A New Shed; Page Two

This is a continuation of the post about the new Utility and Storage shed that our contractor, Mario Zetina, is building for us. You can read the original post here: http://www.winjama.net/2017/06/a-new-shed.html.

And here we are now. It's Saturday. Work was delayed Monday through Wednesday because of fairly heavy rain during the night, each evening. That, as Mario explained to me, affects the materials - sand becomes too wet; concrete blocks have absorbed too much water and affect the mortar holding them together. The water in the blocks wicks into the mortar, making it too squishy and less able to hold the blocks steady till the mortar sets.

So, as I said, work began anew on Thursday.

Trench For Water and Current

The workers spent part of the day digging a trench to run a water line and electrical service from the parking palapa, where they spliced into the existing services there. The trench runs in a straight line over to the shed.

Walls Going Up Fast

The walls for the shed are going up quite fast. In no time, those will be done and finishing plastering will have begun.

Water and Current Trench

Here you can see the trench going way over to the shed. They first had to peel back the Chippings on the driveway enough for the trench itself, but also so that the trench spoils could be placed until it was time to return them to the trench.

Here's Where It Begins

The water and current for the shed will just be tapped into the water and current that exists already for the parking palapa. No need for a new circuit or anything like that. There's just going to be a few light bulbs - interior lights, a porch light, and two motion detectors. They'll all be using LED bulbs so the load will be very low.

Window Space Going In

The opening for the window, which will be about 2'x4' will be on the east side of the shed.

Door Lintel Being Readied

Here you can see the lintel being formed for the door.

Going Up Fast

The end bits of the shed wall are going up. Each end has vent blocks in it to facilitate air flow and to keep the shed from getting hotter than it needs to.

Good View of One End

This view gives a good idea of how the vents will look in each end. The vent openings will be covered by screens to help keep bugs and other critters out of the shed.

Last of Elsie's Palapa

 This poor truck gets overloaded so often. Like here, it's tasked with hauling off the posts and other wood that made up the bones of Elsie's palapa. This stuff, like all wood here in Belize, weighs a ton. It's so heavy in fact, they were worried the rack on the back, which is carrying the largest pieces of wood, would collapse before they could get it off-loaded. It made the journey safely.

Ridge Beam In Place

 A sure sign of much progress is the installation of the ridge beam. This will support the rest of the roof

Ramp and Landing Getting Formed

 Here, the ramp and entry landing are being formed up. We're not having fancy railings on this structure, just a small affair that will keep a wheelbarrow or mower from running off the ramp.

Digging the Soak-Away

 I didn't like the idea of having a sink, even something small like a 'hand-wash basin' as they call them here, just drain out onto the surface. So, they're digging a nice-sized hole that will be filled with gravel and will be the sink soak-away.

Interior Walls Being Finished

Rene is busy finishing off the first of the interior walls. This is the wall that will have the standard and bracket shelving on it to hold all the paint, chemicals and associated tools.

Skylarking Above Deck

It's nearing the end of the workday on Saturday, so time for a bit of relaxation and clowning for the camera.

Electrical and Plumbing

 Some of the interior fittings going in, an electrical outlet (right above where the sink will be... That's code somewhere, I'm sure), and the drain and supply for the water.

More Electrical

On the opposite wall, the switch for the overhead lights and another electrical outlet.

Nice View From Inside

 An interior shot of the ridge beam and showing the vents - simply blocks laid on their sides.

Cleaning the Wheelbarrow

At the end of the day, when there's a little concrete left over, what do you do with it? Well, if you have a form set up for a casting, just dump it in there. It keeps the work area nice and tidy.

The Business End of the Trench

Here's the start end of the trench. Almost completed, just waiting for the plumber/electrician to come and connect everything.

View of the Full Trench length

And, here's where the trench was the day before. Looks as good as new.

There'll be some more photos and such on Monday (weather permitting). Enjoy your weekend.

Pool House Expansion Project, Day Thirty-Four, 09/11/15

The Excavator arrives and gets to work.

Day Thirty-Four, 09 November, 2015

Excavator, Track Hoe, Big-Ass Piece of Equipment, whatever you want to call it. Should be here Monday, around 10:00 AM or so. And so it was. It arrived about 10:30, give or take a few minutes.

It was mounted side-saddle on the low-boy trailer so they just had to drive it off the trailer and through the gates with plenty of room to spare.

Trummer's Machine Arriving

 Here it comes through our trees. Kind of cool how low it can tuck itself to get through. Not bad for basically a huge machine.

Ducking Down Below the Trees

 Arriving at the actual place where the work needs to be done. It's first order of business is to move as much of a pile of sand that was in its way as possible.

At Last - Into the Work Area

 First off, un-tucking itself, it stretched, and then got righ to work.

Stretching It's Arm - Ready To Go

 A couple of scoops of sand and this pile was no longer a problem.

Gotta Move the Sand Pile

 I thought you might like to see the nuts and bolts that actually anchor the trusses to the chain.

Some of the Nuts, Bols, and Washers to Hold the Trusses On

 Now's the fun part. The machine picks up the first truss and begins to swing it around and move it up to the north end of the roof.

Hoisting the Fierst One - the North Gable End

 Up and over. Gently does it. The guys are keeping it under control with lines on either end as the Track Hoe moves it along to its final position.

