A Bit More of the Second Floor!

Pura Vida!

With the addition of the second floor the visibility of our house has increased, and just imagine how it will be once the roof has been added!  This, I assume, will be happening fairly soon as the upstairs is near complete and the rainy season is just around the corner!

Now that we are able to climb the stairs, we can view the downstairs from a different angle.  Here shows the opening to the Kitchen, on the left, and the opening to the Dining, Living Rooms on the right.  These openings are located on the landing as you climb to the second floor and allow not only a nice view of the downstairs but light and circulation..

The opening to the Kitchen from the bottom of the stairs which also allows you to see the landing.

From the outside you can see that the walls are progressing and the re-bar across the top is the start of the concrete beams.  The process is the same as we shared on the first floor and will be the completion of the construction of the second floor.  Of course, there is still much "finishing" to do before we will have a home to move into but any progress gets us closer to our goal!

 The wood forms have been added to the re-bar and the concrete beam is ready to be poured.  The view here is down the back side corridor showing the Kitchen and Dining Room.

Just the place I'd choose to sit and take a break--NOT!

Looking down the hallway, you can see that we have created one more arch with the addition of the second floor wall.

The wood forms are all built and supported ready for concrete!

Although looking like they are dressed for cold weather, it is really quite warm and the choice of wardrobe has more to do with sun protection than cold!

Busy, busy, busy!  Many men work on our house and who changes almost as often as the shape of the house!

 Coming up the driveway you can see the Entry window (just to the left of the ladder, the Bell Tower (rising above the ladder) and the Kitchen windows. Way to the left is the Dining Room.   As you look to the right, you will come to the Art Room and further down the Guest Bedroom, Bath and the Laundry Room.

Because of how narrow our building site is, our house is quite long, and the reason we decided to put our Bedroom on the second floor.  The addition of the Bell Tower also helps to eliminate the "motel feeling" that was created by the long narrow structure.

One of the things we love about Costa Rica and Berlin in particular, is all the new life.  On my walk yesterday this hen, and her brood of chicks, was along the side of the road looking for insects.  We see calves, piglets, puppies, kitties and, of course, lots of babies everyday and love watching all of them grow and change.  We will have no problem populating our new home with kittens, puppies, chicks or anything else we might wish to be part of our life on the finca.

The Rise of the Second Floor!

Today I am starting with a sunset!  We never tire of watching the different ways that nature ends the day here and our photo collection is endless!! :)

One of my favorite things to see is the way the sun bounces off the ocean making it sparkle like jewels!

And now, the latest on our construction.  All of the boards visible here, which formed the beams, have been removed and the second floor is being created with re-bar and cement blocks like the downstairs.






All of the tubes and re-bar need to be introduced before the blocks are laid.  As we have previously mentioned, the tubes will be for the wiring for our lights and electrical sockets.  Also included are the plastic piping needed for water.  The re-bar is structural.

Looking over the edge from the second floor is not my favorite thing to do, however, as you can see, the workers don't seem to be bothered!

As the walls move ever higher, it seems to be a perfect place for George to check out the view with some pretty substantial binoculars.

What can I say?  More beautiful sunsets to break up the rather dull grey concrete of the construction site.

The walls and windows are taking shape.  Here you can see the window that will be in our shower.  Don is a bit of a show off, but this window isn't quite as low as it appears in the photo!

These two windows are on the south side of our bedroom and it's a beautiful view!

From the top of the stairs the opening into the living room is very visible.  At this position our bedroom is on the left and our "closet" is on the right.

Guess what?  One more sunset!

This particular wall in the bedroom which looks down onto the stairs, is a 1/2 wall which helps air to circulate and makes the room feel more open.  In Costa Rica, especially in the rainy season, air movement is very important.  Straight ahead there will be a set of French Doors out to our patio.

The French Doors also have side lites which is why the opening looks so big.  With such a beautiful view it's hard not to have glass everywhere!

A similar sunset, but not quite the same!

The working conditions seem precarious at best, but are just another day at work for Marco. In this photo I am looking down into the living room from the second floor.  Although the kitchen and dining room will have normal flat ceilings, the living room ceiling will be angled and reach to the second floor ceiling. All of the ceilings will have 2.5" x 7" beams to add to our rustic design.

The view from the terraza/deck off the bedroom!  Eventually, there will be roofing in front covering the concrete beams of the Corridors. A little hazy this day, but on a clear day--WOW!  The septic tank is the square of concrete on the left and in the near future, I hope, there will also be some grass and a hot tub.  Beyond the "grass", grows our coffee and citrus trees.