Friday and the Project's Almost Done

You ever have one of those typical Belizean mornings? The kind, where you have, say, four stops on your list? I did, this morning.

First, I needed to get some cash, so I stopped and cashed a check, like I usually do.

Next, I wanted to go to You Have Mail, up on Seventh Avenue, just past the bus terminal. The little sign in the window from Wendell, the proprietor, said he'd be back around 9:30 AM - it was about two minutes past nine.

Instead of waiting for half an hour or so, I thought I'd cruise around and see if I could find the place where Carlos, our caretaker thought he remembered that they sold clay pots. No. Naturally, I couldn't find it.

So I swung around and decided to stop at Contour Cement Products. They have pots in the sizes I was looking for, but naturally, only display models with plants in them. He thought he could have some pots made up by Friday. I told him thanks and that I would stop by then.

Last on the list, Terrence, and the lawn mower. I'd been chasing this down for three or four days after the date he'd promised it would be done by. Again, this morning, it wasn't ready. Ok, I told Terrence I'd check back tomorrow or so.

Wow! Was that a lot of running around for nothing or what?

Giving up or giving in, I returned home and had a cup of tea. My phone chirped it's usual "Message for your Sir." from Monty Python. It was Terrence letting me know the mower was ready.

Wow, again! I jumped back in the wagon with the girls and we headed over to Terrences. Collecting the mower, I thought I'd break the hex and hit You have Mail once again. Be back at 9:30, eh? 10:45 and still no Wendell. Maybe another day. And, next time, I'll call first.

We're going to play bingo this afternoon for the dogs and cats - a fundraiser for the Corozal Animal Program (https://www.facebook.com/corozalanimalprogram/?ref=py_c). Maybe my luck will change... Wanna bet?

Let's see now. where are we with the project?

Flashing Installed Along Side House

Because of the tension of the shade cloth, the beam nearest the house bowed slightly. This normally wouldn't be a problem.

But, we had some high-ish winds just the other day, which blew a bunch of leaves onto the roof fabric from our Gumbo Limbo tree.

Normally, the leaves blow on and off the roof going from one side to the other. Not this day. The wind changed direction, and guess what? Those leave that normally blew off? Well, they blew off right down the space of the bow. Our nice covered deck looked like there was no roof on it at all.

What was the solution? An easy fix. Get some lengths of angled flashing and screw it into place. Now, no more leaves and no way for bugs to easily get in to the deck.

Grommets and Screws

Along the concrete beam, tensioning the roof fabric is no problem. As you can see in these two shots, the fabric lays nice and flat, even in a strong wind.

More Grommets and Screws

 All that holds the fabric now is grommets in the fabric and a corresponding screw into the concrete (or metal) of the chain. It makes a nice cover. There was no easy way to cover the gap with the fabric, so installing the flashing was a good workaround.

Before the Concrete Patch Goes In

Here's the area where the leaks appeared. It was water seeping behind the tiles of the waterfall that were also seeping through the porous block and creating a pool between the actual wall of the pump house and the sloped wall of the waterfall. Some holes drilled back through the sloped wall allow the seeping water to return to the pool without seeping through. We've had the waterfall running for a couple of days to make sure there is no more seepage. Now the cavity can be filled with concrete and all should be good to go.

Endher Smoothing the Patch

Endher applying the final coat of mud to finish the new patch.

Endher and Randy Checking the Work

Endher and Randy giving their work a final check before leaving for the day, giving the concrete a chance to dry enough to begin painting it and hide signs of a patch.

New Concrete/New Paint

New concrete boxing in the three pipes, which control in order from the left, the spa jets, the two pool side jets, and the three pool end jets. It's just waiting for a final coat of white paint.

 Wide Angle

Here's a view of the overall plumbing for the pool. All that has to be added now is a valve and unions so we can shut off the main floor drain. That way, when Huey needs to run around and really vacuum up a storm, shut the main drain off, open the skimmer. Since Huey now has his own port to plug into, we get more bang for our buck when vacuuming as the skimmer can work at the same time as Huey, since we don't have to plug Huey into the skimmer.

Our New Solar Cover

I almost got rid of the solar cover, but I'm glad I saved it. I replaced the old cover, a simple matter of detaching the old cover from the reel and attaching the new cover. Then you have to get in the pool with a pair of scissors and trim the cover to size.

An End Shot of the Cover

As you can see, the new cover is still suffering from wrinkle-osis. Once it's trimmed to proper size, that will eventually go away.

After Christmas and New Years

Here we go, after a mini hiatus. You know how it is, with Christmas, and New Year's, and this and that. Some things just slipped by the wayside for a few days - like everything on this page. Anyway, this is a good opportunity to get caught up.

Noel Going After Nelson

 Our little girl, Noel, started off barely able to fit in a teacup, on her last visit to Dr. Sheila, tipped the scales at a little over four pounds. For such a little girl, she has been giving Nelson a genuine run-for-his-money. He's lucky she can't yet jump from the floor to the island top. She's working at it, and has figured out how to keep Nelson on his toes.

