Patio Palapa - Labor Commences

Carlos and I were out in the parking area assembling the last of 12 'tomato' cages (we'll use 'em for lots of other things) when I noticed Endher's truck parked just outside the utility gate.

Finishing De-Thatching

 I was surprised at just how fast the last of the thatch was pulled down, and how soon the guys got the patio all cleaned up.

At my suggestion, the debris was tossed over the fence into Mike and Steph's yard. Mario's crew is under strict orders to clean up all the debris and remove it.

Carlos is keeping a close eye on things as maintaining their yard is his responsibility. They'll also be bringing in whatever lumber they need for the project the same way. Otherwise, it's a long walk around our house to dump debris into the truck or to bring in the lumber.

Endher and Mario Planning

 Endher and Mario discussing how to do the framing. I want the look and feel underneath to be similar to the parking palapa, so those skinny sticks, for the most part, will be staying.

There's also going to be screening, just like in the pool enclosure, but we'll get to that when that part arrives.

Croc in the Canal

There's no shortage of supervisors either. Here you can see one of our local residents (inside the red circle) taking an interest in the goings-on.

This is a juvenile croc, probably around five to six feet in length. He cruises past our place at least once a week. It's either this one or another juvenile that spends a lot of his/her time under the fishing pier across the canal from us.

Whenever I backwash the pool, which empties into the canal, the croc scoots across the canal and keeps his nose right next to the marl cloud released as part of the backwash process. Sniffing a potential meal no doubt.

Cutting Compound Angles

This afternoon, the guys have been spending their time getting angles cut in preparation for setting a facia board (may not be the correct term, but it'll do). It's basically going to be a six-sided structure surrounding the old palapa.

Hanging Palapa Lamp

 Here's the old metal lantern lamp that hangs from the center peak of the palapa. It will be reinstalled as soon as possible to keep it from getting damaged.

Little Better View of the Angles

This photo gives you a little better idea of the angles involved. Of course, nothing is even all the way around, so it becomes tricky.

Also, all day today, we've dealt with thunder, lightning, and periods of rain. Since a woman in Ranchito having been recently killed in her backyard by lightning, safety is more on everyone's mind than normal.

Parking Palapa Gets a New Top

The thatch on the parking palapa came to its end a few days ago. We had the roof restored with 'zinc' as they call it, sheet metal by any other name would smell as sweet, or something like that.

Just Getting Started

Even though the thatch was beginning to show its age, developing more holes everytime we had a heavy rain, taking it down was still not an easy task. The way the thatch is wrapped around the horizontal stick part of the frame meant that each frond had to be pulled apart individually.

It Doesn't Go As Fast As You Think

Now we're beginning to see the skeleton. Quite an impressive structure. We'll be keeping that underneath the zinc.

Starting Framing For Screws

And, just like that, the thatch is all gone. Now they're putting up board framing so there is something to screw the zinc into, and to even up the roof framing so that it looks smooth and the zinc panels don't look wavy from the ground.

First Piece of Zinc Going Up

I just made it out of the house in time to catch the first panel of zinc going up. Already looks impressive, eh?

Close to Being Done

Here it is, almost all done, complete with ridge caps, which are shaped strips of zinc designed to fit over the ridges and help provide a water-resistant roof.

Underside View

This is what it looks like from underneath. Really shows off the original structure. I like the way it looks.

Tricky Corner

This corner of the palapa always was tricky. We had to cut back the thatch here because the corner of the concrete house was a bit close. Endher trimmed back the zinc roofing to allow for that as well, in order to keep rain from running down the house wall. He said a bit of the gutter will be run around there to help with drainage.

Endher Fitting Gutter Sections

 Yesterday was a full day for the crew. Fitting gutter sections, digging trenches and putting it all together. It sure looks good as the end result.

Chillin'

Sidewalk superintendent taking in the view of the workplace.

Digging Trench for Floor Drain

Here's the trench for the floor drain going in. This will make number four for the floor drains along the driveway. Combined with the flow from the gate area French drain, the Mennonite house, parking palapa, the floor drains, and the new house gutters, there's a large volume of water shooting out of the pipe into the canal during and shortly after a rainfall.

3" Drain Everything Connects To

Here's the three-inch drainpipe that runs pretty much the length of the property (it's roughly 250 or so feet long.

One Side Done

The gutter (eves-troughs to those of you used to calling them that) is in place on the north side. Soon to become blue like the rest. The structure is really looking nice.

Fitting Clamps for Downspout

Endher fastening the downspouts to the brackets. I really like the metal brackets they use. I hadn't seen them before Endher and the boys used them. It keeps the pipe off the wall surface and facilitates painting too.

