I) Introduction

This entry is showing the work done at the areas assigned to me for supervision during my internship as a site engineer at EMSİAR Turizm Otelcilik Gayrimenkul Yatırım İnşaat San. Tic. LTD. (shortly EMSIAR). EMSIAR is the general contractor responsible for the construction of a new 5-star Marriott hotel in Izmir, Turkey. The construction is a hotel building for Marriott brand with 15000 m2 gross floor area and 149 guest rooms. The concrete framing was completed at the time I was there, and interior rough ins were being made. The construction is expected to be completed by the summer of 2021. My responsibilities were supervision of the tasks given by the site manager for construction of rooms 114 and 115 located at the first floor of the project, supervision of the tasks given by the site manager for assembly of service elevator and hoist and supervision of the tasks given by the site manager for installation of rooftop water and heat insulation and the materials that protect those. I had to report the progress to the site manager when he wanted so I took lots of pictures anytime something critical happened. Being on the site taught me how things work in real life and added me valuable knowledge.

II) Construction of the rooms 114 and 115

Firstly, the location of the rooms on the 1st floor slab was determined by the measurement team and the site manager. Afterwards, the construction started. What is done when I was on site is explained below in chronological order for these rooms.

Firstly, screed and leveling layers had to be done for the rooms. This was done firstly by removing the cement and concrete residuals from the slab surface by using construction spatula or Hilti Combihammer. Then, detailed cleaning was done. Since the washroom floor was going to be marble, that part is covered with a mould and kept outside the screed area. Under the screed and leveling layers, HPE series sound insulation with a density of 90 kg/m3 that reduces air and impact related sounds and that also has some contribution to the heat insulation was installed. It had a cross connected and amorphous formed cell structure. After, the boundary where columns and walls connect with slab was covered with polyethylene tape with 5 mm thickness and 10 cm width. Using sand and cement, mortar was prepared. Sika Latex additive admixture was added to this mortar to prevent damage to the stem at the future stages of construction. 1 m3 mortar had 300 kg or 6 bags of cement. This mixture prepared in the screed machine was pumped to the room slab with the help of hoses. The workers helped the spread of the mixture. Using a laser, the level of screed is aligned and equalized. Workers did the required adjustments if required. Workers then used a power screed machine to smoothen and flatten the screed mixture.

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The plasterboard framework location was determined based on the project and marked with the help of laser and colored rope. Then, sound insulation was taped to the U profiles. Based on the application plan, the U profiles were fixed to screed and walls using wall plugs. After, C profiles were placed inside U profiles with 60 cm spacing and screwed to wall U profiles. The plasterboard wall between the two rooms was double framed, therefore this was done once for two adjacent rooms and 3 cm space was left for electrical fitting between the framework of two adjacent room plasterboard wall. Once the framework was completed, plasterboard installation and screwing started. Plasterboard standard dimensions were 120 cm x 240 cm and the ceiling height was 263.5 cm, therefore the construction was done by using two pieces. After, electrical and mechanical crew started their work.

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After the plasterboard wall installation and construction, electrical plugs and electrical boxes were installed. Electrical cable housing pipes were installed in the space left between the two walls.

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After the electrical installation, ventilation, wastewater and clean water lines were put inside the mechanical shaft passing from washroom. Fire safety system was also constructed. Clean water and wastewater pipes and fire system lines installed to washroom walls and ceiling. Ventilation ducts and pipes were installed. Sprinkler test for fire system was made. Later, insulation to these were made.

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After the mechanical and electrical installation completed, passive fire stop compounds were installed to prevent fire from passing from one room to another. Firstly, everything inside the shaft was covered with special fire tape. Then, stone wool insulation material was used inside the shaft. A mixture was poured inside the shaft to form a thin layer. After the mixture hardened, the main fire stopping mixture was prepared and poured inside the shaft to form approximately 5 cm thickness. This material had the property to spread by itself so it was left to harden itself.

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Ceiling and wall connection places and fitting passage points are protected with fire prevention paste.

