Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday

Not that there wasn't any activity going on Tuesday or Wednesday, (18-20 October, 2016) it's just that there wasn't much to photograph or really to write about. One of the guys was plastering, one of the guys was moving lumber, blah, blah, blah. That kind of day - both days.

So, I've combined the three days into one posting, that'd be this one.

Capping the Column

Here's how to get a uniform tapered cap on the post. Start with a smaller square centered on the cap. Let it cure a bit.

Finishing Cap Slope

Then add more mortar, trowel and sponge it to a uniform faceted shape.

Yesterday, this was the way some of the columns were at the end of the work day. Not a problem. Well, unless you count on Mr. Klutz (me) coming back to the house via the ramp up to the deck, after letting Mr. Nelson out of the basement from his day-long nap. I inadvertently put a couple of fingers on the still wet slope of the cap. Oops. I tried patting it back into shape as best as I could, and trying to straighten out the corner as well. I got it close, but you could still tell it had been mangled.

Luckily, the finish coat of mud would be applied today, so there was really no harm done, other than me feeling like a dolt, especially since I had watched them work on the caps.

Daniel Sanding the Cap

When it's cured, well, at least set, sand off any rough spots and apply a finish coat over the whole column and cap.

Deck Form Starting

You can see the wood being applied to form the deck. Actually, I think this wood is for the string lines, so they get a good idea of how much marl fill is needed to get a uniform level deck.

Electrical Run

At the same time, Bani the electrician, is running wires for the various switches and outlets around the deck.

Plastering the Columns

Here's the east columns being plastered. That was done yesterday. The west columns are being done today.

Spa Jets & Filter Return Lines

Couple of holes knocked in the wall to expose the lines for the spa jets and the filter return lines.

String Lines for Deck Fill

It's tough to photograph the string lines. They use fishing mono-filament line to do this and unless you catch a glint in the sunlight, the stuff is pretty much invisible.

Douglas Measuring

Douglas is measuring to set the string line level that they're using today to fill the deck area.

Another Bucket of Mud

Here comes up another bucket of mud for the plasterers.

Leveling Out Deck Subsurface

Daniel was going around the deck chipping out stubborn bits that refused to be knocked down.

Tamping the Fill

The tamper they're using is home-made and weighs probably two to three times what my tamper weighs.

Finally, the project is beginning to look the way we imagined that it might at the very beginning of the exercise. I'm excited to see the finished product - and to get into the pool once again.

Oh Boy! It's Friday Again.

It's amazing how fast the week has gone. Especially since I've been paying attention to each day. Usually, that would make the week drag, but not this time.

Endher Showing the Space

This Friday morning (15 October, 2016) the concentration is on the west ramp. Adding a bit more to the block work, adding fill, and getting column forms up.

Here, Endher is showing that, when the fill is in and the columns are in place, there will still be approximately forty-inches clearance for Dianna's machine. From her perspective in the kitchen this morning, she thought it was significantly less. I had to agree with her. From up there it really was an optacular collusion (with apologies to Norm Crosby, the Master of Malaprop).

Fill Going Into Pad Box

This project has generated a huge amount of debris from previous structures, deck wall, curbings, patio pieces, chunks of old block, marl, and rocks.

Luckily, the project is tailor-made to hide almost all of that debris. It gets turned into fill,as in this photo, and gets added back in as usable material. We've actually only had to move a small amount of marl down near our street-side fence where we have several low spots.

Unloading and Smoothing Marl

Speaking of that very thing, I realized I didn't have a photo of the marl dump out by the front fence, so I grabbed my camera and went to shoot it. Luckily Daniel was there unloading another wheelbarrow of marl and smoothing some of it out, so I was able to snap him at work.

Fence Column Forms Going Up

Just like with the Mennonite house steps, the fence columns are going up. They make it look finished already, don't they?

More of the Column Forms

Here's another view of one of the forms and the steel waiting for forms to encase them.

Tight Fit to Palapa

Only one form presented a slightly dicey problem. This one. It is close to the parking palapa, but I think it's going to work out alright and so problem averted.

Looking Up the Ramp

Here we are looking up the lower part of the ramp. It's probably easier to see if you click and expand the photo - which you can do with any of the photos.

From A Distance

This is a bit of an overall shot of the ramp. I think it will improve the way the place looks, kinda 'classin' up the joint.' Y'know?

Stairs - Bottom View

I don't think I've included a photo of the circular stairs before. Well, maybe when I first brought it home from Eric Burson's place out in Progesso. Anyway, here the stairs are in all their blue glory.

One thing it doesn't have yet is treads for the stairs themselves. I'm thinking of maybe getting some mahogany or something and having pieces cut to drop into each stair. maybe Varathane them or something else to protect them. Should look cool when done.

