Pool House Expansion Project, Day Thirty-Five - Six, 09/11 - 12/15

Tile Arrives - Forty-Five Boxes

Day Thirty-Five and -Six, 11 - 12 November, 2015

Most of the past two days have been spent over in Chetumal, either at a store called Boxito (http://www.boxito.com.mx/2/sucursales.php), on Heros Avenue; or at Home Depot, on Insurgentes Blvd. Home Depot is a major change for us. Even though it's in Mexico, it's exactly like Home Depot up North - too much of everything. I'm not sure that that's necessarily a good thing. It isn't stopping me from shopping there. I just don't want to go too often and become enamored of shopping with such ostentatious plenty. I prefer the quaint, small-town shopping feel of Belize.

Anyway, I've been looking at toilets. I'm of the school that plain white is better, like the one below. Don't be fooled by the $199 price tag - that's in Pesos (Mexico uses the same symbol) and it's the monthly payment if you buy it on credit.

My Guess for the Toilet

Here's what we've decided on for the bathroom sink. Under counter mount and also in plain white. Same story for the price tag as above. We're going with the sink at Boxito as it was the larger of the two.

We're Going With Plain White, Under-Counter Mount

Below is the look we want for the counter, just in some sort of synthetic, Like Corian or something, if we can find it. Found this at Home Depot, but with a plywood-like backing, which we don't want.

Looking for Synthetic Counter, Something Like This

We found this floor tile at Boxito, and it was love at first glance. We're going to get this for the walkway and veranda. It looks way cool. Not cheap, but very cool.

What We Want for Walkway Tile

Here's the progress the guys have been making with the roof. Even though the rain keeps coming down, they've managed to get a lot done. And the rain is supposed to continue clear through to Tuesday or so.

Progress on the Roof

From the underside, the roof is looking very complicated. It is going to give us a good-sized attic. We'll have walkways up there, not that we're going to use the attic for storage, but so that we can get to the louvers at either end to open or close them for hurricanes and cooling.

Looking Complicated

A good safety measure. The guys covered the septic tank hole with boards. It's not every day you see such exotic woods used in such a mundane way. What're you going to do?

Safety Cover for Septic Tank Hole

Now, the really good stuff. We had all this floor tile for the main part of the house, on order with Home Depot for at least a couple of weeks. It had to come down to Chetumal from Playa del Carmen. We got 45 boxes. Carl hauled it across the border for us in his truck. Roughly 750 pounds per trip.

Of course, crossing the border, involved passing through Belize Customs, and paying duty, GST, and probably an environmental tax. Altogether that cost us a little over $1,200 BZD $600 BZD, Duty and GST ($306 for the first load, and $304 BZD for the second). Sorry, had a brain fart earlier when I wrote the posting. Dianna caught the error. Quite a bit less than we thought we faced.

Tile In the Truck - About 750 Pounds

 The guys were good about unloading it as heavy as each box looked. I'm glad I didn't have to do it. My back would have totally rebelled.

Unloading Tile - 45 Boxes Total

More to come in the next installment. Stay tuned.

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. 

Every Day's a Big Day Tuesday

I started out to title this posting 'Big Day Tuesday'. I changed my mind. Events just move too fast. I'll see if I can get caught up here.

What better way to get started than having a nice comfortable throne? Here's a shot of our newly installed 'terlet' - fully functioning too.

The Throne

It does still have one tiny leak. The right-side bolt that holds the tank to the bowl still leaks. I haven't been able to entirely stop it yet. I'm looking for an easy solution, so far it's avoiding me.

Windows Arriving

And on Tuesday (the day that started this post), at about 9:30 AM, or so, Roger, from Capital Factory (http://www.capitalfactory.bz/) here in Corozal, showed up with his crew and a full load of louvered windows, sliding glass doors and a roll-up door. They wasted no time beginning the unloading process.

Windows Stacked Everywhere

And, as fast as the windows came in, here comes tromping up onto the deck, this huge contraption - our new 'roll-up' door.

Roll-up Arriving

Looking huge, as it arrived, and even larger after it got installed, the roll-up door is quite the piece of machinery.

Roll-up On Deck

Of course, what we were most excited about, and what the real purpose of the roll-up door is for, that's to protect the double sliding glass doors that are the next thing to be pulled out of the magician's hat, er, truck.

Screen Doors Waiting Their Turn

But, unless we get the louvered windows installed first, nothing else happens. So Roger took the bull by the horns, and started the installation process with the first louvers going into the bathroom. I swear it was already a little cooler just with him doing that.

First Window Being Installed

To be honest, while the windows were being installed, part of Roger's crew was working on getting ready to install the roll-up. Here, they're getting ready to drill for the mounting bolts.

Is This Thing Level?

And magically, the roll-up is up. Actually, it did go up rather fast. Unfortunately, the size of the box for the roll-up covered the boxes we had in place in the wall for a couple of lights, one on either side of the doorway. We'll have to figure some way to deal with that later on.

Roll-up Is Up!

