This week, emerging from lots of dust, rubble, and a great deal of hard work, we bring you the first progress update from our Gordon’s Bay Education Centre Primary School Classroom Build…
We began work downstairs as a matter of urgency because the downstairs extension was poorly built. Considering it literally cut into a mountainside there was no drainage system let alone a waterproofing layering in the floor or wall. For the past two years, with all the glorious rainfall the Cape has so enjoyed, this space has been flooded relentlessly.
So, the first phase was “DOWNSTAIRS” which will become a classroom space for the primary school children; a space that will be durable for lots of activity and fun learning. The first step was… DEMOLITION! Oh, the noise and dust, but how exhilarating to finally be starting to fix a problem that has hindered us for two years.
After discovering that there was a single skin of brick between the classroom and the mountain, we understood the problem more and more; the rainwater gushing down the mountainside had nowhere to go and when water is trapped, we all know that it can find even the tiniest cracks to seep through. So, the team dug away a 1m trench of soil that had been built up against the outside wall and allowed for a drainage system to help this water escape outside into our garden and not our classroom. Fortunately, it rained on and off enough times that we were able to test whether the interventions had worked.
Now that we were sure the flooding issue had been addressed, the team began the very satisfying job of smoothing off the surfaces with screed and plastering walls. Thinking about it now, we are sorry we didn’t film this and upload it as some kind of meditative footage to calm you down… throughout the next plastering job we promise to.
Also, we bashed out walls in the bathroom to reconfigure the layout and the large sliding door was removed. There were a few areas that need patching up and rebuilding with bricks. Regan is the brick wizard and he set to work to show off his skills.
Talking of wizards, wait until you see the magic that the tilers have created in the bathroom. Claudia gave them a challenging pattern to follow; her way of making cheap tiles seem more exciting.
Now, we’d love to show you this downstairs area all finished but we’re going to save that surprise for the end… the big reveal! What we will say is that the next update involves A LOT MORE demolition and the entire roof of the building coming off!