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When the screed and leveling concrete for the rooms were done, washroom was intentionally left. Since the wall construction was finished at this stage, it was now time for leveling concrete for washroom. The leveling concrete of the washroom was poured with 1% slope towards the drain.

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Firstly, polyurethane mastic application was made at all the extension locations of the plasterboard wall. After this application, while the linear drainer was getting installed, the spaces left between the leveling concrete and the drainer was covered with BASF MasterEmaco N 356 RS. Minimum 12 hours of wait time was applied between these applications. Then, BASF MasterTile WP 630 Pah tape was used at the connection between slab and walls. After, the main water insulation material, BASF MasterTile WP 366, was applied to the surface and walls two times.

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With obeying to the joint locations given in the project, cutting from 60 cm x 120 cm porcelain ceramic, and gluing it with the help of BASF MasterTile FLX 24 glue ceramic, slab coating was made.

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With obeying to the dimensions given in the project, cutting from 120 cm x 240 cm porcelain ceramic, wall material was cut with a waterjet machine to account for the holes specified in the project. All the cutting was done in shop environment. Since the dimensions for this material was large, glass vacuum apparatus was used together with BASF MasterTile FLX 24 to glue the coating.

In the washroom, the following threshold and sill applications were made by the marble workers: The threshold between the shower part and bathroom counter, fixed joinery perimeter with micro blinds providing a view between the bathroom and the bedroom, sill of the sliding door of the shower, the mirror to be installed on the bathroom counter, the shampoo niche made with Belenco Quartz material to be embedded in the wall, the lath to be placed between the door sill under the sliding door of the bathroom and the mirror to be installed on the bathroom counter side and the ceramic coating on that wall and the upper line of the ceramic behind the toilet.

After the joint gaps of the floor tiles were cleaned, the ceramic joints were filled with BASF MasterTile FLX 555 Antracite joint filler.

The places in the room where wallpaper should be installed were examined with the wallpaper master. If the wall with the closet in the bathroom was in light color, all the walls that were not covered by furniture would be covered with a darker color wallpaper than the wallpaper color in the bathroom. The wallpaper master first reworked the walls made of satin plaster with a hand tool like a spatula he brought with him. He removed things like grit on the wall and point plaster residues that could protrude under the wallpaper. He then prepared the wallpaper glue in a clean bucket. Then, he prepared a bench where he could apply glue to the wallpapers. Then, he applied glue with a brush to some wallpaper on this worktop. Then, he started to stick these wallpapers, which were prepared in glued form, side by side on the walls that had to be glued in the room, from top to bottom. After attaching each piece of wallpaper to the wall, they were stripped from top to bottom with the spatula like plastic hand tool to ensure that the wallpaper adheres to the wall completely and the glue applied on the wallpaper does not remain intensely in some areas, also ensuring that the glue behind the wallpaper was homogeneously settled and no clutter occurred. Thus, the work of gluing the wallpaper on the wall, first in the bedroom and then in the bathroom, was completed.

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Self-leveling screed application should be done before laying parquet or carpet on the bedroom floor in order to eliminate the wear, dust or possible level defects that may have occurred after the initial application of screed and leveling layer. Self-leveling screed is not necessary if there isn’t any wear, dust or level defects. We decided to apply a self-leveling screed in order to obtain a smoother floor, although there was no visible problem on the floor. Screed workers first cleaned the interior of the room very finely. Later, a primer was applied to the self-leveling screed to better adhere to the initial screed. Then, they poured the self-leveling screed material prepared by mixing with the help of a mixer in a clean bucket on the floor of the room where primer was applied. Then, with the help of a spatula, they made the self-leveling screed evenly spread over the entire room floor. Then, the self-leveling screed was put on hold for 24 hours to dry.

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The laminated parquet material selected for our project was moved to the front of the room where the application was going to be made. Laminated parquet adhesive was applied with the help of a comb to the floor of the room where self-leveling screed had been applied before. Afterwards, the laminated parquets were adhered to the floor of the room and the installation was completed by clamping the grooves on both short and long edges by hitting them with a special hammer.

