Gray Saturday Morning

Saturday, 19 November 2016, and another work day. Mr. Nelson's upset this morning. He likes to go downstairs (the basement) of the Mennonite house and snooze all day up in the top shelf of my storage area.

He can't do it today, as we're having Tulio (Arrest-A-Pest) come spray the Mennonite house inside, upstairs and downstairs. Nelson is just impossible to coax out from down in the basement, so it's a lot easier to keep him out in the first place.

There is some consolation however. In the new house, he's discovered his alternate hideaway. It's in the laundry/utility room off the kitchen. We keep the laundry basket up on a shelf by the window. He likes to sleep in the basket. That way he can keep an eye on the outside as well as the utility room and kitchen. Not as good as the basement, but it'll do.

Grouting the Tile

This morning, the grouting of the little tiles in the pool began. It's going fast too. Really makes the blue tiles spring to life.

The Top of the Waterfall

Not permanently in place yet, but the top of the waterfall will have pieces of stone tile covering it at an angle. The water will come between it and the vertical tiles.

Trial Run With A Hose

You can't really tell from the photo, but our first trial run of the waterfall was by hose, just to see if the water would cascade down the face of the waterfall. It did, and it looked and sounded very nice.

The successful test gives us the green light to go ahead with our ideas for the waterfall as they have been.

Pump Rigged For A Test

Bani rigged up the waterfall pump (a half-horse number) with flexible vinyl tubing to try it out by actually using the pump to provide the water for the falls.

After the pump was primed, water was drawn from a bucket and up and out at the waterfall head.

Cutting Concrete Casting Sprue

Theo is using a grinding tool to cut out casting sprue of concrete from where concrete oozed out during the casting process.

Bani Priming the Pump

I mentioned priming the pump, here Bani is doing just that. With luck, the next time we have to prime it, is if the pump needs to be taken out for repairs.

?? Cutting Slot in Waterfall Pipe

Theo is cutting a slit in the water pipe at the head of the waterfall. Mario is keeping a close eye on the proceedings.

Inspecting the Cut

Mario checking the cut. He came up with a good idea about having a small light over head, possibly attached to one of the beams, with its focus on the waterfall. Maybe have one with a multi-colored light that changes colors periodically.

Happiness. It Works!

Theo is very happy that the waterfall is working just the way that we thought and hoped it would.

Water Actually Cascading

You have to look closely, but there is water and it's cascading down the rocks just the way we thought and hoped it would.

Dianna and Mario Talking Waterfall

Dianna and Mario at the far end of the pool talking over the pool and the waterfall.

Thursday After

This is for Thursday, 10 November, 2016. All but done with hurricane season till it rolls around again in June. All but done with the election and whatever is going to happen.

April, Voicing Her Displeasure With the Construction

I'm not really sure if she's doing that, as much as she's trying to tell me that I should let her into the Mennonite house so she can have some quiet time too.

Shadow Play Gecko Style

Starting the day off right, we lowered the sun shades on the veranda. I was sitting there enjoying the last of my coffee and noticed this shadow on the shade. A gecko (or geiko as they say here in all seriousness) on the screen outside the veranda. So here we are.

Getting Ready to Pour Ramps

The morning got off to a good start, except it was hot today. Walking the girls this morning, I sweat like it was the middle of the summer.

Till the Machine Factors In

Yesterday it worked fine. This morning, it wouldn't turn over, no matter what they did. Finally, after an hour or so of hard work in the hot sun, it cranked.

In the meantime, mixing concrete by hand and humping buckets of it was slow, energy consuming work.

The Last Bit on the Deck is Cast

This is the wall-side from the drain trough. Cast early on so it should have time to be worked just like the rest of the deck.

Bullnose Will Look Great

The bullnose, which goes completely around the pool will look great. Once the Diamond Brite is applied, it will look outstanding. I can't wait to see it in its finished form.

Colored and Stamped

That last bit of the deck on the house side of the drain is done and soon all will be cleaned and should look great. I think the coloration will be superb. Although the powder is purple the effect is kind of a burnished gold color.

The Circular Stair/Ramp Landing

The pad for the circular stair and the top landing for the ramp have been poured, colored, and stamped. Things are moving right along.

Ramp Landing

The west ramp landing has been poured, and colored, but no purple powder yet or stamping. I think it was done shortly after I took this shot. You just can't be everywhere all the time.

Backstop for the Waterfall

The sloped backstop for the waterfall is being put into place. the stone tile will be applied over that surface virtually all the way up the wall. That is going to be so dramatic (I hope).






So, it's the end of the workday. the guys are covering either end with plastic to keep dogs and cats off the surfaces. That's it till tomorrow.

Monday, Again And Tuesday

Monday, 07 November and Tuesday 08 November, 2016. Well, I've recovered full access to the blog (Whew!). I'm not sure how or why it happened, but, once I realized what happened, correcting it was fairly simple. My account got changed to another Google account that I have and I didn't notice it. Oh well, live and learn

I'm going to post a bunch of photos that really go with the post from last week. Especially the croc and the turtle. They're both cute. So, here goes.