Up and Over As It Goes

 Omar's directing its placement on the end. It will still need some final tweaking and adjusting.

Omar Wants It Right Here

 Everybody gets into the act. This first one was the hardest. The boom hadn't gotten to the site yet, so there was barely enough room for the Excavator to maneuver the truss. It was tough for the guys to move it too. Each of the gable end trusses weigh about 1,500 pounds, or so. All of the truss lumber is bullet-tree wood, an extremely dense and heavy wood, that can effectively only be cut and drilled while it's still green. All the truss lumber for this project weighed in the vicinity of six and three-quarter tons. Magnificent, heavy stuff. Virtually termite-proof because of the density.

A Little This Way

Here's a shot showing the blocks that had to be trimmed so that the end gable on the north end would seat just so. This had to be done, as this is where the two structures, the existing pool house and the new construction actually come together. Wasn't necesary for it to be done on the other end.

The Angle Fits Perfectly

Now, with the boom in place, moving the trusses is significantly easier, and since most of them aren't gable end pieces, they're quite a bit lighter and more easily maneuvered into place.

Picking Up the Third One

From the inside, you can see progress is coming fast. Once the boom got here, the process moved right along. The machine was only here a little over three hours, much faster than we had initially estimated.

Adjusting Another One

Just a shot to show you the cubby above the closet that will also be where the access hatch to the attic will be located.

Future Site of Attic Access Hatch

In addition to bolting each truss to the anchor points, they are joined by wood pieces temporarily until the furring strips can be added prepatory to the roofing zinc being added.

Joining Them Together With Wood Pieces

The last truss is in position and being fastened into place. Not as hard as we thought it might be.

The Last Truss Going Up

Carl had to use a couple of wood pieces to push the center of the last truss into place until weight could be applied to the truss.

Bracing With A Couple of Boards

Once that was done, we had one last chore for the machine - dig the septic tank hole. Since we're going to use a Rotoplas plastic septic tank, a deep hole, relatively small diameter had to be dug within the confines of the steel markers.

Marks Where the Septic Tank Will Go

The first push into the ground. That lets you know just how powerful this machine is. That marl is as hard as concrete, but seemed like butter to the machine.

Starting to Dig the Septic Tank Hole

The machine's operator, is really an artist with that thing. Notice how close he's come to the markers.

Fine Precision Work

After about ten minutes work it was all done.

Finished Septic Tank Hole

About that time, after the danger of falling debris, etc., had passed, Dianna thought she would come down and inspect how things have gone.

Dianna Inspecting the Work

 Altogether, a short day's work for the crew. Hot but short. There's a ton more photos of this phase of the project. See the next paragraph to access them.

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.

Pool House Expansion Project, Day Thirty-Three, 07/11/15

Getting Ready for the Excavator

Day Thirty-Three, 07 November, 2015

Excavator, Track Hoe, Big-Ass Piece of Equipment, whatever you want to call it. Should be here Monday, around 10:00 AM or so.

Case Track Hoe or Excavator (courtesy of CASE, Inc.)

 I was worried about the width of the tracks on the beast. The guys had just repaired (again) the gate, to get it to swing open smoothly. I could just see that Monday, they'd have to dismantle it to get the track hoe in to do the task with the trusses.

Apparently, not to worry. The gate opening is close to fourteen feet, so there should be plenty of clearance for it to enter and depart. Not too sure about trees though. At least one of the trees would be a small loss if the track hoe had to take it out. Well, we'll see what happens on Monday morning.

The crew arrived fashionably late this morning. It was all Carl's fault. Crossing the border was crowded this morning. Anyway, it's a good day to get this stuff done. It's all stuff that needs to be done before Trummer and his Back Hoe show up on Monday.

Here Omar is laying out the lines to determine the angle. They need that because, as you'll see, the blocks on one end need to be trimmed.

Omar Laying Out the Angles

Carl and Omar getting the crew started on the day's project.

Starting the Day's Work

Enjoying the view while making sure everyone understands just what trimming needs to be done.

Going Over the Game Plan

The trim angle has been layed out and now chipping away to achieve that angled has started.

Even Fresh Concrete is Tough

Here, they're measuring to determine the center point and layout the trim angle on this side.

Finding the Center Point

 Below is what the west side cut looks like. East side will be similar.

West Side Truss Cut

Here's the completed line for the truss to lay down on. It's the outer ends on both that need trimming.

New Line for Last Truss

Getting the angle trimmed down so the truss will fit exactly.

Trimming Blocks Down to the Angle

 And, after surgery, here's what the finished item looks like. It'll be interesting to see how it all fits together.

East Side Cut Completed

This is the tile design and color that Dianna likes for the shower.

Dianna's Favorite Blue Tile for the Shower

In real light, this is more a blue-green, instead of a blue.

Not So Favorite Blue Tile

And this is not white no matter what they say.

Not So Favorite Off-White Tile

Carl and I went over to Robert's development and took a look at the installation of the Rotoplas septic tank and drain field.

Rotoplas Septic Tank Cover

Here's the soak-away. More like a buried barrel.

Soak-Away Near Septic Tank

I was a busy boy too. I got in the pool, and decided it was time to take half the awning down, which I did.

Half the Pool Awning Down

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.