Positioning Floor Drain

The four-inch floor drain going in. A two-inch drain would work, except the metal top is exceedingly thin and wrinkles up at the drop of a hat. the metal on the 4" drain is about 1/4" thick so it's extremely durable.

View From Mennonite House

A much cleaner view now from the upper landing of the Mennonite house.

Making It All Pretty

Touching up the final coat of blue on the gutters.

View As You Approach

This view is as you approach the palapa on the driveway. Looks very nice. All that's left now, is for the crew to install a shelter for my bike so that I can come and go easily and the bike is somewhat protected from the elements.

Now You'll Be Up-To-Date As Of December 12, 2007

Not only big trucks get repaired on the road. Franz was backing out and "Bang", his drive shaft universal joint blew. So, he calls a mechanic, he comes, and it gets fixed on the spot. Of course, they couldn't have completed the job without Dianna supervising.

Franz's Broken Truck

Dianna Helping

Here's a picture of one of 41 or so of the hurricane clips we have mounted to help keep the roof on in the event of a hurricane. Not only do we have the clips , but each rafter is screwed to the plate with a 5" lag screw.
The next picture is our main service panel for the house. It's mounted in the guest bedroom.

Hurricane Clip

Main Breaker Panel

Franz Ozman, the electrician, almost showing some plumber's crack. Would that be a code violation, or maybe some sort of ethical blunder? The next one is Dianna trying out the crank for the window louvers.

Ozman, the Electrician

Dianna and the Louvers

We had wanted a short wall with a bar of some sort separating the kitchen from the living room area. Abraham, the drywaller, suggested an arch of some sort.

Pre-arch, it was just a sheet of drywall. Then Abraham drew the arch and cut it out.

Abraham Drywalling the Arch

Abraham Cutting the Arch Out

Here it is in its earliest stage, having just been cut out of drywall.

The Arch

Now you can see it from the other side. The next shot is after it had actually been framed in. Abraham is putting in the last finishing piece of sheetrock. Pretty cool.

The Arch x Two

Fitting Sheetrock to the Arch

Now, here's a couple of interesting photos. Abraham, on the left is resting after a hard day's work, and is pondering how to hide wires coming out of the ceiling. On the other hand, Franz, on the right, tangled with something bad that he ate the night before and spent most of the day literally, bent over beside a small tree praying to O'Rourke. It totally wiped him out. At one point, he looked as white as a corpse.

Abraham Pondering Possibilities

Franz Pondering Existence Itself

Since we are so close to Mexico here in Corozal, it only stands to reason that we have a huge Spanish-speaking population. All of my workers speak at least some Spanish (many speak English, Spanish, Kreol, and some Mayan).

We were offered the opportunity for a conversational Spanish class to be offered by ITVET (Information Technology, Vocational Education and Training) Corozal, a vocational training center here in Corozal. The staff of the school had been looking for a way to be more involved with the community and this seemed to be a perfect fit.

Anyway, we just had our first preliminary meeting, getting to meet the school director, our instructor, the support staff and other students. The two pictures below show some of that meeting.

The course will be twice a week in the evenings and will go for three months. If it's a success, there may be more advanced courses in the future.

This should be a fun course with real-life applicability, as everyone wants to learn to talk to sales people, workers, domestic help, doctors, etc., better than we can now. It will make life much easier for all concerned.

ITVET Corozal Staff

Barb Schubert, Course Organizer

Here's the interior walls going up. Steel studding is used more and more down here as the price of wood is rising rapidly. Government is restricting how much lumber can be cut and for what purposes too. It is amazing the exotic hardwoods available here and what it's used for. Imagine using mahogany and other extremely hard woods as forms for concrete!

Abraham Framing the Walls With Dianna's Help

Abraham Putting Up the Walls With Dianna's Assistance

Concurrent with the walls goes the wiring. Here Ozman is stringing wire while Abraham is still fitting framing.

More Walls

More Walls

And in short order, drywall (or sheetrock) begins to magically appear.

Abraham Working

Discussion About Framing

Of course, resting is a necessary part of construction. This house seems tailor-made for just that. Here's Dianna trying out the resting capability of the house, first on our back porch, watching Franz coming up in his pickup, then with Cody and Monique, in the yard.

A Comfy Back Porch

A Comfy Block to Sit On

Across the street, Mae and Craig hired John Paul, the previous owner, to reconstruct the round palapa on their property. Here it is, with John Paul having just completed framing it. All ready for the thatch, laying on the ground, to be applied.

Round Palapa

As they were getting ready to head back to Guinea Grass after a hard day, Franz's crew had a chuckle as one of them picked a flower for Franz. They placed it on the back of the truck and all thought that was hilarious... Ok, maybe you had to have been there. What can I say?

A Flower For Franz