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Our New Home – Week 5

Another exciting week in construction of our new home. No surprises and we remain ahead of schedule though even that frightens us.

The water tank has been mounted and 2″ pipe is being laid to our lot at a depth of one meter. Our builder will then connect the house to the main water line. I had a fence added that sections off about a third of our 1.2 acre lot to create a paddock for some animals. I just want to get a pregnant goat or peliguay to have some little ones around. We will see how much work that will be but the good news is if it does not work out, we just eat or sell the animals and have a larger yard. It is good to be the king!

We spent several hours at Sinsa with the builder to pick out the tile, lights, fans, rheostats, toilets, sinks, etc. No fights, no surprises and we are still married. If you are interested in the details and budget costs allocated to these items, the following is a list showing the item, number of units, item budget cost and total budget cost:

1 Sinks Unit 2 $ 110.00 $ 220.00
2 Toilets Unit 2 $ 250.00 $ 500.00
3 Sink’s faucet Unit 2 $ 100.00 $ 200.00
4 Shower faucet Unit 2 $ 130.00 $ 260.00
5 Water heater Titan plus 220V Unit 1 $ 250.00 $ 250.00
6 Strainer Unit 2 $ 32.00 $ 64.00
7 Principal locks Unit 5 $ 25.00 $ 125.00
8 Internal locks Unit 8 $ 16.25 $ 130.00
9 Hinges Par 18 $ 5.75 $ 103.50
10 Mirrows Unit 2 $ 60.00 $ 120.00
11 Switch Unit 22 $ 6.00 $ 132.00
12 3 way switch Unit 8 $ 6.50 $ 52.00
13 Outlets 110V Unit 27 $ 6.00 $ 162.00
14 Outlets 110V GFI By bathroom Unit 9 $ 15.00 $ 135.00
15 Outlets 220V Unit 2 $ 3.40 $ 6.80
16 TV Outlets Unit 3 $ 5.03 $ 15.09
17 Internet Outlets Unit 3 $ 5.03 $ 15.09
18 Industrials fans Unit 3 $ 100.00 $ 300.00
19 Fans Unit 6 $ 150.00 $ 900.00
20 Wall lamps (interior) Unit 25 $ 20.00 $ 500.00
21 Wall lamps (exterior) Unit 10 $ 20.00 $ 200.00
22 Lamps Unit 8 $ 16.00 $ 128.00
23 Kitchen lamps Unit 2 $ 25.00 $ 50.00
24 Bathroom lamp Unit 3 $ 40.00 $ 120.00
25 Flourecent lamp Unit 1 $ 30.00 $ 30.00
26 Reflectors with sensor Unit 4 $ 45.00 $ 180.00
27 Faucet kitchen sink Unit 1 $ 100.00 $ 100.00
28 Double stainless steel sink Unit 1 $ 65.00 $ 65.00
29 Mud brick for the floor m2 315 $ 10.00 $ 3,150.00
30 anti-slippery floor tiles m2 6.5 $ 10.00 $ 65.00
31 Bathroom walls tiles m2 38 $ 12.00 $ 456.00
32 Kitchen walls tiles m2 8.5 $ 14.00 $ 119.00
33 Glass blocks Unit 120 $ 4.00 $ 480.00

The glass blocks will be the wall divider for the shower in the bathrooms. This will give the illusion of seeing a nude person in the shower but the image will be somewhat distorted. Very sexy! This is a very nice feature for older people that no longer look like Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

There were a couple items we chose more expensive items (we pay the difference to builder) but for the majority of the items we were under the budget in which case the builder refunds the difference. What helped save a lot of money was the fact that he gets a builder’s discount there.

Item #20 was the 25 inside wall lights which are the sconces, the four hanging lights in the kitchen and two reading lights over our bed. We decided to get these ourselves from our friend, Gail, at Ole Boutique. While I have little to say about what goes in our home I did interject my opinion that the sconces should be translucent to provide more light and should project the light both upwards and downwards. As you probably know, most sconces in colonial homes are usually made of pottery or metal meaning light is usually just projected up or down and through any cutouts. Amy found, with Gail’s help, sconces and hanging lights made of interwoven bamboo strips which does provide translucence and a bit of an oriental look.

The photos show the progress made the past week. I was mistaken in a previous post. The first floor roof and 2nd floor appear to be going in place before the first floor slab is laid. I could be mistaken but I’m trying not to ask the builder too many questions.

The pool placement was also decided and marked out. We decided to lengthen the pool by three meters for Amy to be able to do laps. We also decided not to build the palapa at the end of the pool since it will be so close to the large porch. So eliminating the palapa saved a lot of money but lengthening the pool ate up half of the savings. The pool size is now two meters wide and ten meters long. We are discussing whether we want roof gutters or not. Amy is in favor while Darrell reminds everyone that houses for thousands of years never had gutters. So we will probably have gutters installed.

Remember, this is how the house will look when it is completed.

farm front view

The completed home.

 

 

Week 5 (9)

The steel girders being prepared for the 1st floor ceiling/roof.

Week 5 (8)

Steel girder being prepared and welded.

Week 5 (7)

The brick pillars of the front porch are completed.

Week 5 (3)

Project manager directing the workers. Amazing, he only has one leg yet does everything including driving the vehicles. A very conscientious manager that gets things done.

Week 5 (6)

The walls are up to full 12 ft height and ready for roof and 2nd floor.

Week 5 (13)

Oh my goodness! The stairs are going in. Will the height and depth of the steps be correct or like so many Nica stairs, slightly different than the norm. Those that live here, understand. We won’t know until they are completed. We are not tiling the stairs and instead will use a rough, pebbled concrete finish.

Week 5 (11)

Rebar being placed for the stairs.

Week 5 (10)

Our first steps for the stairway to heaven. It goes up three steps to a landing then continues upstairs. Hope this is wide enough to move the major furniture upstairs.

Week 5 (1)

Workers completing the walls. George and Gracie inspecting the bricks.

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