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According to the details and dimensions prepared by the design company, some of the fixed and movable furniture prepared in the workshop environment in accordance with the selected materials and colors were collected and the ready-made parts were brought to the construction site in a disassembled form. Firstly, the installation of the TV unit, the bed head unit, the desk wall and the wall coverings in one corner of the bed head was done. Then, the wardrobe was assembled. Then, the sliding door of the bathroom, the micro blinds in the shower section on the bedroom side of the bathroom and the mirror that should be mounted on the wall on the bathroom counter were installed. Finally, a desk, furniture part of the bed, movable sofa and sofa in front of the desk were prepared. Later, the wood covering works to be done on the wall of the room corridor were done, except for the entrance door of the room and the entrance door.

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After all furniture manufacturing and assembly work was completed, it was time for the room corridor carpet installation. For this job, the floor was thoroughly cleaned first. Then, the mattress to be laid on the screed leveling concrete and under the carpet was adhered to the screed layer.

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III) Service elevator and hoist assembly and installation

For the vehicle and service elevators, the materials were transported from the ground floor to the front of the elevator well with the help of a pallet truck. Then, three motors and pulley systems were installed on the 1st floor concrete in order to get it to the lowest point in the well. With the help of small holes drilled in the slab concrete, the steel ropes attached to these motors were taken into the well and hooks with safety latches were mounted on the ends of the ropes. Elevator parts connected to these hooks were started to be taken into their places in the well by being controlled with the help of electric motors according to the manufacturing order. First, two pistons were taken into the well.

The assembly works in the well started by determining the assembly axes according to the location of the elevator in the well. According to these assembly axes, the assembly consoles were prepared for the rails that the elevator cabin was going to be using while moving up and down. The consoles were mounted in the shaft with the help of steel dowels at certain intervals on the two side walls. After the console assembly required for a length rail was completed, one rail was installed on both walls. Later, a temporary working platform was created by taking the chassis on which the elevator cabin would sit. In order to avoid the risk of falling from this working platform, temporary production was made from a box profile that will serve as a railing. The ropes of two motors installed on the 1st floor deck concrete to transport all the materials to be assembled in the well were connected to this platform. Now, this platform has begun to be used in a way so that it was able to reach every point in the well with the help of the above motors. After the installation of the first two rails, until the rail assembly at the highest point was completed, the console assemblies that would first carry the rails and then the rails were assembled on these consoles.

After the rail assembly was completed up to the top point of the well, the pistons that would allow the elevators to go up and down were installed. Two pistons were installed for each elevator, one on the left and one on the right. Later, the permanent platform to be placed on the chassis on which the cabin was going to be built and the cross connections of this platform were made. As the next step, consoles to carry the door tracks and then the door tracks were installed. After this process, the doors were installed. After the doors were installed, the crystallized insulation work inside the well was done. After the insulation work, after the installation of the cabin in the elevator shaft, the curtain wall covering works were made for the two walls that were far from the cabin, which was a fall risk for the workers who will work on the cabin during maintenance and service. After the curtain wall manufacturing, the elevator cabin assembly started. Illumination and grounding were done inside the well. Preparations were made for earthquake and fire detection and telephone connections.

Since these elevators were hydraulic, a machine room had to be created for each elevator. For this reason, a machine room was created for both elevators in the 4th basement floor, close to the elevators. Later, the electrical firm that carried out the general electrical works of the project had a panel prepared for this engine room, and this panel had fuses, residual current relay etc. After the assembly, the supply cables of the elevators were installed from the main energy center to this panel in the elevator machine room and the connection was made. At this point, elevator's own control panel and other mechanical connections and assemblies completed. The necessary hydraulic oil to feed the pistons also completed.

