can see from the walls, it has been raining constantly lately.  (It is, after all, the rainy season in Huê.)  That, coupled with the extraordinarily high humidity makes for a persistent dampness.

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.

One Building’s Construction

Though it was grey and dreary, it was first day in many when it wasn’t raining, so it was a good day to pour concrete.  The same methods were used as on October 29,  though I could not tell what the concrete was poured for.

Of special interest was a temporary altar set up on two tables inside the building.  I have no idea what the altar was for – possibly one of our Vietnamese readers can help.  It disappeared after the concrete work was finished.

One Building’s Construction

There isn’t much visible progress this week, except for the huge mounds of gravel and sand out side the building. (The big pile of rock is on the other side of the site.)  There are a lot of bags of cement stored inside too.  We can expect some more concrete work soon.

Did you notice the television antenna jury-rigged to the side of the building?  There are watchmen inside all night, and they have to have something to do besides play cards all the time.

Antidote to Burnout has some wonderful pictures of the architecture in both Hà Nội  and Sài Gòn.   He can add the sort of details to the descriptions I cannot as he is an architect.  I will comment on his story about the Vietnamese not wanting to live in high rise apartments.  I have some American friends of Asian descent who live in Hà Nội and they live in a high rise – and they have commented on how uncomfortable the Vietnamese are with living in tall buildings.