house building

HOME BUILDING IN ITALY

Building a house in Italy is a long and painstaking business.
The number of permissions and stamps to collect is endless. There are so many obscure entities that you need to consult and make applications and ask permissions and fees to pay and wait, wait and wait. Usually it takes one year to collect everything and be ready to start.

This is the floor plan of my house. Area is about 1300 square ft divided in to 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, living room, study and kitchen. The basement has the same plan and is divided in to garage, utilities room, storage and about 600 square feet that can be dedicated to hobbies.

Summer 1999. This is the land where I'll build my house. Roads, electricity, water etc. are City responsibility once they approve a new subdivision and they will do it, but at their convenience. For now, I had to pay to have the building permit and then bring water and electricity at my expense.

26 Sep 1999. The contractor just fenced in the construction site. The signs on the left show informations about customer, contractor. On the background, digging for the foundations just started.

28 Sep 1999. The dig is almost finished. Top soil is about one foot deep and then there is very compact gravel. This is the ideal ground for construction because water drainage is excellent. Also, the weight of the house is distribuited very uniformly.

1 Oct 1999. A thin layer of concrete is poured and then the laying of steel is started. The grid will reinforce the platform and the cages are where the columns will rise. On the center, just on the rim of the dig, is the setup to cut and bend the steel bars. This structure looks like an overkill, but the seismic risk here is very high and we take the building code very seriously.

14 Oct 1999. The platform is finished. Thickness is 20" , about 5000 cubic feet of concrete and 8000 lb of steel. It is designed to stand a 8.0 earthquake with no damage. The bars sticking out are the anchorage for the columns.

1 Nov 1999. The wooden forms to cast the columns that will support the first floor are finished. Also, a reinforced containment wall is being prepared. The inner walls of the basement will be laid out with bricks at about 3' of distance, leaving a cavity that will act as a barrier for moisture.

8 Nov 1999. The containment wall and columns have been cast. Forming for the sidewalk around the house and for the beams of the first floor is ongoing.

8 Nov 1999. View from below. The diagonal thing in the center is the forming for the basement stairs.

28 Nov 1999. Forming for the first floor is almost finished. The steel bars cages that will became the beams, can be seen on the left side; one is a diagonal brown line and one is horizontal. The space between main beams is bridged with prefabricated joists and the gaps closed with perforated bricks. Then concrete will be poured all over.

4 Dec 1999. First floor and sidewalk have been cast. Forming of the columns supporting the ceiling is ongoing.

16 Dec 1999. The columns supporting the ceiling and the roof have been cast. Ceiling beams forming is ongoing. The gap between first floor and the sidewalk will be closed with perforated bricks of 1' of thickness. The same will be done for the outside walls between the pillars.

16 Dec 1999. From this view is clear the layout of the ceiling beams structure.

30 Dec 1999. The ceiling has been poured. The structure is very similar to that of the first floor, this means that the attic can be used with no limitations on load. The columns extension to support the roof are being formed.

30 Jan 2000. Scaffolding for the roof structure is almost ready. This is the most complicated structure due to the sloping sides and to the overhanging of cornice. On the center is the most interesting structure, the patio cover supported by two round concrete columns.

4 Feb 2000. Finally, after one month of work, the roof is now cast in place and it is ready to receive the tiles cover.

4 Feb 2000. Details of the wooden scaffolding over which the patio cover has been cast.

12 Feb 2000. This is a detailed view of the patio cover. It is evident how the roof is a continous slab of reinforced concrete supported by the extension of the main columns and not touching the ceiling in any place. It is a pity that the concrete structure will disappear under the masonry.

3 Mar 2000. Finally the roof received the tiles cover and copper gutter system. Also the chimney for the heating system and fireplace are in place. All the internal scaffolding has been removed and everything is ready to start the masonry. On the right are visible several pallets of bricks. It is tradiction to erect the national flag once the roof is finished.

13 Mar 2000. This is a close-up of the bricks that are used for the external walls. They have very good thermal isolation properties because of the alveolar structure and the clay is very porous. But they are also very strong and can carry a lot of load. The thickness of the resulting wall is 30 cm. For the internal partitioning walls, there is a thinner one, 8 cm, that gives a good noise isolation between rooms.

13 Mar 2000. This is the machine that is used to mix the mortar used for the brick laying. It's italian name is molazza.

1 Apr 2000. The masonry is finished. The external wall bricks are laid down with about 5 cm overhang of the concrete structure. Then the concrete is covered with a thin brick, the darker strips, to isolate it from the exterior. Infact, concrete is a very good heat conductor and you want to avoid to have thermal bridges across your external walls.

1 Apr 2000. This is how the internal partitional walls and ceiling looks like. They do not bear any structural load, but they are strong enough to have any kind of fixture attached to them, like doors, windows, cabinets etc.

