Quinta Quetzal ~ The Building of Jeff's House

BUILDING SUAVESUEÑOS

This is what it looked like before we started.	We begin cutting our way down...
doing our best not to disturb the natural form...	and making sure the site is well-drained.
We make way for all the tubes...
and in they go...	water, power, phone, black and gray water, rain drains.

We complete the roof on the carport...	the nursery...
and the shop has a floor, too. At last a covered work space.	The original shed comes down.

The path gets graveled...	and the bank its rock wall...
Excavation starts...	all by hand ~ too damaging to put a backhoe in here.

The foot path gets tested by an authority in feet. These guys get big... this one's nearly six inches.	Nov. 6 Batter boards...
and strings (in holiday colors)...	foundation trenches.
The steel and roofing arrives...
the trenches grow.	All the tubes & wires...
in careful knots.	Where the old shed was.
The temporary power panel, some steel in the ground...	and the drain field is in.

We prepare to make another massive concrete mess...	and start pouring footings.
The footings are done.	We've passed inspection...
Materials (and their guardian) are standing by...	and we've got some foundation laid.
Foundation work continues.	This is the library to come.
The foundations are almost all to floor level...
and the piers under the bedroom are set.	We stopped here for Christmas break.

We're back at the shovels...	and the septic tank is in.
After the storm (we had a 'bad winter' here too)...	we did a lot of pruning, and extended the drainage system.
The foundation block is at floor level...	and we've cut out the soft dirt (the first house-cleaning)...
and we begin making the base for the sub-floor.	Jan. 27 Rough plumbing.
More tubes...	and the gray-water system is complete.

Conduit, breaker panel...	and we're hauling in the base-rock.
Jeff gets his own water-meter.	A leftover concrete panel from the street wall...
serves to protect the tank lids: "Like a bridge over troubled water" says Jane.	The terrace pier-bases are set.
Compacting the base rock...	it practically looks like a floor.
The path to the river grows.	The inspector approves.
We've hooked up the water...	and electricity.
We start setting the beams for the bedroom floor...	the path is extended...
and the base rock is all compacted.	We begin pouring the floor.
The bedroom floor frame goes in.
Caulking every nook...	and painting every cranny against the ever encroaching rust.
Stormy adds her signature.	Zairo & Isaías... mudmakers in the mist.
Mud on the bedroom floor.	More floor.
	And more.
	Closet floor and terrace frame.
The terrace is poured...	and the floor is complete.

Lonnie makes her mark.	Pudge, who officially lives next door, takes a siesta.
Up from the ground... the first wall blocks.	Another course of block...
	And some more...
We use our concrete scrap to build the base of the path to the river.	More tubes and wires (the future site of water-heater, washer, dryer.)
Less imagination, if only a little less, is now needed to picture the shape of the house...	here's the kitchen...
the pantry~laundry...	and the bath. Ok, it still takes a lot of imagination.
Now that we've reached this wall height...	we excavate the back entry.
using the beautiful topsoil in the garden...	which is looking much less like a construction site.
We install the 'Pata-Gallo" ground rods...	and the conduit and boxes for the kitchen counter.
Really taking on some height...	and some shape.
Almost to the wall tops on the north side...	.
Shadows in the back entry.	A very large grasshopper poses for a photo.
We set the steel for the bottom of the internal beam.	The last course in place, Zairo cuts the channel for the top of the beam.
We begin on the south side...	setting the first two courses of the closet...

and the library.	We move a little faster with the closet...
my block setting skills having improved...	if slightly.
We reach the top of the wall, the tallest of the house...
	and the story-boards come down.
Starbright, our neighbor, observes...	and the Princess Topaz is a happy mom.
Now for the library walls...
We reach the top of the library wall, and pour the beam...	and start on the steel structure.
This is the central beam.	The kitchen gets a window sill.
The central beam is in place...
the center post arrives...	how long is it?
And by the end of the day...	the kitchen roof has rafters.
We begin the structure of the living room roof...
The Roof Pope gives his blessings...	as the upper roof grows.
	Lately there's been an emergence of these large green cicadas. (Called chicharras around here... the seam in the block he's sitting on is 2cm wide)
Nailers on the rafters of the kitchen...
and a beginning on the library roof.	Meanwhile back at the concrete...

we've been working on the entrances.	The steel structure gets serious...
	and the front entry is poured.
The bed and bath wing gets its rafters...
the library roof frame is complete...	and Stormy plays with the kittens.
Nailers on the bed and bath wing...	the roof is coming right along.
The rest of the rafters on the living room go up...
and the overall form of the house is finally revealed.	The complexity of the steel...
	and if we put the ladder up from here...
we can work up in the treetops.	Another colorful neighbor.
Gallons and gallons...	of anti-corrosive primer...
to get the roof framing ready.	Some of the finish black while we have good access...
	and...
window frames.	"Good access"...
isn't necessarily "easy access."	A little bird on my shoulder told me...
to get started on the roofing.	The bed and bath get the first panels.
In the morning, Jane comes to see the bedroom roof...	Chalo has finished framing the kitchen counter.
The living room roof is next...	and then the library...
and by the end of the day...	the house is roofed!
Over the next week, we work on windows...
and doors...	and the first of the interior wall framing.

Now that the house has a roof, we work on gutters...	and clean the drain pipes.
Fulvio prepares the path in front of the library...	and Isaias transplants Bird of Paradise from the bath patio.
I do some more rockwork...	and more work with rock.
The interior framing continues...	and a fresh-water crab, who climbed in Jane's pantry window, ends up in the Tupperware.
Concrete culverts...	serve as collectors from the rain gutters.
	The interior walls grow...
	and the pila (laundry sink) is delivered (it's the wrong size, but we'll beat it to fit, and paint it to match.)
We set up shop in the living room...	and kitchen...
and get to work preparing the windows for glass.

Every stop machined and numbered. I knew those hours spent with the Erector Set would pay off someday!	The tree ferns are happily pushing.
	While waiting for the glass, we've put in some handles...

and some latches...	and some wires.
Here comes the glass!	The next day...
	the house is glassed in.
The front door gets some stained glass pieces...	and an etched piece that I've carried around for decades. They finally found a home.
The wild orchid that only lasts a day blooms in front of the terrace.	A Ranera (frog-eating tree snake) looks on from a tree.
Now that the glass is in...	we begin closing up the interior walls.

	Some counter-tops go in the kitchen.
	All this work is SO tiring!
Around 6:30 in the morning, the sun comes in like this. Delightful!	A visitor with remarkable feelers likes it too.

Stucco!
And some lights.	We're not the only builders here.

The terrace rail is complete.
The first tile is set...
and from there...
more follow.
	The details of the window frames look better with the walls closed up.

The tile saw threw a bearing just before Christmas...	but we got the pila in while waiting for the parts...
and evenetually got the saw fixed...
	and more tile set.
Terrace tiled...	the grouting begins.