And No One Even Got Zapped

The wiring project for the palapa is done, and we're all safe. That's important because according to a British news article I read this morning (I forgot which one), it said that because of slowing economies worldwide, DIY projects had increased to around fifty-some percent of homeowners now doing their own home projects.

I'm just guessing here, but I'd be willing to bet that a significant number of those involve some form of electrical project, since it's hard to find spaces that don't have electrical outlets and/or switches, etc.

As a result, insurance claims have also escalated (surprise, surprise). The article said that the increase was due mostly to many of these projects ending in disaster. An increase of some 11 percent of those who ‘have a go’ at some home project end up submitting a claim on their policies.

We could have done that, but I played it safe by hiring a qualified electrician, Joe Folgorait, who did all the technical stuff - like adding two new breakers, wiring up a switch and a three outlets. I opted to play electrician's assistant and 'gofer' for the two days of the project, helping pull wire, run to the hardware store, get the right part out of the parts bin, paint conduit and boxes to help them blend in, etc. Much safer that way.

To begin with, we ran wire from the pool house utility room, where Joe installed two breakers in the power panel. The wire was run in PVC conduit out to the palapa. The photo below shows Cody tamping the fill marl back in place after we'd run the wiring.

Cody Tamping Wiring Trenches

Once we got it out to the palapa, Joe began hooking up the lighting switch and the outlets.

Joe Hooking Up Outlets

 Joe did a nice job of hiding the wiring in the overhead of the palapa.

Joe Running Wire To Palapa Apex

We split the wiring with one circuit powering the palapa and the other powering an outlet over by the BBQ. Eventually that circuit will have more on it than just one outlet. There will eventually be about ten lamps on the back fence that will be added to the circuit. All in good time.

Joe Working On BBQ Area Outlet

Last Friday, Carlos had cast the palapa table. Even though it's still formed up, we put it to work holding the electrical stuff as we worked. At one point, we tested it strength by putting ladder on it and Joe on the ladder to hook up the lamp which was hung from the central apex of the palapa.

We Even Put The New Table To Us

Speaking of the lamp - it's a nautical-looking thing. We found it at Lano's Hardware when we went looking for a chandelier or something to hang there. We found a brushed aluminum lantern at first. When the girl who was helping us went to get it, she got a different lamp that wasn't even on display. We looked at it and decided we liked it better than what we'd seen on display. This was the result. It fits in just great.

Palapa Lantern

When it was all said and done, I still managed to get a real sense of satisfaction with a job well done.

Is This Camelot?

By Geroge, it sure is beginning to look like it, what with the brand new round table and all. It was a small project, but one of those that took pretty much all day. The table ended up being four-foot diameter and about four inches thick - pretty good sized, but still in keeping with the size of the palapa.

Carlos Smoothing Poured Concrete

 Carlos spent most of the morning prepping the form - wood bottom surface and Celotex (same thing as Masonite) for the roundy part of the form. It really looks nice.

Kane Almost Done With The Pour

 Kane, the go-to guy for working thatch in the palapa also is young enough to hump the 100-pound 5-gallon buckets of concrete, of which it took several to complete the pour.

Carlos Getting It All Even

 Carlos worked in between each bucket-full to ensure the table top became level and that it was a consistent thickness.

We Had A Good-Sized Peanut Gallery

 As luck would have it, the table pour occurred on a Friday, which meant that we had a pretty good Happy Hour crowd to play the role of supervisors for the pour.

Carlos Floating the Finish

Finally, here's Carlos putting the finishing touches on the table before knocking off for the day. I have to confess, with as smooth as it was after Carlos got done with it and left, I came out later and noticed a bug stuck in the concrete. Naturally, I grabbed a piece of paper and gently tried to remove it so there would be no permanent reminder on the table. Well, guess what? I managed to leave a few scratches in the tabletop, even though I was trying to be extremely careful. We had talked about possibly tiling the top, so it now looks as though that is just what we're going to have to do - thanks to my skills at bug removal.

Still, it's a mighty grand looking table. I can't wait to have a party around it. It'll be fun - scratches and all.

Even on Sunday, Some Work Gets Done

I was just sitting here at my desk a few minutes ago, surfing through (http://www.reddit.com),  when I heard someone at the gate. Carlos had come back again with a second load of extremely heavy wood for the patio palapa. He was keen to get the wood now as it would be quite dry (Belize is in the middle of a pretty severe drought. There have even been some cattle deaths and crop damage because of a lack of water). Of course, that didn't mean it really weighed any less.

Unloading Wood For The Palapa

After they unloaded the lumber and left, I brought in the quality control team to do their usual thorough job of inspection.

Our Crack Quality Control Team

On the last post, about the wall being constructed, Rick made a nice comment, but what was really interesting, was his suggestion of a time-capsule for the wall. That might just be a cool thing to do.

Of course, now we need to think of some stuff to put into a capsule that would be of interest to folks in the far off future. Hmmm, definitely have to give that some though. If you have any 'relevant' ideas, we'd love to hear 'em.

No, I don't think shoving a bottle of Belikin into the capsule would be good. Maybe if the Belikin bottle was the capsule. They do seem to be sort of indestructible.

