More house updates with less than a week to go!

Vic has painted the bathroom at the back, so you can see what colour the house will be in the New Year!

 

 

And the third coat of cement is almost completed on the house exterior

 

The arch is looking super

 

Manuel is cleaning out our cistern!

 

Juan Carlos is still all alone in the back - we figure he must be naughty -ha!

 

We have lights in the bathroom!

 

And Vic and I have put the first coat of paint on the spare room, only to have the electrician come by to tell us he still has to do a bunch of pick picking of the cement to run the wiring that the former electrician was thought to have done, but hadn't!

 

Vic showing off his handywork!  Looks great eh?

 

And now the guys take over the inside painting, and while they do a good job too, it's amazing how many paint spots I find on the floor tiles, when they have tons of plastic drop sheets to use?!

 

Juan Carlos showing off in the hole - putting the pool steps and bench together!

 

It's coming!!

Updates on the new house

Things are coming together and the backyard is almost done.  It's hard to believe it's been just 2 weeks since the work began!  So much has changed already.  From a backyard of sand and a swimming pool, to garden areas, concrete walkway, step into pool, rounded staircases, finished and raised back walls, and now on to the front yard.

They have worked hard, and it's now 40 degrees outside in the sun, so we're hiding in the shade while our workers, more accustomed to the heat, carry on.

You would not believe how much they can create with so few tools.   At the end of the day, when all the tools are gathered up and placed back in the house for safekeeping, there is a wheel barrow with a few shovels in it, and a 5 gallon pail for the rest. 

Rounded corners on the gardens and steps are created by using plumbing tubes cut in half lengthwise and attached to wooden planks to get just the right height.  All the sand and gravel that is mixed with the concrete and cal is carried in 5 gallon buckets and mixed on the pavement that already exists.  The wheelbarrow is actually used very rarely, because the 5 gallon pails are much quicker to lift and for them lighter than toting a wheelbarrow full of cement, especially in light of the fact that carting material between front and back yards would be impossible as the walkway is too narrow.

 Us in our new backyard!

 The concrete colours are starting to merge better

 The framework for the backyard bathroom

 Completed garden spot - some of my poor plants are here now, awaiting resurrection!  They've been suffering from all the dust and sand that's been floating around.  Hopefully they'll make it.

The forms they use to create the rounded edged planters and stairs - see the plastic tubing buried under the cement pour?

Getting Closer to Completion of Spring 2013 Project

Our spring project is almost complete.  You'll see from the pictures below that the backyard is partly concreted, the walls are almost finished, the flower beds are well under way, the bathroom floor is poured, the cistern is filling, and the plumbing and wiring are almost complete! 

 The first of the concrete pours

 Manuel was naughty and so is in the garden hole!

 Jose our plumber as he makes sure his crew is on task!  Juan Carlos is on the scaffolding installing our high tech security system (remember the bucket of broken bottles?)

 Juan our albanil - generally the chief cook and bottle washer (okay, maybe breaker and installer)

Really, he's the concrete guy and boss of the rest of the crew.

 Eduardo on what will be our rounded staircase from the Master bedroom - window/patio door

 Another naughty boy in my new flower garden to be! 

 

Below - the backyard concrete pour is almost done!

Pleasant Surprises in Construction

Our second week of construction on the house commenced, and I must admit I was a little disappointed.  Monday dawned and we were at the house awaiting our crew, but by shortly after 8, no one had yet arrived. Easter weekend?

Vic and I toodled off downtown to pick up our new Temporary Residence Visas - yeah (more details to follow in a later blog).  When Vic returned to the house (I went shopping downtown at the tourist market with my girlfriend Barb) all was well under way, so we didn't think much of it.  But that afternoon, Juan our albanil called around 4pm to say he and the crew were leaving.  He wanted to let us know that we should come by soon to lock up the house.

I started to worry that now that week one was finished, and we had signed something of a contract with our albanil, that they were slowing down.  It appeared that way on Tuesday morning when again no one had arrived by 8am.

Having just spoken with a wonderful Mexican friend of ours, Sachi (more details to follow - excellent massage lady!), she indicated that in most parts of Mexico, albaniles (concrete people) rarely work on Mondays, so it may have been harder for Juan to gather his crew.  We learn something new every day!

In any case, that afternoon, having stewed a little over it, I spoke with Juan and he explained that they hoped to have the entire back yard finished by this Saturday (instead of next Saturday), and they needed to determine with us exactly how high to make the firme (concrete patio floor in the yard) and how high we would like the small fences around the gardens.  Juan actually suggested we make them about 45 cms high and he would make them about 30 cms wide, to be an actual little bench area around the edges.  What a great idea!  We were both very pleased and surprised that he felt the job would be completed ahead of schedule and we asked if he would be interested in doing a further 3 days next week on other of smaller projects to be part of the larger whole.  He said he would be and would come to us in the next few days with ideas on cost for the projects we further discussed.

A pleasant and unexpected surprise.  I can hardly wait for Saturday now!  :)

Have a great sunny day! 

Hugs from Mexico :-)

 It didn't look like much had changed yet?! Orange tubos for electricidad.

 The backyard was somewhat more level, but progress?

 New cisterna on the left and the orange tubes are the wiring for the yard lights.

 The inside of the house is a mess with all the dirt and dust blowing in with the work!

 Concrete pile is getting smaller! Check out the difference on the walls as the different coats are applied. (picture number 4 vs pictures 8 and 9)

 But Juan's explanation made us happy, and work has resumed from 8am to 6pm with the odd break for sustenance!  Juan on far left. Crew in the shade at break.