Putting Up the Bull-nose Forms

Quite a novel solution to this situation. Using 3" PVC cut in half and mounted onto a piece of wood which is then fastened to the pool wall.

The only bull-nose I've seen before is concrete tiles positioned around a pool. This is quite a creative solution. It'll slope back gently from the pool edge to the far side of the deck. This should help keep debris from draining directly into the pool.

New Waterfall Pump

Just a shot to show the new ½ Hp water pump out of the box and in its planned location. We got it at Benny's in Belize City. Flotec and made in the USA (probably of Chinese components).

It's going to be operating off 220 VAC, so a little bit more cost savings on the electrical front.

Cut to Access Electrical Lines

A side project while all this is going on is changing the wiring for our main house. I had originally run it on 12 AWG from the main power panel in the Mennonite house, since at the time, the only thing the pool house was going to be used for was parties, etc.

After the new house got built, I realized it was drastically undersized. Cutting the wire and extracting them allowed Bani, the electrician to run new #6 house wire, this time from the power panel street-side, direct to the new house. This also meant a new meter, so we're now a two-meter family. The Mennonite house will be on it's own circuit as well.

Tarp Protecting This Side

Because of the failed paint on the metal beams (someone forgot to Ospho the beams before priming and final coat. They showed up with just the final coat on them. When it rained, the paint virtually began sloughing off and going all over the place.

To protect the house and doors, they put up the plastic as they were Osphoing, priming, and applying the final coat, all with spray gun.

New House Going Up Across Canal

Just a quick shot of a new house going up across the canal. they've been going like a house a-fire after a lengthy delay right in the beginning.

Scraping off the Old Finish

Activities today and Tuesday focused mainly on the metal crew removing the faulty paint and then Osphoing, priming, and final coating the beams. There were some things that could be done in the vicinity of the work, but also some things that had to wait till it was done.

Sample Stamping - Light Color

Although it's hard to tell the difference, both sample stampings are different colors. The upper one just has the powdered pigment coloration and a white mold release powder. The mold release washes off.

Sample Stamping - Dark Color

This one has the same color powdered pigment coloration, but has a purplish mold release, which also adds a slightly darker tint to the stamping. Dianna and I both like the darker one.

Trying Out Waterfall Tiles

Trying out the choice of waterfall stone/tile. The tiles are temporarily screwed into the greenboard mockup to see if they look as good as we hoped, and how water behaves by running a hose over them The tiles passed on all counts.

Waterfall Pipe Outlet

This is the level that the waterfall will start its cascade down to the pool. That piping will be hidden behind some rock tile. You'll see. It'll be great. The best (to quote someone).

Plastic and Steel Going Down

There's now a lot of steel in the deck, as well as plastic underlayment. All a rush to get ready to pour Wednesday morning.

Charlotte, Dianna, Yavette and Tree

They get together a couple times a week to craft. Today, they took a break and decorated our tree. Something Dianna and I haven't done in a few years. Kinda nice having it up, I must say.

Noel's First Night Here

Poor little kitty. A cute calico kitty, brought to us by our cleaning lady, Karen. It didn't take long for her to adapt. Bela ran over to her immediately and they've been fast friends ever since. Now, she's tearing around the living room, unless she's napping.

Smallish Croc

The guys, fishing during their lunch beak, managed to catch a young croc. I'm sure if we hadn't been there, it probably would have been someones' evening stew. They are proected her

Even Littler Turtle

This one is just like the kind you used to get at the five and dime store. You know, the kind with the plastic pond with a ramp and island with a plastic palm tree. We didn't keep him. He went right back into the canal, where his home is.





Oh, and before I forget, today is election day up in the States. We have hopes that Hillary will win, but we'll see. Dianna and I voted way back in September thanks to Washington State's progressive voting policies.

Weekend = Busy, Busy, Busy

The other name for that could be the question we ask alot - How did we find time to work when we worked?

We were kind of busy this weekend - all weekend, it seems. First, let me say that for purposes of this discussion, last weekend began on Thursday as that's the day I worked on the pool pumps, valves, unions, piping, etc.

Would you believe I worked from 7:30 AM, Thursday morning until 4:00 PM that same day? I did. It was a severe day as well. Working in that cramped little octagonal-shaped building, where there never is a breeze, and where the heat just multiplies as the day goes on.

In fact, to give you an idea of the heat, around 11:00 AM, I took my phone and my keys/gate remote and left them in the pool house as I was afraid condensation would damage them. It was so be that, by the time I knocked off, I noticed I was dripping sweat from my shorts!

Anyway, here's what I worked on. First, I have wanted to raise both pump motors off the floor for a long time. I took the opportunity when I removed the main pump to service the pump seal of raising both motors on concrete blocks. This naturally entailed re-doing the plumbing going into and out of each pump. You can see the waterfall pump (the orange thing below) sitting comfortably on its block.

Waterfall Pump Raised

The main pump (the black thing below) was what started this whole project. About two weeks ago I noticed leakage out of the back of the pump, just in front of the motor. Oops. Not a good sign. I learn quickly. Last time, I didn't notice that leak and that lead eventually to water going onto the front motor bearing which caused it to scream progressively louder until it failed. Thankfully, Terence Leslie, a small engine mechanic here in Corozal, is also a veritable wizard when it comes to replacing electric motor bearings and such.

