Most of the people willing to have their own property are trying to avoid the developers and try to build their own, designed in conformity with their specific requirements. These people usually are initially purchasing the land and then they are contacting an architect to design the plans of the house and are contacting a registered contractor to effectively lift the building up. We do believe that for the Cyprus properties the best appreciated buildings are those made of bricks or concrete, and potential buyers are inspecting the potential house of their dreams by these aspects.
First, before building a property, the land needs preparation, which includes cleaning the vegetation, inconvenient trees and their roots, and also other obstacles, natural or built by man.
The moment the land has been cleared it can be drew and marked for the foundation of the building, down to a meter, according to the frame of the footprint of the building. Once the excavation is complete, surface has to be poured with concrete that will create a temporary layer that will support the weight of reinforced concrete columns and ground beams.
The topsoil needs to be kept following to be replaced once the building is done.
Marking the Spot Out
The moment that the site was cleared and the top soil and other objects have been removed, the plot follows to be split in a grid, where the white shapes represent the positions of pads that support the property footing.
Excavation Complete
The moment the excavations are complete for construction, around 1.5 meters deep will be the pad holes, but depending on the consistency of the land the holes may be bigger or smaller.
Footing Construction
In each hole should be put around one meter deep concrete while on top of it will be laid a steel mesh altogether with the bricks. The mesh must be handcrafted individually for each of the footings, on the spot, and it will have anchors where the column reinforcements and the ground beams for footing will be bond.
Column Steel Reinforcement
The reinforcement of each column is done now, after which each of them will be bond into the steel mesh and kept in position by wooden frames and stabilized by steel rods. After this, the concrete will be laid for half of meter to fill all the footing of the house.
In the moment that the preparation of location and footing is complete, the ground beams and the floor slabs will be built.
Ground Beam Wooden Frames
It is common practice in Cyprus to construct the frame out of wood; inside is placed the steel reinforcement and ready for the ground beams and slab to be laid. Unlike the practice from The UK, where the formwork is done in series and in standard sizes, in Cyprus the formwork is done customary for each construction.
Filling the Ground Beams
The concrete is brought to the site using ready-mix lorries and is released into the pump, which through a telescopic arm will extend to reach all the slab spots and release precisely the concrete at its position.
Compacting the Concrete
Using a vibrator the concrete will be compacted to make sure that all the empty places will be filled with concrete.
Ground Beams Completion
At the moment the concrete solidified, the wooden frame is removed to let the beams free. In the case the constructor did a proper job, there shouldn’t be any empty hole or protuberance out of the beams. The concrete should be soft and straight, without any additional shapes.
Damp Proofing
Most of the Cyprus properties suffer form damp. To avoid such a case for your construction, you need to paint the ground beam with black bituminous paint that will prevent damp entering the foundation and lifting to the walls. The moment the painting is complete, the foundation is filled with crushed limestone (havara) and it will be compacted through mechanical processes in order to form a solid base for slab.
Concrete Slab
The moment the floor slab is laid, it is compacted and leveled. The ground beams and the slab of the floor that will form the foundation is complete. Once they are complete, the work on the skeleton can proceed.
This skeleton will be made out of enforced vertical and horizontal columns and beams, and the roof skeleton. This skeleton will offer a rigid frame of the building, and in Cyprus, no matter if they are built customary or by a standard design, they must obey the Governmental regulations for anti-seismic measures.
The engineer responsible with the structure is responsible for offering the design of such structural components of the house, by using digital models to reach the requirements imposed by government to support seismic events. This model is part of the documentation for the plan and building permission.
Column Formwork
The way the column formwork is build is different from construction to construction; while some of them are secured by metal clamps at equidistant vertical intervals, others are secured by a number of metal pins that are clamped on either of the formwork sides.
Concrete Columns
Once the concrete columns are built, vibrated, dried and the case removed, the building looks more or less with Stonehenge or some ancient site that can still be found from time to time in Cyprus.
Ceiling Formwork
At the moment the concrete columns got dry the labor on lifting the formwork of the ceiling starts. Also in this case, the steel reinforcement needs to be done on site customary for the project.
Ceiling Steel Reinforcing
Once the formwork is nearly completed, the steel enforcements are mounted and bond at their places. At this time the electrician also put all the equipments for the lights and fans situated on the ceiling, and the plumber prepared the area for the pipe work in the loft space. These details must also be mentioned in the engineering page of the documentation.
Concrete Skeleton Completed
At the moment the roof is laid and the formwork removed, the reinforced skeleton of concrete is completed. At this time all the concrete is left to dry completely and the work on rook and brick walls can start.
This construction, that is different than most of the other building made by developers in Cyprus, has similar roof s those houses built in the UK and they also have a damp proof introduced to avoid any damp lifting on the walls.
Brickwork
Bricks made in Cyprus are different than those made in the UK, the standard size being 10x20 cm, or 10x20 cm. It is now only a matter of weeks to fill the walls with bricks.
Roof
Unlike the roofs that are made out of concrete by the property developers in Cyprus, the roof made out of wood proves much better insulation for heat and cold in winter, respectively in winter.
Attic
The attic will be a very important space for storage, in the future. It can also offer more than one cubic meter of cold water tank that will keep the water fresh and clean and at low temperature, avoiding the tank getting older and break from sun or heat. Also, the wooden roof will present good insulation of the building keeping the overall temperature of the building low and high, respectively in summer and winter.
Roof Tiles
The tiles of the roof are present on the market in a very wide variety of colors, shapes, and materials, even though the red clay tiles are the most frequently met.
Aerated Concrete Screed
At the moment the electricians and the plumbers complete their first fitting, a layer of aerated concrete is put on the slab that is a good insulating component; once it is poured, this will look so light like water surface.
Underfloor Heating System
Before mounting the underfloor heating system must be put an insulating mat made of Styrofoam through which the water pipes will be mounted. These pipes will be put in continuous lengths from the manifold and they are designated especially for this role and they are covered in aluminium to avoid any potential damages.
Final Concrete Screed
At the moment the pipes are mounted, the last screed of concrete should be laid on top of them; this will form a radiant panel for warming the rooms and it will be the support for the floor finishing.
Solahart Water Heater
The water heated by sun offers free hot water all the time of the year, but also like other equipments, it needs to be put in position, adjusted and connected by an engineering company with experience and specialists in this area.
The exterior will be finished by applying graffiato finishing to the exterior walls, and other processes.
External Damp Proofing
All the joints of the walls must be isolated and waterproofed; such a measure is essential to stop the water from rain to enter the walls and to prevent damp lift; a tilted wedge of concrete should be put on the area in the proximity of the house, such that water will always run away from the house.
Graffiato Exterior Wall Finish
The exterior surface are finished with graffiato already. This is an acryl material conceived specially to resist the meteorological conditions, plus that it is very popular, long lasting, and it does not need maintenance.
Steel Railings & Gates
The railings and gates don’t need to be done on the site, and they are usually sold in gray flavours; they usually need repainting every three or four years.
Once the exteriors got very close to the desired level completion, it is the time of moving inside and continuing the interior finishing.
For your house you may opt for a floor made out of granite, which fits much better than marble, at least as material for floors. It will resist better than marble on mechanical shocs, and it does not absorb the water.
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