Finishing Here and Finishing There!

QQQuite a bit has been happening on the house in the past few weeks to finish the upper roof and do some refining of the walls.uiDon, Juan (Engineer/Architect) and Carlos (Construction Manager) are leaning on the upstairs Terraza wall having what I am sure is a very interesting conversation.  This wall ended up being a bit higher than we had visioned not realizing the roof of the Corridor would need to be attached .  No matter how hard you try to imagine what your house will look like when looking at the paper designs, there are always a few unexpected surprises!  This surprise is not a plus for viewing while sitting in a chair, but a real advantage during the windy times.  Sorry for the underlining but the blog page is not being cooperative today! :) Not (ConQ








This photo shows the different scaffolding used to work on our house.




Don is checking out the coffee over the side of the hill. 












Before the metal roof is added to the wood beams, 2" x 2" strips are laid lengthwise on wooden supports.  The metal roofing is then screwed to this wood support system.

This side of the corridor is not as far along.  The concrete is just being poured around the beams.  Notice the top of the orange tree!  How's that for handy?

The welder is creating the metal frame work that will support the second floor roof over our Bedroom and part of the Terraza.  This view is taken from the landing of our stairs.

Finishing the walls is a huge job requiring lots of people, lots of scaffolding and a machine which sprays the Rapalleo (a finer concrete) onto the walls.  Once the Rapalleo has been sprayed, the men use straight, 1x3" boards to screed off the excess concrete and making sure it is true and smooth.





As you can see here the men are up on the scaffolding with a long board screeding the excess concrete from the walls.  The extra concrete is removed from the boards and reused.  The Rapalleo is mixed by hand in wheel barrels.











I'm pretty sure this large pile of Rapalleo is only a small donation towhat will be required to finish all the walls in our house.   

The window in our Bedroom closet serves a dual purpose.  The view is beautiful, however, it also offers much needed circulation.  During the rainy season everything tends to take on the dampness.  Without air circulation, leather tends to turn white with mildew and crawling into bed is a "cool" experience.  The Bell Tower was designed to add air movement to our house and we also plan to have a wood stove of some kind and ceiling fans to dry things out as well as alleviate the early morning chill we sometimes experience.

These Bedroom window openings have been finished and shaped and are ready to be measured for the windows to be built. The style windows we are having built are similar to French Industrial.  They are metal panes and measure approximately 20 mm x 40 mm.  We have been working with a company near San Isidro since we first started this construction almost three years ago.  Because the windows are not typical for this area, we have been doing a lot of explaining and discussing in order to get the windows we want.

The windows that look down onto the Living Room are also being completed.  They will not have the French Panes like the other windows in the house, just a glass panel.  They help us to feel less boxed in while on the Terraza and also ad light and visibility to the Living Room below.

The top of the wall around the Terraza is being worked on here.  Where the top is a bit lower, we are planning to have planters with flowers that, hopefully, cascade to the roof below which is actually quite close.

 

The dark window here in the Bedroom looks into the Bell Tower.  The two windows in the top of the Bell Tower are currently covered causing the window to look dark.  When finished, it too will be bright!

A Bell Tower window is uncovered here and finished ready for measuring.  Also, the roof is installed waiting for fascia and gutters.

A different view from the top of the stairs.  Eventually, the roof will continue from the right side, over the stairs to the wall on the left.

Getting around is not always easy!  With ladders, scaffolding and materials everywhere, it is sometimes like walking through a maze!

Looking up the stairs!

Lots of places for the sun to peak in!! :)

The Corridors are getting covered with the metal roofing.  The beams are now protected from the rain better and the look of things really changes!

This is the end of the house where the Laundry Room resides.  At the moment there are thoughts and discussions about whether or not to leave the space open above the concrete beam just below the roof. 

A view of the unfinished but covered Corridor from the outside!

Busy, busy and lots of scaffolding.  The goal now is to finish all the outside work upstairs--roof, fascia, gutters, smoothing the concrete and painting.  The reason for this is to prevent damage to the roof.  Metal roofs do not like to have people walking on them, especially if the individuals are not very careful.