Right after mounting the roller assembly, comes the motor. This is made by the same Chinese company that made our gate motor (Dongrong), which has be virtually trouble free in over two years of continuous operation.

Next Up - the Motor

After the motor, then comes the 'curtain' as it's called. The metal fabric that is actually the part of the assembly that goes up and down. I suspect it weighs a bit.

Roll-up Curtain Arrives

Next, they have to get the curtain up to the roller. A simple way is to rig a couple of rope slings to rest the curtain in as they spin it around to find the end piece that actually becomes attached to the roller.

Ready to Hoist the Curtain

That in turn gets fasted to the roller with one metal screw. That is, until they make sure the curtain is rolling square to the roller. And they can't determine that until they get the two guides temporarily installed on either side of the doorway. An involved process for sure.

The Turn of the Screw

Ok. So now, it looks pretty level. Just a bit more adjusting and it'll be ready to roll up as a roll-up should... or, something like that.

Making Sure It's Level

Here's a quick glimpse of what the roll-up looks like, at this stage, from the inside.

Pretty Solid

While all this work was taking place, there had to be some supervision. Here's Dianna and Cody checking progress from the shade of our little gumbo limbo tree by the canal.

Supervising's Hard Work

Here's the final assembly of the curtain - Lots of screws hold it to the roller.

Final Attachment

Just so you don't forget, there was a whole other group of worker-bees putting the window louvers into place at the same time the roll-up was being worked on.

Windows in Bedroom #1

Part of the installation process is making sure the window opening is sufficiently large to accommodate the louvers. Here, Roger is using a hatchet to trim off some concrete from the kitchen window. Some windows, like this, were almost a glove-tight fit. Others, had quite a large gap. You'll see how it gets filled in later on.

Roger Adjusting Kitchen Window Opening

As you can see, Roger is a man of many talents. Not only adusting window openings, but as you can see  below, pretty good at the assembly game as well. Here, he's getting the frame set up to be slid into place to hold the sliding glass doors.

Roger Assembling the Sliding Door Frame

Here's a shot of the crew installing the framework for the sliding glass doors.

Installing Slider Frame

Next up, once the frame is screwed into place is the installation of the sliding glass doors, and in this case, installation of the two outer non-slider glass doors.

 Sliding glass doors Arriving

In pretty short order, it begins to look a lot like sliding glass.

Couple of Glass Doors On Track

I took advantage of having the pool deck umbrella open to shoot this shot of the glass doors. Starting to look pretty good if I do say so myself.

All Four In Place

We wanted to have the roll-up look a little classy, so we order it to come with a cover. Here, they're hoisting it into place.

Roll-up Cover Going Into Place

In case I didn't mention it (I didn't), this turned out to be an all day evolution. Roger and his crew didn't leave until after 5:30 PM. They worked hard too.

Cover's Almost Done

One of the last things they had to install was the motor cover. As you can see, the wiring is not completed. As Roger said, "We leave that to the electrician." Good thing I have one on tap.

Installing the Motor Cover

At this time of the day, there's just a little left to do. Pick up the debris, tools, and all the bits and pieces that result from an installation.

Everything Is Just About Done

There's just one tiny little thing left to do. That's to caulk across the top to fill in the gaposis between the slider frame and the concrete of the doorway opening. It's uneven, naturally, about three-eighths of an inch on the left side, tapering down to less than an eighth of an inch on the right side.

Final Caulking of the Slider Frame

Now, you'd think this would be a simple five or ten minute caulk job. Guess again.

It took just a little under an hour. first they were cutting and shoving some Styrofoam into the gap and applying caulk, and more Styrofoam and more caulk. the more they worked with it, the rougher it got. I have to attribute it to them being tired at the end of the day. They had already done a professional caulk job on the inside of all the windows they installed.

Finally, it became smooth, and they were done. We were all pooped.

Be sure to tune in next time as we cover the exciting adventures of Joe the Electrician, pulling my finger wire and finding what an adventure it can be dealing with Polyducto and concrete.

It Must Be Therapy

The past week or so, I've been spending just about five hours a day in the pool. Maybe not at once but several times in a day. There have been times though, where it was a solid four hours. Today, we were in it most of the afternoon, while it was raining. Quite nice.

Let's see, where are we? Well, the guesthouse is almost completely painted - inside and out; we have the bathroom vanity, sink, and faucet installed, along with the tile back-splash; the toilet is in, although, it's plagued right now by a small leak that I'm trying to track down and solve; We had a couple of guys come by to measure, etc., for a bid for the kitchen cabinets and doors; and, we're supposed to get our louvers, sliding glass doors, and roll-up door installed tomorrow. That's about it. I've been busy, busy, busy. It seems when construction is underway, I make at least three trips to town for supplies, parts, you name it.

Speaking of the toilet, we've replaced everything that came with it. The toilet seat cover had an unfortunate accident.

I Think It's Busted

We started with the seat. Dianna was actually responsible for this. As the installation was proceeding, she wanted to check to see how 'un-wobbly' the toilet was after fastening the flange bolts, so she sat on the lid. Instantly - boom! We weren't real happy with it in the first place, kinda cheesy.