Main Pump Raised

Anyway, this time I was able to pull the pump out of service before it self-destructed. I also took the opportunity this time to re-route the outlet pipe to each pump so that it's joining union was off to one side of the pump. That way, when I do remove either pump, residual water in the piping will fall harmlessly to one side of the pump instead of cascading over the pump and the motor. In my mind, the design of these pumps is pretty poor. They should be designed with the outlet on the pump's side. It won't care which way the water leaves the pump.

I also took the opportunity to add two more valves on the inlet and outlet side of the main pump to facilitate removal of the pump without the gyrations I previously had to go through. Things like a little plug I had made to stopper up the skimmer as there had been no valve installed when it was built to stop water flowing from there to the motor. Since the motor was lower than the water level in the skimmer, without the stopper in place, a flood in the pump house developed rather quickly. I also had to turn off the valves for the floor drain and the spa jets. Now all I  have to do is turn two conveniently located valves and presto!, the main pump can be disconnected easily. You can see the two red-handled valves in the photo below and at the bottom, you can see the outlet union for the pump is now off to one side.

New Valves and Piping

I also had to replace a union on the filter (the cream-colored round thing below). The inlet union is now white. The dark gray union it replaced had been leaking for quite some time. When I went to tighten it, it snapped into two pieces - the threaded part was one piece and the top piece that connected to the other part of the pipe. I suspect it had been broken for some time and that that was where the leak was. When I attempted to tighten it, that was all it needed to fail completely.

Pool Filter and Piping

Next thing that happened, was the union at the pump refused to quit dripping. So, on Friday, Carlos (who's building our patio area) and I looked at it and decided that epoxy would be the best thing to stop the leak. I applied that and it almost worked perfectly, with still just a little, little leak left.

Well, anyway,jumping ahead for just a second, now on Monday, no leakage anywhere. First time in ages that the floor of the pump house has been completely dry.

So, back to Friday... Carlos was there and cast the bar/counter top, with only the barbecue area left to build for the basic parts of the structure.

Carlos needed the barbecue grill itself to see how to build the whole structure for that. I had to go to Dr. Sheila's to get some heartworm meds for the dogs. As I drove past Pancho's Welding shop on the way to Sheila's, I saw he had a BBQ standing out in his yard. I whipped in to take a look.

After a quick look, I thought that was just what the doctor ordered and for $150BZD, it was perfect. It's made from a medium-sized butane tank and some 3/8- and 1/2-inch rebar, oh, and about an eight-inch piece of exhaust tubing.

Our New BBQ Closed Up

Here you can see the grill opened up. It's got an expanded metal grate. Hey, not a Cadillac, but, certainly up for some fine barbecuing. And if it lasts for a few years, all the better.
Next thing that happened was our pressure tanks - one for the reverse osmosis drinking water system and the other for the well.

We've never had spectacular water pressure here. I just assumed that was what we had. Our pump/pressure switch was automatically set, so I wasn't sure how to adjust it or that it could be adjusted. And the reverse osmosis system. A couple weeks ago, it began to loose pressure such that it was able to maybe have enough water to fill one liter water bottle before running out of water. Here's the RO system pressure tank below.

New BBQ Grill

Reverse Osmosis System Pressure Tank

Anyway, I asked Doug (my neighbor and dog walking accomplice) if he knew anything about pressure tanks and how to adjust them. Turns out he did. Good thing too because when I read the manual for one of the tanks, all I could say was, "huh?"

So, Sunday, Doug comes over and we started to look at the RO tank. He said let's start instead out at the pump. We need to find what your start and stop pressure on the switch is anyway. You can see the well pressure tank below and the pressure switch.

Now, we have amazing water pressure in the house - about 40-45 lbs which the most we had before was 30-45 lbs. Quite nice. The water pressure for the RO system now can fill at least several bottles and do it quickly. Yea!!!! What a relief that is.

And finally, well almost finally, our orchids, which we've had growing on trees an posts here and there, mostly ignoring them and never watering them at all. This morning, as I was coming back in from shopping, some delicate white flowers among the orchids caught my eye.

I decided I'd take a few pictures of them for the blog as well, so I did. Here's the one that caught my eye. Quite nice.

Well Pressure Tank

Our Orchids Flowering

And here's some more. Like I said, we don't do anything with these guys. They continue to thrive.

More of Our Orchids

Here's Cody, our caretaker trimming hedges this morning. The front yard is beginning to really look nice..

And Yet More of Our Orchids

Cody Trimming Hedges

And the reason for that is Dianna. It's finally getting cool enough she can get out and garden, which she has been wanting to do for quite some time.

Dianna Seeking Shelter

Now, last but not least. The only other time I've seen one of these critters here in Belize, was a couple years ago when I snapped a photo of one on one of our gate lights. Here it's on our front stair railing. He (or she) is about six or seven inches long, so they're pretty good sized.

Praying Mantis on Stair Rail

Alright, that's officially the end of the weekend. We're both exhausted.