The BIG POUR, Completed

The local crew showed up at 6:00 Tuesday morning, even after that grueling work on Monday.  Dennis had told them he would pay them for a total of 2 days of work even if it took them only one and half days.  And sure enough, they worked at a pretty hard pace to get finished by 12:30, just in time to eat lunch prepared by Joy.  Francisco and his 2 men stayed all day doing the finish work and start the clean up.

The top surface of the concrete is smoothed off and leveled using a flat board and adding water when needed.

Once the concrete sets up for a couple of days, the hangers holding the straps will be removed along with the sides boards of the forms.

The bottom board of the forms will stay in place with the supports for up to 2 weeks before they are removed.

The strap ends are lined up nice and neat. 

A veritable jungle of sticks supporting the beams while they cure. 

Here is a view of what the straps look like with the 4x4s  and floor joists in place.  This a shot of the new deck around the cabana before all the decking is installed. 

This the incomplete corner of the deck showing the straps, 4x4s, and joists.  Our new satellite dish is secured to the top of the column.  You can see the cable from the satellite running along the inside of a 4x4.  You can also see the concrete ramp leading to the stoop of the generator shed at the upper left of the shot.

Next, the sides of the forms will come down.  We may wait until the wet season is over before installing the 4x4s, it all depends on how wet it really is.  In the meantime, the form boards will be reused for casting the floor of the washroom shed where the washing machine will be relocated behind Richard and Joy's cottage.  Like the generator shed, the washroom shed will be raised only a foot or so off ground level.  

But I am getting ahead of myself - that is the next project.  For now, we are pleased that the BIG POUR is done.  I'm working on the layout of the windows, doors, plumbing, electrical, and interior walls of the addition.  That phase of construction will definitely not start until late November.

The View from the Generator Shed

I went to the generator shed this morning to turn the generator off and was struck by view.  It speaks for itself.

Hard to beat this view. 

I have spent the last couple of days painting inside the cabana.  Our interior walls are finished with bead board made of tropical yellow pine instead of the sheet rock we were familiar with in the states.  You can get sheet rock here, but I have visions of it melting into a pile of mildew with all the humidity.  That is why we chose the bead board instead.  The biggest drawback to the bead board, aside from its cost, is that it doesn’t have a smooth finish. The finish is rough, with many saw marks showing.  It soaks up a lot of paint.  And my biggest complaint about its installation is that even though it is tongue-in-groove, it was nailed up with the nails showing!  Big nails with big nail heads.  L  Oh well, that is what happens when you have things built in your absence.  I think we will do better when we get to the expansion we will add soon.  It looks better already with a more even application of paint.  I made a deal with Dennis; if he would prep the walls by removing things mounted to the walls and filling in the holes, I would do the actual painting.  Nothing elaborate, just oil-based white paint put on with a brush.  A roller might be easier, but we can’t find a roller cover with a thick nap to get into the grooves of the beading.

A few days ago, Dennis looked out the window and saw a huge flock of tree swallows careening around just in front of the cabana.  They were feasting on a swarm of mosquitoes, chittering maniacally as they barely avoided colliding with each other.  It lasted for about 20 minutes and then was over, just like that. Yea for swallows!  Today I saw another flock flying with purpose to some spot just north of us. But it made us wonder, how do they know where to the latest mosquito hatch is?   Check out my “small stone” about the swallows on my other blog.