So, yesterday, I purchased a new filler valve and float. This morning, I got a new seat along with a new overflow/drain valve and new brass tank-to-bowl bolts and rubber washers. I also got a new connector hose as with the new filler valve, it naturally takes a different sized hose than the old one.

Now, the toilet has completely new innards - and we haven't even used it yet. That's not true. I pee'd in it this afternoon, after caulking the gaskets to try to stem the leak. I flushed and bingo! It still leaks. Dangit!

Dianna Supervising, Mayo Installing the Toilet

As far as the painting, all that's left is the bottom of each window louver, as the way they do it, is to install the louvers, then plaster up the bottom to fill in any remaining gaps. That's the part that still needs painting. And the roof - it still needs priming and an application of snow coat, almost like the stuff we would put on RV roofs. It's a rubberized product (quite expensive here) that once applied will lower the inside temp a concrete-roofed house by about ten degrees.

We're also ready for the electrician to come back and complete the wiring, including installing another whole house surge suppressor and possibly moving the pool's waterfall and in-pool light switches to be more convenient - like inside the utility room of the guesthouse.

Walkies have been fun. I wore out all of my Crocs, so I resorted to trying to wear my Kean sandals, which look cool, but I didn't find them comfortable before. Well, if I just wore them a little at a time to break them in, that probably would have been fine. Instead, I wore them for our usual walk - almost 4 miles. Here's the result:

Finally Down to 4 Bandages

Ow, ow, ow! That wasn't the brightest thing to do. After I got back, it's been bandages and immediately switching over to my sandals, that I haven't worn in over two years. (I haven't work the Keans in at least that, either). Good thing, cause we haven't been able to get over to Chetumal to Sam's Club to buy new Crocs. If it wasn't for the sandals and the Keans, I'd be barefoot. The doggies just would not understand me begging off from walkies simply because I had no shoes. After all, they go bare-footed every day and they don't complain.

Paloma Getting New Paint

Speaking of walkies, each day, we walk past the local 'boatyard', actually just a part of Miami Beach, downtown. I had shown a picture of Paloma shortly after she arrived onto the hard. Now here she is sporting a very nice new paint job. I'm just waiting now for them to put her name back on her bows. She's a very pretty boat as is.

Below, is another view of her from the stern. A lot of care and skill has gone into this paint job.

Paloma's Behind

And, speaking of painting, I know Vivien has been champing at the bit for some shots of the painting in progress. Here's a few glimpses. The color scheme inside is white, a very light blue (some folks think it's gray) and navy blue (azul de marina).

Malo Rolling on the Light Blue

Final Outside Colors - Blue and Terra Cotta

And, a shot of the outside final colors, blue and terra cotta. Tomorrow, I'll be taking more photos as the louvers, etc., are installed. I'll be able to show more of the colors. I don't seem to have any shots of the navy blue. There will be.

A while back, we had an acquaintance through the blog, Larry come to town. He came over to visit for a spell and the next day, Twyla and I ran into him during our walk. He was kind enough to send me a shot he took of us by the Mirador Hotel

Walkies - Courtesy of Larry O'Grady

He took a lot of photos around the area, many while he was looking at property. Here's a link to his Picasa photo album: (http://picasaweb.google.com/pollymop). Enjoy.

Well, that's about it for this evening. This is unusual. I normally do this about three or four in the morning. What happened? I'll take a bunch more and get something posted - soon. I promise!

Getting Closer

Things just keep moving closer toward being finished.

For example, our toilet showed up yesterday. Here's the tank and lid at rest in the bathroom, and the bowl stuck in a corner of the dining area of the living room.

I don't think it'll take too long for it to be installed. Pancho does have to bore a hole through the tile for the supply line for the toilet - a minor oversight that no one noticed till the tiling was finished in the bathroom.

Archie Bunker's Favorite Household Appliance

Waiting for Installation

Our back (streetside) porch roof is finally taking shape. Here it's being framed out and readied for the plywood covering.

Back Porch Addition

Too Bad We Didn't Think Ahead

Now the plywood gets applied. Then will come the bubblewrap insulation, then the "zinc" as the metal roof is called, will be applied.

Plywood being laid down

Here the plywood is just about done. Definitely an improvement. I think it will go a long ways toward keeping the guest bedroom and kitchen a lot cooler too.

Back Porch Plywood Roof

Checking the Underside

Pancho, the plumber, also gets tapped for other jobs. The past couple of days, he's been sanding beams for the back porch. Here he'd been tapped to fill, sand, and finally varnish the kitchen floor.

Oh, yes. He also gets to do plumber stuff. That will keep him busy over the next few days too. Here he's just starting to glue up the main water supply to the house.

Adding Varnish to the Floor

Pancho the Plumber

Somewhere in all this, we found time to go to the Purple Toucan again. It was time for the monthly Friendship Luncheon. And again, as usual, there was way more food than all of us could consume.