Pouring the Ramp Fence Columns

Back to the columns. They've started pouring the columns. They'll do half today, remove the forms and set them up on the remaining ones, and probably pour those, who knows, maybe tomorrow?

Smoothing the Column Cap

Part of the pour is running a stick down the length of the column to shake out air pockets and then smooth out the column cap. After the form is removed, then there will still be a bit more work putting an angled cap on top of the current cap. Gives it that truly finished look.

View of the Whole Project

Lastly, I didn't add this photo till the morning of the 15th. The reason is I spied the shot yesterday evening after I let Nelson out of his daytime hideaway in the basement of the Mennonite house.

I thought it gave a nice overall view of the whole project. Maybe it helps to integrate the separate images with the whole.

Sunny Monday and Tuesday

What a glorious day. Sunny all day.

Here's some of the work that was happening this morning.

Filling Column Bases

Yesterday afternoon, the workers put in forms for the column bases, which form part of the wall. This morning, those all got filled.

Pump House Growing Up

The pump house just keeps on growing. I'm looking forward to seeing the window louver and door put back in their places. Just a couple of the things we salvaged from the old pump house.

Skimmer Detail

I took this shot mostly as a reminder for future maintenance, of the skimmer and some of the piping.

Deck Fill Looking North

This afternoon, the forms came off the column bases and some of the mounds of marl we have around began to be leveled out, as in this view looking northward. Almost looks like a finished deck.

Deck Fill Looking South

Now, for this shot I'm standing where I was shooting in the last one. We can step out of the sliding glass door area without worrying about breaking our necks. Only worry about tracking marl into the house now. But that will soon change because I think they're getting close to being ready to cast the deck.

Deck Fill Looking East

Here's the view looking east along the house. Wow! It's really beginning to look finished now.

Deck Fill Looking West

I quickly turned around and snapped a shot the other direction. Here's what it looks like looking to the west. Those little blocks are protecting the venturi controls for the spa jets.

Deck Fill Looking - Jeez, That's Tall!

The first full column form is going up. Wow! That thing is tall. What isn't readily apparent, is the height that the pump house has gotten to. It's within a block level of reaching its final height.

Looking Through the Window Hole

Here's a nice view. Looking through the hole that will soon hold the window louver.

Truing Up the Column Form

Here's another view of the full column being trued up to stand vertically. It'll be interesting to see just how they take care of filling it. Ok, I guess that's about it for now.

Last Act of the Day

last bit of work, other than the daily cleanup, is filling the column form. Lots of buckets of concrete to fill that thing.

More Yin, Less Yang

In the "More Yin" area, Cody made some progress yesterday with priming the pump house. As you can see below, it got a partial coat. Once he is able to finish that, then we have some primer especially for Snow Seal (if that's the brand name) that he'll pain onto the roof. Then he'll apply two coats of Sno Coat (or the other spelling, if either one is right) to the roof. The, we'll hook up some thin-wall black tubing to the outlets up on the roof, taking care to coil the tubing tightly and all over the roof, to heat water and... there we are. A ready made solar pool heater.

Cody's Priming of the Pump House

Occasionally, miracles do happen. I was under the palapa talking about the pool with John when my cell phone rang. It was the lady from the Post Office saying she had a Special Delivery package for me. Yeah!

I jumped into the Isuzu and zoomed downtown. After explaining to her what the items were, she looked them up in the "duty" book. Ninty-three dollars in duty later, I walked out of the Post Office with the jets.

Shortly After I Brought Them Home

The Jets In All Their Glory

Excitement reigned more or less supreme for a few minutes as we checked the many parts, and figured out how everything fit together.

Slight Yang here... We needed about 5-feet of 2 1/2" PVC pipe for the jets. Turns out, 2 1/2" PVC pipe isn't used anywhere in Belize. Everyone we checked with said, "Oh, that's Mexican pipe". Apparently, Mexicans use that pipe for sewerage instead of 4" pipe as a standard. And it's not used for anything on this side of the border, so no one carries it.

That brought the work day to a halt. As soon as the stairs were done, John sent the workers to his house to do some things, and Agusto was going to go to Chetumal, Mexico to score a length of 2 1/2" pipe. He was going to try to buy just 5-feet of it, but probably will have to buy a 20-foot length. I told them they should keep the extra for the next pool they build.

On with the Yin...

Deck stairs are done and look and work very well. It's so nice not to have to climb up on a rock to get up on the deck.

Front Deck Stairs

Rear Deck Stairs

Cody finished applying fill to the concrete patch job as well as applying several wheelbarrow loads to the area behind the pool, next to the fence. We've had some serious low-lying areas right there with major puddling. This should help alleviate the problem.

Fence Patch Job is Done

Behind the Pool Filling and Leveling