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13 November, 2015

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. 

4 comments:

Wilma said...

That's a lot of tile! We are sticking with wood floors throughout, even the bathroom. But we did pick out tile for the shower walls. Went with a Daltile product that we got at a tile shop in Belize City. Right now we are waiting for delivery of the flooring, which had to come from Orange Walk, and our road is flooded. Hoping for next week.

Dave Rider said...

Hi Wilma,
I agree, it's a lot of tile. But, we just figured out how much of that fancy tile we need for the walkway - it's just as much as the main part of the house. So another forty-some boxes will be arriving soon... If we survive the rains forecast for this weekend. Hope things go well down in your neck of the woods. I suspect we'll be hunkered in the bunker again. This is supposed to go through Tuesday, I think.

Cheers,
Dave

JRinSC said...

Hi Dave,

All is looking good. I have one, probably late, suggestion for you. You are not nearly as old as I am - 68+ now -- but there will come a time when you would appreciate the higher (comfort height) toilet. I know we love 'em as it is a lot easier on the knees. You probably will pay a little more but believe me it is worth evey penny.

Carry on...

Julian

Dave Rider said...

Hi Julian,

I gladly accept the suggestion. My knees have a hard time getting up from a low sitting position.

I have a suggestion for you as well. It's a 'Squatty Potty.' Apparently, we westerners (not cowboys, but... you know) have been taking dumps all wrong, because we don't use a squat toilet, as used in a lot of eastern and other countries.

Well, turns out, that's the correct position to be able to fully 'void' the part that needs voiding. Sitting doesn't relax the necessary muscle, whereas squatting does, allowing the full dump process to take place. In comes the Squatty Potty (http://www.squattypotty.com).

We've ordered one. I'm looking forward to giving it a try, on my high-seating toilet seat.

Cheers,
Dave