Here’s day one of the floor-finishing fest. Day two soon.
.
Anthony, whose shop this is, is making a small table for my refrigerator to fit on. That will open up some counter space in the kitchen.
Three charter members of the preschool across the road from us.
Puppy, a new mother, had this dietary supplement this morning. You can tell by the two small horns that it is the head of a dik dik, which the dogs must have tracked down in the night.
Today we started the final finish for the floor. First we had to rough up the concrete sub-floor.
Then we laid down a very wet layer of mortar, cement and sand. That's the light grey stuff on the bottom.
A two inch layer of very dry mortar goes on top of that. It looks like sand here.
The dry stuff gets compacted
to a depth predetermined
by the site level.
A little water on top and some trowel work and it's ready for the next step.
Which is to mix white cement with this stuff, yellow oxide powder from India, in a 2.5 to 1 ratio.
This is what you get.
Some in a bucket with the right amount of water,
a witch's stir, and ...a kind of cake batter.
This is where real skill is called for. Japolo, our hired gun, has it.
Using a rectangular trowel, also called a spreader, in a motion that's most like a pastry chef frosting a big cake
without ever leaving a seam, he spread the yellow mixture in a very thin,
very even layer over the whole floor surface.
systematically
painting himself
out of
the picture.
A small dam of river sand at in the doorway
and some dam water will keep the new finish submerged for a week so the cement will cure properly and not crack.
.
See you in the next room,
.
David
Posted on November 15th, 2009 by david
Filed under: Recent News
David, will these have the look of the floors we often marveled at in Lamu?
G
Yes. And also some of the ones in Tuscany, too. The color will fade after curing and days of polishing.
D
Beautiful. Japolo could get himself some work in Tuscany, too.
Why the elliptical strokes, like planetary spheres? I know there’s some good functional reason. They’re also beautiful in their own right.
Who’s Bon Iver? I’m showing my ignorance here.
Chris
Hi Chris,
The elliptical strokes, when done right, leave no “last mark,” so to speak. A continuous erasing of the slightly raised line left by the spreader. Also, when all is said and done, there are several loose rows of these ellipses that are quite attractive and subtle and feminine in their curvature.
Bon Iver (good winter), terrific band. Justin Vernon and a few friends. YouTube them. Stacks, for Emma, the acapella version, Flume, etc. Lovely.
David
This floor transformation reflects skill and artistry.
)
Simply ” floored’ by the talent! .
Blessings to all of you. Thurs is Thanksgiving.
I bookmarked your site, as it is exciting to view the evolution.
The beautiful pictures are vivid shots of what a day is like there.
.
Such brilliant and loving work.. keep at it!
Now I want to give Bon Iver a listen for the first time and enjoy the moment.
Smiles across the miles.
P