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IV) Installation of rooftop water and heat insulation and the materials that protect those

Before the waterproofing that needs to be done on the rooftop, the elevation concrete works had to be done in order to allow the passage of the water pipe, ventilation channel, electrical cable, etc. to the lower level from shafts.

It was decided that the height of these elevation concretes would be 20 cm and the width 10 cm. Later, the inner and outer molds required for the casting of these concretes were prepared for all shafts. After the inner formwork was prepared, iron planting was performed on the slab concrete in order to ensure the connection of this concrete with the existing slab concrete. Then the outer formwork was installed. Concrete prepared with special Eile TH 70 repair mortar was filled into the prepared formwork.

In addition, since a part of the terrace roof area was planned to be movable or fixed, the connection elements of the carrier columns that need to be connected to the existing slab concrete were planned to be prepared at this stage. These materials were prepared from galvanized material in a workshop environment and applied according to the project and assembled where needed. In addition, in order to prevent the negative impact of the noise caused by the mechanical equipment in the tower section of the project, and to prevent visual pollution, it was planned to create front partition vents made with special materials around these devices. At this stage, the connection of the carrier systems of these front grilles was made with the slab concrete. Molds were constructed at the points where all these fasteners and the exterior precast coating manufacturing of the building's carrier legs was connected to the floor concrete, and these molds were filled with Eile TH 70 repair mortar.

For the waterproofing material to give better results in construction cold joints, chamfer was created with the same Eile TH 70 repair mortar.

After all the elevation concrete and chamfering processes were completed, the rough construction dirt on all surfaces were cleaned to prepare for waterproofing. Then, all this concrete surface was wiped with the BLASTRAC concrete polishing machine. While this special machine was wiping on the concrete surface, it was spraying special sand grains placed in the machine's chamber with pressure. The purpose of this wiping process was to create a more rough surface on all surfaces and to provide good adherence to the insulation material and to make the cold joints and cracks on the surface of the flooring concrete more pronounced after this work.

After the wiping process with the BLASTRAC machine, the cracks on the concrete surface were repaired with repair mortar, then the surface was primed with AB SCHOMBURG 1260 pure epoxy resin primer and quartz sand was sprinkled on it.

After the required curing time for these repairs passed, two insulation layers were formed. These were the main layers for the waterproofing process. The first layer of these was WEBER DRY PURSEAL. After the first layer was applied and 24 hours of wait time was finished, the second layer, AB SCHOMBURG RC 500 was applied. After completing the above processes in all waterproofing areas, these areas were filled with water and tested.

After the water was filled in the areas whose waterproofing production was completed, the insulated areas were kept full of water for at least one week until we were sure that there was no water leakage from any area. At the end of this period, no water leakage was detected in the places where waterproofing was made.

The next step was the other layers to be applied over the waterproofing. First, a 250 g/m2 white geotextile felt was laid on the waterproofing layer. Afterwards, a 300 kPa edge profile tongued 4 cm thick XPS material was placed on the geotextile felt for heat insulation. After this process was completed, 150 g/m2 polyethylene folio was laid on 300 kPa XPS.

Then, Q131/131 mesh steel reinforcement was placed on polyethylene foil. The mesh was tied together with steel tie wires, and it was ensured that the steel mesh was lifted upwards by using concrete cover at certain intervals to prevent it from sticking to the polyethylene foil on the concrete base.

Now it was time to cast inclined protection concrete, which was going to protect the thermal insulation and waterproofing from external factors. Gross C-20 class ready mixed concrete was distributed to the entire site with the help of a pump. The concrete poured on the floor was leveled with the help of gauges.

After, BASF MasterCure 101 acrylic resin-based curing material was applied to the concrete surface to prevent it from occurring. This material formed a crust on the concrete surface, preventing the water in the concrete from evaporating quickly and cracking. Joint cutting was made 24 hours after the concrete casting to prevent unwanted cracks caused by use on the concrete. Both sides of the joints were taped. After the joints were emptied, they were filled with PU Primer + MasterFlex 440 Polyurethane Sealant joint filling material as joint filling material.

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