So Many Forms!

Although our house here is being constructed with concrete, it is amazing the amount of wood that is used in the process.  There have been many large truckloads of lumber deposited that are now being used for forms.  They have also brought wood that will later be used as ceiling beams.

When the wood arrives it is stacked along the driveway waiting to be put up on cement blocks and separated for drying.

All the wood was milled especially for our job and has been sitting in stacks to dry as shown below.  Our Engineer literally goes out into the forest, chooses and purchases the trees he wants and has them cut and milled to the exact sizes that he wants.  The lumber is beautiful, with very few knots and up to 18 or 20 inches wide.

The wood comes in many widths, lengths and thicknesses for all the various uses.

In this photo is an example of the wood being used to create the arches that go from column to column around the outside edge of the corridors.

The wood is also used to create the arches in the windows.  As we have mentioned before, we are very pleased with how well everything is moving along.  Having created and designed this house ourselves, mostly Don, we have definite ideas of how we want things to be.  One particular item which has been an ongoing process is the type of windows we wish.  Because the windows have individual panes, not common here, there is a formula used to create each window so that it lines up all around the house.  They are similar to French Industrial windows and have long narrow panes.   Juan Carlos has worked very hard to come up with the exact sizes of the windows, and we are grateful!  All this being said, Juan Carlos and his family went to Disneyworld for eleven days.  While he was gone they started pouring the arched windows. However, when he returned he discovered they were not the right size!  Sadly, the workers needed to remove some of the concrete and re pour the window openings they had poured.  Fortunately, they had not finished all of them as we have quite a few windows, around 34.

If needed the wood is used for everything from "benches", ladders, tools, scaffolding, beam supports, and anything else they require.

Here is a larger arch in the Guest Bedroom.

These are the supports that hold up the forms that surround the re-bar beams where the concrete needs to be poured.  Each one is made to a specific length creating level beams of concrete.

Many supports are used under the beams with cross support pieces to make sure nothing moves.

This section is complete with the supports and the forms above.  The forms are strengthened on each side by a piece of vertical re-bar held in place with twisted wire which they are just starting to do at the far end in this photo.

And here is what it looks like down the outside of the corridor.

The next step in the process once all the forms are around the beams is to start mixing concrete!

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Bucket by bucket the forms are filled with concrete to complete the process of making a beam!

 Walking home from the finca the other day I noticed the most incredible site.  Off in the distance I could see pinks, blues and yellows, similar to a rainbow but floating among the hills along the horizon.  It was so unexpected and so beautiful I just stood there and watched!