A storm, winds heavier than usual, and the weight of a good crop brought part of the support structure for the only two kiwi plants in the farm down to the soil. Kiwi is a new cultivar here.

A new structure is needed. It must support not only the weight of the crop but tension that could be carried over by strong winds: when the kiwi plants grow, stems and leaves form an almost homogeneous cover that offers resistance to the wind as a whole and thus acts upon the frame.

There are several solutions. Metallic or polymeric bars could be intercrossed and fastened. In fact steel bars formed the previous frame. However there are not low-cost ready-to-use easy-to-install products available. Timber offers less durability. Given the know-how and tools at hand I regard any of the materials as equally time-consuming.

Concrete offers a more resistant frame, good performance and longer life-span. I would not consider it if there were many plants, as transport, time and difficulty of construction would favour any of the previously mentioned materials: even if not as much resistant, they are effective enough for what uses to be even the most common heavier winds of the area. And once the frame is set up, if replacement units are left, it would be easy to mend or to replace if any element got damaged.

I prefer stone as a visible surface in this environment. There could be polymers, even steel bars with much more thinner section, that offer less visual impact than concrete, however they lack the appearance stone or wood show. Anyway the plants are going to hide most of the frame, and thus any aesthetic features of the frame itself would be minimized. As far as I have seen in traditional vine supports, squared stone is used for the posts. In terms of shape the most similar appearance would be that offered by concrete. More: I can favour a rough look more similar to that of stone avoiding a release agent over the shuttering. Texture remains that of concrete. However, even if it could take some years and does not hide concrete appearance completely, roughness rises a microhabitat for moss to grow in these rainy lands.

Anyway I can apply a finishing if needed. In fact some buildings of the farm require to be covered with stone.

Suggestions about concrete and finishings over concrete are welcome.

In the countryside most of the sewer pipelines carried runoff with flows of pluvial or drainage origin. Domestic wastewater treatment was solved with individual containers per household. Hence in many places a new pipeline and facilities are needed for a more efficient, collective sewage treatment.

I have been setting up a sanitary sewer system in an village close to a nature reserve zone. Later I moved to an area where new industry buildings are to be built, for the setting up of the sanitary sewer pipelines. I have been working mainly with the manholes, and concrete & mortar related steps rather than the positioning of pipes, a task I dealt with some years ago, with such a good topography team as I haven't seen again.

Less irregularities and a thinner -and quicker- layer of silt have made made job easier. Thus I have avoided any special mortar. As far as the second layer is concerned I have moved to 1:3 which looks appropriate for the surface I am dealing with.

There is a need for specialization.

As a mason I have chosen formwork.

It is time for me to improve. I am fully devoted to a course that is going to keep me busy until September. Subject: formwork techniques. Mainly practical, it is what I wanted, and what I needed. Apart from reviewing what I have being doing these years, I deal with different kinds of forms and structural elements under a careful and sage supervision.


In my spare time I am applying a layer of mortar to a ceiling. Not an easy task at all! Surface is made of bricks and concrete with areas of irregularities > 1 cm , so first I applied a layer of silt. It is taking me so long that once I finish the area I have already applied silt to, I shall change the method: first a layer of mortar with adhesive properties, then traditional Portland with sand 1:2.

I am building the (concrete) structure of a house. It is quite advanced, at the roof stage now. Later on I'll be back to brick laying.

I keep my training and follow a course I should devote more time to? but I can not say what am I going to do in some months time. I would like to go on in the construction sector, but I am making up my mind whether or not I should look for another position.

This is my third month working with a bricklayer team... a good one indeed, as usual :-)

I still miss those days of casting and concrete ! I am all right, by the way :-)

I have dealt with almost all the steps of building a house from scratch. Painting has been very interesting. I have worked just as an assistant so, all I can say is? how difficult being a good painter is!

Casting is what I like the most and what I have more experience in.

I miss it. Wear the belt, hammer on one side, bag full of nails on the other. Hands holding the box filled with concrete, the shovel being dug and left. Another day comes, casting again !

Props, beams, pillars, walls. And every day, as usual, doing something new. Even if I do, once and once again, the same task.

I began some training just to get some technical knowledge on building standards. I have to thank all the companies where I have worked as I have always had the chance to improve. I think I am happy with what I do. It is not that I do not want responsabilities. It is just that even if it is true that there are some days I wish I were in another place, I like those Fridays when I take a look at the watch, sloooooowly pointing to the hour to leave, and see that structure there which on Monday was not.

Where I am going now:

I will try to keep active in casting and concrete. Probably I will take some technical qualification this year. Materials, techniques, design. I?ll try to focus in a particular casting technique. And, just let routine take its part.

This is my third week in a wall-painting company !!! I was not looking for a particular job (I deserved some holidays) when this one was offered to me. I am finding it quite interesting: it is a very good complement to my activity in the building field. My task is very basic: I am an assistant. I have to leave surfaces ready to be painted or carry on basic tasks to help the painters. Meanwhile I learn how different finishings are made, how different products are applied, and, most important, what makes a good finishing.

So, when you live in a farm, it is quite common to spend sometime of the year with building activities... let's say that even if not as a main task, it is something I am used to deal with.

However it all changes when you devote yourself to building as a full-time, permanent job. I began building a house with 2 other men in 2004. 6 months to finish the basic structure.

Later on I worked with several small companies as a brick-layer assistant, doing a little bit of everything. I am proud of having worked, in my very beginnings, with some of the best professionals I happened to meet until present.

My main field of activity is concrete. Until present I have dealt with country-houses, an up to 4 floor residential building, and some big structures for industrial uses.

I have worked in Galiza for 2 years.
Later on I moved to Zaragoza where I worked mainly with pipelines for 2 months. I highlight the fact of having dealt with a well equipped team where topography made our work not only easier but as accurate as I haven't seen again. We carried on our activity in a very large area: usually I am limited in a small, well-defined ground, hence topography, even if a must, is more basic.

I moved to Catalonia. Different places around the Costa Brava and the Selva building luxury resorts, and, finally, a residential area of 10 individual units.

I came to Switzerland in 2007 where I worked as an assistant mainly in the building of concrete-structures of industrial buildings.

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