And It's Done

Here's the finishing touches on our palapa. Florencio and his crew showed up at about 0615 this morning and got right to it. As you can see from the picture below, there's still a bit of haze in the air. It was nice and cool too, so they were able to really make some progress today.

Not Much More To Go

Twist, tuck, braid, slide. Repeat as necessary say, about a couple of thousand times. That's thatching a palapa roof in a nutshell.

Twisting Leaf To Tie It Into the Roof

A couple of more examples of the lines used to haul leaf to the upper level so the guys can tie it all into the roof structure.

The Leaf Elevators At Work

Raising More Thatch

Now, we're getting into the home stretch. Suddenly, it began to look like there wasn't nearly enough roof on top for the three or four guys doing the thatching.

Finishing the Last Row

Working Along the Peak

Here the guys are working the peak, There's one log on either side of the peak. They're feeding leaf under one piece of lumber, over the peak, and then attaching it under the other piece of lumber. They put a lot of leaf on just the peak.

Running Out Of Room

Barely Enough Room

While they were finishing the roof, I installed the rest of the water and electric piping to the palapa. I hooked up a faucet, and added a hose and hose rack. The electrical, I ran up to a junction box mounted about waist high on the pole where it can be used as a switch or plug and the rest of the wiring for the palapa can be branched off from there.

Utility Run

Of course, Cindy did her part. Grabbing stray pieces of leaf and shaking the daylights out of it.

Cindy At Work

Extra leaf is applied over the major wood joints that formed the basic "A" of the roof. Especially to keep the threaded rods used there from rusting.

Finishing It Up

Here, Florencio demonstrates large and small pieces of leaf. Large leaf is infinitely more desirable than small. As you can see from the next photo, that where it takes one large leaf, the workers have to place three small leaf pieces. Too much work, and also, the coverage isn't as good down-slope. Large leaf will cover about 3 rows, whereas small leaf only covers one-and-a-half to two.

Florencio Showing the Big and Small of It

Big And Small In the Roof.

Immediately after completing construction, the guys sprayed Selignum On the lumber as well as the leaf in the ceiling.

Done With The Sprayer

Here's an example of how neat and tidy this job looks. All the wood is bolted or screwed in place. All the leaf has been uniformly cut. It just looks huge inside. I'll be able to store lumber, etc., up there.

Beautiful Basket Weave Look To the Roof Interior

Now, they're done. Dismounting is a careful slide down to the ladder. Last man down, and it's all done.

Sliding Down From the Roof

Last Man Down

Here's the finished product. We'll finish out the electrical setup, fill in the trench, and begin using it. Dianna already has the far stall staked out as "hammock country". As cool as it stays under there, I'm joining her!

A Beautiful Job

It certainly wasn't the cheapest palapa around, but I'm willing to bet, it's one of the best constructed, with quality wood, leaf, and enough threaded rod, lag screws, wood screws, etc., - no wonder I had to make so many trips to the hardware store!

A Roof Over Our Heads

Roofing the palapa began yesterday and should probably finish sometime today. As soon as they finish that, the crew will give the underside and all the wood a spray coat of Selignum - as I understand it, it's a combination of wood preservative and bug killer.

To start, workers carry big bundles of thatch (called leaf) from the stack to an area where they can break open the bundles, do a preliminary sort of the leaf and trim each stalk to a uniform length. This makes a big difference when looking at the roof from the underside. It will appear uniform and almost knitted in appearance.

Carrying Bundles

Chopping the Stalks

After each stalk in the bundle has been sorted and chopped, it's then transferred under the palapa structure where it's spread open and wrapped loosely around a line suspended from the roof.

Choppers then Stack Leaf on the Lines

There's A Reason For Everything

The Guys doing the actual thatching then hoist the lines up so they have a ready supply of leaf to work with. They move the lines around with them as the work progresses around the roof.

First Piece Braided in Place

A Few More Done

The leaf is attached to the horizontal sticks by first grabbing a few central strands and twisting them. That is then fed under and up over the stick and then braided with the rest of the leaf to firmly attach it. It's then slid over against its neighbor forming a tight bond.

Hoisting a Bundle

A Longer View

Hoisting A Big Bundle

Work Progresses Rapidly

As you can see, the thatchers sort of scoot their way along the roof, moving as they attach the leaf.

It Becomes a Fairly Fast Moving Process

Here, the roof is definitely becoming recognizable as such. It's taken maybe two hours to get to this point.

The Roof Quickly Takes Shape

Thatch Now Goes All Around

The view from underneath. You can see how neat and orderly a well-made thatch job becomes. I'll have more shots later today on the continuation and finish of the job.

Looking Good From Down Under

Still A Ways To Go

Our house itself is undergoing some changes, besides just concrete work. It's getting a new paint job. Terracotta, Sand, and Light Blue are the colors of the day.

Painting Is Moving Right Along

The Blue is Intruiging

Of course, supervision is always part of the deal. Cindy keeps a close eye on things. Probably hopeful of a stray chicken bone anytime of day. You never know, it could happen!

Here's Cody's soak-aways in their finished state - before we add the piping from the gutters. Which haven't been installed yet either.

Cindy Supervising Painting

Gravel-Filled Soak-Away