The upper floor on the outside is looking good!!

Ground level, not so good!  But, coming along!  We are amazed at all the "stuff" everywhere and look forward to when it is all gone and we have lots of beautiful flowers everywhere!

The beautiful birds we see daily are such a treat.  I'm trying to learn the names and a little about them.  In the video is a Motmot.  The Motmots are a beautiful iridescent blue/green bird with a very long tail that fans at the end.  They have a very loud noise that they make and I often times find them sitting on the metal rail around our little patio or on the wires that are above our yard.

Just in Time!

As I have mentioned, we are approaching the rainy season and have already experienced some showers but, I am pleased to report that work is being done to provide our house with a roof!!  Just in Time!!  

While the house is readying for the rains we too are creating ditches to direct the flow of water across our driveway and in other places around the finca.  Actually, Don, Roberto and Jeffry are doing the work--I blog!  Go Don!

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Before the metal framework can be created, the correct angles need to be determined and designated.  This job is performed very simply with two men and a piece of string!

One man is at the bottom of where the roof will be and another is at the top of the pitch.

The next step in the process is the arrival of the welder.  Once the pieces of metal have been cut the welder performs his special task completing the shapes of metal structure required to hold the metal roofing material.

These metal structures are then welded to the re-bar protruding from the concrete walls.  This completes a structure that is totally attached.

As you can see, we will have an overhang of almost 1 meter to 

protect the building and us from the elements.

Lots of metal.  They are starting with the roof that covers our bedroom and will next do the Bell Tower.  Last will be the roof covering all the corridor because that space is more complicated.

A view from down below.

Lots of metal!

This day I had company on my walk to the finca.  Olga and her daughter, Yoselin came along to check out the progress on the house, get some exercise, and.....









Eat Mora Berries.  Our two bushes have gone nuts this year and we are enjoying a bumper crop.  Every time we are at the finc we eat 'till full and the next day there are more!  Yummmm!!!  I always forget to bring a container to pick into!  Oh, well, the mouth works quite well!










This shot is the front, view side, of the house with the bigger corridor. You can see where the little rains we've had are creating the path they wish to run.

While the metal work progresses nicely, on another part of the house men are putting up the wood beams that will be visible above the Corridors as well as inside the house.   Because of the possibility of rain, each of the beams has been individually wrapped in plastic to keep them relatively dry.











I would guess figuring out all these angles would be a challenge.  Definitely not my cup of tea.

Here you can see the plastic and another corner!







Just another view from in the living room!

The metal roofing material is attached to the metal structure and things are starting to be covered!

 Looking up the stairs.

The roof is completely covering our Bedroom here.  What you can also see are the two windows that will be on the side of our Terraza off our Bedroom.  These two windows will not only eliminate the feeling of being in a box on our Terraza but will also let natural light into the Living Room.

At present it is difficult to maneuver inside the house because of all the ladders and scaffolding used to construct the roof work on the high walls.

Lots of plastic to cover the wood beams.   Many beams!  Maybe I should count them???

The many beams on the back (North) side Corridor.

Bananas and beams!

As we drive around our finca to reach different sections of the coffee we can see the back side of the house up above the coffee field.

Getting close to finishing the wood beams along this side and preparing to work on the Bell Tower.

This is how it is done!  With a little help from a friend!

The metal roofing sits out of the weather waiting to be put into place.

Beams on the back side.

Looks like a roof and more and more like a house.

One more view showing two master bath windows!

Up close and personal!

Getting close to the end of the wood beams.  

Looking good!

A little different angle from down below.  Lots of coffee!

The roof from the front.  Oh, yes, that is me making sure I watch where I'm going because the place is loaded with obstacles!  And....not only construction obstacles but also large toads and other critters!

A roof for the Bell Tower as seen from the driveway!

As were leaving on Sunday, Maryse shot this photo from the main road zooming in!  Her zoom is much better than mine and I love how it shows the Nicoya Bay and Nicoya Peninsula in the background!  What a view!!