7) Where to hang my hammock

      It has been a little over a week since I last wrote and a lot has happened in that time period!  The foundation is now completed and mostly backfilled. That was easy….especially when I missed all the hard work!   After the footers were poured, the workers laid four courses of tabicon on this footer (contratrabe).  Then more rebar was set to form the trabe (bond beam) that ties the bottom of the footer together with the top of the foundation.  All of the columns run from the base of the footers and will tie into the second floor.  The next step is where things really start moving!  The walls are going up! In 2 days the roughed in plumbing was set and 1 meter of tabique was in place.  Wow.. things are happening and I’m already thinking of where to hang my hammock…well.. maybe not that fast. 

      So the next big decision, which I have been working on the last several days, is what type of wood to use above the windows and doors.  I’m feeling a little out of my element here because there are so many types of exotic hardwoods here. Should we use parote, bocote, colebra, verdecillo, tornillo, cocobolo, quayabillo, capyry, guayacan ….ohhhhhh my head is spinning.  Slowly I am working my way through the different types of wood and which types are best for what.  The internet helps a lot (thanks google) but many of the woods have a local name that I just can’t find on the internet.  Next best or maybe best source of info is just ask everyone who lives here their opinion on wood. There really is a lot to consider; the wood needs to be very strong to support weight, be weather resistant, bug resistant, be in contact with concrete, workable, non-endangered and if that’s not enough it has to be the right color!   So after researching and talking, and more talking my search is narrowing down…and the winner is…stay tuned! 

      The other exciting news…not really…is the septic tank arrived this week.  We are now the proud owners of a 3000 liter rotoplas biogestor septic tank! I think this following week this beauty will be installed and work will begin on the outdoor bathroom near the beach.  Once these 2 projects are complete, the workers will no longer have to use the natural facilities currently in place!

            The footers are all backfilled and tabicon is set and ready for the bond beam (trabe)

            The rebar is being formed for the trabes to tie the footer and top of foundation together.  The columns run all the way down and are tied to the footers.

 The plumbing is in place...note the 2 different lines.  One is for black water and the other is for gray water to be used on the plants.

        The first meter of tabique is set...note the next trabe being formed on top of this section of wall.

      So after another very productive week of work things are still running very smoothly and the theme of “no problemo” holds true.