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06 October, 2015

Pool House Expansion Project - Day Eleven 06/10/15

We've already got the foundation and rebar cast.

Day Eleven, 06/10/15

Now comes building the walls, three blocks high to match the existing floor of the Pool House. As I mentioned before, these are the best looking blocks I've seen here in Corozal. Nice crisp lines and sharp corners. As you can see at the bottom of the photo, half blocks are even available.
A Good Sized Stack of Blocks
Of course, now comes the time when those blocks need to be repositioned so they are near to where they're going to be used.
Moving Blocks from the Stack to Where They'll Be Needed
And once they're ready to begin laying the blocks, mortar needs to be mixed. Here the crew is doing it the old-fashioned way, by hand.
Mixing Mortar the Old-Fashioned Way
Finally, I was lucky to be able to catch the first two lines of mortar being cast onto the foundation.
The First Lines of Mortar In the New Addition
And, shortly after that, the first block is laid on top. Just a few hundred more to go.
The First Block Being laid in the New Lines
Work is well under way. The blocks will be laid in single rows, but three blocks high to match the existing floor level.
A Soldierly Course of Blocks Laid
Just a preview here, the first pile of rock which will be fill material inside the walls. I have always felt sorry for the crews that had to pick those rocks out of the fields. Carl told me they do that mechanically, and dump them alongside the road of the cane field. Then when the truck comes to load up for our delivery, a forklift simply scoops rocks up from beside the road and dumps them into the truck. The only real back-breaking labor is when Carl's guys have to move them to the foundation interior.
The First Pile of Rock for Fill
While work was progressing, Dianna found this wasp nest in the thatch of the parking palapa. Luckily, no one has made contact with it. I think Carlos was going to spray it with Bop bug spray.
A Large Wasp Nest In the Parking Palapa
Now the last course of blocks is being laid down. Such sharp mortar lines. almost looks like what you'd find up north.
Starting the Last Course - Floor Level
There's many more photos than appear in each posting. You can see all the photos of the construction project on Flickr at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/winjama/0wVc3s. There will be new photos added each day of the project.

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