Cleaning Concrete Splatter Off

Even though the workers have been very careful throughout the project, some spattering still has to occur. The tool bar took its share of spatter. Thankfully, they clean up their messes.

Touching Up Paint After Welder.

After Carlos the welder got done installing the ramp rails, there was still some cleanup to be taken care of. Wherever he welded a support for the rail, there was a little welding spray that needed to be touched up.

Installing Waterfall LED Light

 After a suggestion by Mario to add in a small mood light for the waterfall, his guys worked to get it installed. The actual light fixture is just behind this beam and will shine down on the waterfall at night.

Waterfall Rotating Color LED Light

Here's the fixture installed and working. Red, blue, and green LEDs rotate their colors to show off the waterfall.

Applying Roof Fabric

 After that comes the roof fabric. Stretching it became a real chore for the guys. There wasn't a lot of spaces in order to get leverage and really tug on it.

Stretching Roof Fabric

But, little by little, the fabric stretched and stayed in place, as we wanted.

Circular Stairs Going in

The circular staircase we bought from Eric Burson has worked out very well with little extra welding required to make it fit.

Ladder Reaches the Top

And it actually reaches the sky too. All the way up to the roof. What's cool, is it looks like it always was there, like it was part of the original design, not a spur of the moment after-thought, when I saw that Eric was selling it.

Roof Fabric Nice and Taught

 The roof fabric, the same sort of shade cloth as the side panels, is now fully stretched and in place. It really looks nice and smooth.

Well Earned Pizza Lunch

As a thank you for the crew, right before the Christmas holiday, we sprange for pizza and Coke for everyone. I got six Supreme pizzas from Corozo Blue's that morning. I had iced down a case of Coke the night before, so by the time it was lunch, everything was ready.

We made a lucky guess on how much pizza to order. When all was said and done, there were five slices left over.

Getting Ready For the Feast

For our Christmas Day dinner, it was a sort of pot-luck affair. David and Elizabeth brought a wonderful ham, and some nice home made bread, Denis and Vivien brought a nice cheese spread for Hors d'Oeuvres (A big tip of the hat to Google Spell Check for correcting my attempt at those two words). I made a first attempt at stuffed 'shrooms with a recipe I found the night before. I was lucky.

Some Hors d'Oeuvres 

Everyone being polite before diggning in on the hors d'Oeuvres (have to use it now that I've got the spelling).

Packaging Up the Booty

I forgot to take any photos while the meal was in progress. Here we are dividing up the spoils from the dinner. Even after David and Elizabeth took the preparer's portion of the ham, there was still a more than generous portion for all of us as left overs.

Hey, There's A New Cover

I got the new pool cover into the pool, more or less trimmed to size, and mounted to the reel, just in time to have to move the reel precipitously close to the water in order for the guys to seal the deck.

Freeing Up Spa Jets

While they were sealing the deck, Randy got into the pool with a hammer and chisel. Ever so carefully, he chipped around each of the three spa jets to free up the outer rings which control how strong each jet is. They work fine now.

Chasing Down A Leak

Turns out there was a small leak inside the wall which was keeping the inside wall of the pump house moist. They punched a series of exploratory holes and filled each cavity with concrete. That took care of that leak problem, but another surfaced  from another pipe through fitting. They're still working on that one.

Filling the Holes

Here, they're filling the cavity, using a half-piece of three-inch PVC pipe as a trough to pour the concrete mix into the hole.

Clear Acrylic Sealer

Easy to see just what a difference the deck sealer makes. Wow! It just brings the concrete stamping to life. Very impressive.

What A Difference

Endher is working his way down the ramp. I'm still amazed what a difference it makes.

This Sealer Came From Merida

Here's the sealer. It's only available in Chetumal. This particular brand is only available in Chetumal and Home Depot, and as luck would have it, they were out. This bucket came down from Home Depot, Merida.

I'm going to check with Lano's to see if they can get it or a similar product, as we'll have to re-apply the sealer about every year-and-a-half or so.

Getting Near the End

Endher getting near the end of the sealing inside the pool enclosure, and heading down the west ramp. I thought it looked really good, but Mario wanted another coat today on the inside. The stuff is pretty cool. Stinks to high heaven as it's being applied, but dries in about a half-hour. It applies easily with brush and roller. It has a sort of gel-like consistency, which makes it very easy to work with.

Our Christmas Tree

Naturally, I did't take a nice photo of the Chrismas tree when I should have, so right before Dianna and Vivien took it all down, I took several shots, with this one being the best of the lot.

The Cursed Toilet

With the guys chasing a leak in the pump house, I've been chasing one of my own in the bathroom just off the kitchen. It's taken three days so far, and Denis even came over to help yesterday.

I replaced the last part, this morning, the bit that holds the flapper. I also added more gasket material to the two bolts that hold the tank to the bowl, and it still leaks.

I'm letting the tank dry out and then I'm going to silicone the sh** out of the bolt heads before I add more water back into the tank. If that doesn't do the trick, I may have to resort to buying a new terlet. I hope not.

All New Innards - Still Leaking

Here's the innards of the tank. Everything is new inside that you can see. But, like I said, it still leaks.