1 Apr 2000. This is the house against the sorroundings. The next phase will be more demanding because of the many contractors I'll have to coordinate, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, plaster .... My schedule is to move-in before winter

To be continued .......

	This is the floor plan of my house. Area is about 1300 square ft divided in to 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, living room, study and kitchen. The basement has the same plan and is divided in to garage, utilities room, storage and about 600 square feet that can be dedicated to hobbies.
	Summer 1999. This is the land where I'll build my house. Roads, electricity, water etc. are City responsibility once they approve a new subdivision and they will do it, but at their convenience. For now, I had to pay to have the building permit and then bring water and electricity at my expense.
	26 Sep 1999. The contractor just fenced in the construction site. The signs on the left show informations about customer, contractor. On the background, digging for the foundations just started.
	28 Sep 1999. The dig is almost finished. Top soil is about one foot deep and then there is very compact gravel. This is the ideal ground for construction because water drainage is excellent. Also, the weight of the house is distribuited very uniformly.
	1 Oct 1999. A thin layer of concrete is poured and then the laying of steel is started. The grid will reinforce the platform and the cages are where the columns will rise. On the center, just on the rim of the dig, is the setup to cut and bend the steel bars. This structure looks like an overkill, but the seismic risk here is very high and we take the building code very seriously.
	14 Oct 1999. The platform is finished. Thickness is 20" , about 5000 cubic feet of concrete and 8000 lb of steel. It is designed to stand a 8.0 earthquake with no damage. The bars sticking out are the anchorage for the columns.
	1 Nov 1999. The wooden forms to cast the columns that will support the first floor are finished. Also, a reinforced containment wall is being prepared. The inner walls of the basement will be laid out with bricks at about 3' of distance, leaving a cavity that will act as a barrier for moisture.
	8 Nov 1999. The containment wall and columns have been cast. Forming for the sidewalk around the house and for the beams of the first floor is ongoing.
	8 Nov 1999. View from below. The diagonal thing in the center is the forming for the basement stairs.
	28 Nov 1999. Forming for the first floor is almost finished. The steel bars cages that will became the beams, can be seen on the left side; one is a diagonal brown line and one is horizontal. The space between main beams is bridged with prefabricated joists and the gaps closed with perforated bricks. Then concrete will be poured all over.
	4 Dec 1999. First floor and sidewalk have been cast. Forming of the columns supporting the ceiling is ongoing.
	16 Dec 1999. The columns supporting the ceiling and the roof have been cast. Ceiling beams forming is ongoing. The gap between first floor and the sidewalk will be closed with perforated bricks of 1' of thickness. The same will be done for the outside walls between the pillars.
	16 Dec 1999. From this view is clear the layout of the ceiling beams structure.
	30 Dec 1999. The ceiling has been poured. The structure is very similar to that of the first floor, this means that the attic can be used with no limitations on load. The columns extension to support the roof are being formed.
	30 Jan 2000. Scaffolding for the roof structure is almost ready. This is the most complicated structure due to the sloping sides and to the overhanging of cornice. On the center is the most interesting structure, the patio cover supported by two round concrete columns.
	4 Feb 2000. Finally, after one month of work, the roof is now cast in place and it is ready to receive the tiles cover.
	4 Feb 2000. Details of the wooden scaffolding over which the patio cover has been cast.
	12 Feb 2000. This is a detailed view of the patio cover. It is evident how the roof is a continous slab of reinforced concrete supported by the extension of the main columns and not touching the ceiling in any place. It is a pity that the concrete structure will disappear under the masonry.
	3 Mar 2000. Finally the roof received the tiles cover and copper gutter system. Also the chimney for the heating system and fireplace are in place. All the internal scaffolding has been removed and everything is ready to start the masonry. On the right are visible several pallets of bricks. It is tradiction to erect the national flag once the roof is finished.
	13 Mar 2000. This is a close-up of the bricks that are used for the external walls. They have very good thermal isolation properties because of the alveolar structure and the clay is very porous. But they are also very strong and can carry a lot of load. The thickness of the resulting wall is 30 cm. For the internal partitioning walls, there is a thinner one, 8 cm, that gives a good noise isolation between rooms.
	13 Mar 2000. This is the machine that is used to mix the mortar used for the brick laying. It's italian name is molazza.
	1 Apr 2000. The masonry is finished. The external wall bricks are laid down with about 5 cm overhang of the concrete structure. Then the concrete is covered with a thin brick, the darker strips, to isolate it from the exterior. Infact, concrete is a very good heat conductor and you want to avoid to have thermal bridges across your external walls.
	1 Apr 2000. This is how the internal partitional walls and ceiling looks like. They do not bear any structural load, but they are strong enough to have any kind of fixture attached to them, like doors, windows, cabinets etc.
	1 Apr 2000. This is the house against the sorroundings. The next phase will be more demanding because of the many contractors I'll have to coordinate, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, plaster .... My schedule is to move-in before winter