As winter and its associated storms seem to have receded, the work team has been making much progress. Thanks to our friend GK, we have been able to see it and share his photos with you.
The two most notable advances are the rooftiles and the paint. We’re using a subtley, off white paint that was locally developed to suit the South African climate.
- The painting starts, and what a difference.
Breathecoat has a naturalistic texture and is reminiscent of the lime-based paints that were historically used on the old Cape Dutch homesteads and fishermen’s cottages.
Low VOC and free of nasty ingredients that are harmful to babies, beings and the environment, it also simplifies painting matters because you simply use the paint as both undercoat and top coat.
Only some parts of the house have been painted, but it already makes quite an impact to go from concrete to white.
- The dove grey roof tiles are being attached.
The second change is the roof tiles, which are filling in the exposed roofing area in a most pleasing, Tetris-like way.
Over the years I’ve grown so accustomed to those wavy rooftiles that seem to top almost every house in South Africa — save those brave souls with thatched roofs paired with lightning conductors, and of course corrugated tin roofs like the one that I grew up under, that amplified already awe inspiring Highveld thunderstroms in a deafening fashion.
By contrast, this roofing material has an almost non-roof affect. The tiles are a wonderfully unobtrusive dove grey, and their shape — not square but not rectangular in a predictable manner — result in a rhythmic and visually pleasing roofing pattern.
All this serves to enhance the overall personality of the structure, rather than overwhelm it or stand out from it, like some ill-conceived fashion accesory that serves only to call attention to its individual self, rather than become part of delivering an aesthetically pleasing whole. Suffice to say, we’re happy with how the physical realisation of the project is going thus far.
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