Solutions... Solutions....

From exact location and type of light to how the ceilings will look with respect to the sunken slabs, it is decision time before casting the first slab. Since we have decided for "No POP" project, lot has to be planned in terms of electrical and plumbing locations.

We decided to spend a bit more upfront and go for LED lights in ceilings for ambient lighting in the house. Which meant that we needed boxes to go in slabs for holding these lights. Conventionally, these lights would go into POP. It was a long search to identify a supplier that would give us boxes for casting in the slab. We did find one, thanks to connections of our connections, and ordered 80+ boxes.

Here is how they were placed in the slab:

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Boxes were welded with the slab bars so that they don't move at the time of pouring RMC.

This is how they looked once the slab was completed:

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This will be repeated throughout the house.

There was one more problem with the contractor before casting the slab. He did not want to use the centering material we had agreed upon. He had no intention of continuing the business after our house was done and wanted to cut corners in terms of using the material for supporting the slab.

After lengthy discussions and persuasions, we managed to get him to rent better quality material to finish the project.

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Centering the helical stair was the biggest challenge of this stage. It took them 3 full days to try and get each step right!