Plumbing and Concrete

Wednesday was long work day. Four projects were going on simultaneously. The picture above the lower section where some of us laid plumbing for toilets, showers, and sinks, and preparing the area for the concrete floor. Another group was designing and beginning to prepare for the pouring of the floor on the upper level.A couple of Thais were mowing the soccer field. And, Connie and Faye were giving English lessons to one of our Thai hosts.


Mowing the soccer field looked like a very hard task.


Putting in the plumbing was hard work. We had to make sure the trench was sloping correctly so gravity would work to move the waste.

And, since the trench was two feet deep, that meant working in some difficult places. Mike is making sure the trench is sloping correctly and measuring the length of the pipe. We had to cut the pipe carefully to length and the

hack saw we had was not heavy enough to cut a straight line easily. So, We had to keep rotating the pipe to get decent cuts. But, with a couple of us helping, and patience, we got all the cuts made. The glue seemed to set up very quickly so we had to move fast once we applied the glue. We put in 8 toilet risers, 4 shower drain risers, and 8 sink risers and the plumbing to either drain the waste to a septic system or the gray water to the outside.Helping Mike were Chuck and Jon.


On the far end of the lower level, several people were preparing it for the concrete for the floor. The outside footer had to be uncovered, the middle cut down, trenches filled, and sand put down. That was hard work. Roger is leveling the floor by taking material used to dig a trench that was piled in the middle of the floor and filling the trench back in. Keith, David, and Tom B. were working on this end.


Hannah, le, and Jonah were the sand brigade (among other jobs they worked on). Jayla took all of the picture in todays BLOG--she did a great job. The sand had to be carried up a hill about 30 feet (10 vertical feet) and then across the lower level. At the end of the day we left the sand buckets filled and prepositioned for today's effort. Having carried some of those buckets up that hill, I can tell you that it is very hard work for sure!


The top level needed to have some concrete mixed and applied to build up one of the footers so the floor would be level. That was hard work. The concrete was hand mixed. Then Tom C.

and others up down a few inches of he concrete on the footer. Meanwhile, others were putting up the forms on the other side preparing for the floor to be poured on Friday.


The two children that are along have an amazing amount of energy. They work at tasks they are given. In the breaks and their down time, they play soccer and other things. I've never heard them complain or whine. They are great members of our team. Since Jayla was taking the pictures today, there are no pictures of her.

Jonah the Trooper

© Charles Eklund 2012