first floor walls almost complete and plumbing

So we're only a couple of weeks away from Ross leaving Lo de Marcos, and there's lots to do. We're sorting out electrical and front gate design ahead of that work being done. Today's big push is getting the first floor masonry complete and getting the plumbing in. It does seem to be coming along ok.

Grand arch at the back between the outdoor patio and garden areas is nearing completion.

We weren't happy with the height of the main gate in the center of the building, so we deconstructed and reconstructed it 30cm higher. Its never good when you're building 1:1 scale models of things and then making changes, so we're trying to make sure we really have the details thought through before we commit. It's starting to really come together, and will be a good looking building when complete.

Rear grand arch is complete. We're getting close to starting the beams and boveda ceiling.

Same arches, just from the back corner of the garden area. The 'window' on the right is open air into the outdoor kitchen area.

Plumbing is being roughed in. One of the interesting things about construction of this type is that all of the structure is completed, and only then are holes punched for plumbing runs. Electrical works the same way. The big one picks up shower, toilet, and the run across to the other first floor bathroom. The smaller pipe is stormwater drainage coming off of the roof, rather than just dumping it onto the sidewalk.

This is where the main plumbing goes out to the street under the golf cart parking area. One of he tree 4" pipes is sanitary sewer, and one is stormwater drainage coming off of the house. 

arches continue

using brick and thin plywood to create the arch form

The brickwork is all done with full bricks. It's painstaking getting the detail perfect for the stonemason.

The gate arches across the front of the building on the outside wall start to define its character. The window on the right will be filled will breeze block. That is the stairwell area.

left gate arch is complete, it just needs to set up. This gate is for bicycles or golf cart parking.

the large arch at the back, between the outdoor patio and garden areas

The arches have begun

Space above the door leading out to the patio space

Brickwork for the door opening and window arches

View from the patio into the kitchen and down the front hall

The arches out front continue

The brickwork is time consuming but will look great

Using bricks as the form to create the arch

Progress to March 24- 1st floor walls to the 2.3m beam

Progress keeps chugging along. We've got a narrow window to get more done- my dad leaves Mexico  in mid-April. By then, we want to have the first floor structure complete, so that we can close down construction until the fall. There's simply too many little decisions that need input in order to do it any other way.

NE living room corner.the combination of beams and pillars ties the structure together.

Doors out to the patio area will go here

View from the street. Decorative brickwork is starting to be added on the side pillars and stairwell window opening

Rear patio door beam being poured

View from the back yard. More decorative brick being added.

Same spot, but from a different angle

Kitchen window from the indoor kitchen to the outdoor one

Beefy pillar that supports the second floor deck

Lot plans and a few sketches

Ok, here are a few snapshots of the plans, so that what you're seeing in the pictures makes a bit of sense. They're screenshots, so might be a bit fuzzy, but you get the idea.

Views from the front and the back. It's two stories, with an open 3rd floor that has a bar, kitchen, washroom, laundry, and storage. The 'Sunset Saloon'.

Longitudnal that gives a sense of the size. each floor has an indoor and outdoor kitchen out back. B suite on the second floor has a separate entrance and a kitchenette.

Main floor layout. All hallways, bathrooms, and bedrooms are  ADA compliant. There is a 12:1 grade between the street and front door. In the front is a 3m courtyard where the stairwell to the second floor is (storage and some mechanical underneath), as well as a bike/golf cart parking/lounge area. The drawing doesnt have the pool on it, but it'll be top left corner.

2nd floor is almost identical to the first. The exception is that the left bedroom is larger, and has a kitchenette and separate entrance. This can be used as a second bedroom or separate suite.

'Sunset Saloon'. Huge rooftop patio, kitchen, bathroom, storage, laundry, and probably hammockville.

A few sketches Rob did of the outdoor and indoor kitchen areas

sometimes things go wrong, and the first floor takes shape to the 2.6m beam

I guess if you're gonna do a fair description of the build process, you got to talk a bit about what happens off the site. Getting the land, land use, permits, and so on in place has been an exercise in administrative frustration. I thought that was painful in Canada when I've built things- try doing it in a different language, with different assumptions, different rules, and a bureaucracy that seems intent on making foreigners jump through hoops that locals never would. Hint for all of you would-be builders-in-Mexico out there- Strongly consider having a Mexican face to the property, both in action and on paper. You'll likely save yourself time, grief, and money. But what was that they said about Ginger Rogers? That she could do everything Fred Astaire did, just backwards and in high heels? That's what this feels like.

We recently found out we actually overbuilt on the foundation- it wasn't clear from our original plans that this was only a 2 story building with a patio kitchen/bathroom/storage on the 3rd. The drawings make it look like the 3rd floor is fleshed out a bit more. As a consequence, we ended up with a foundation suitable for a 4th floor. Costly, but I suppose it's not a horrible thing to be able to add another floor and a rooftop bungalow down the road.

I did promise to post some plan pictures for the folks interested in that. They're coming, I promise. This blog platform doesn't play well with PDFs so I have some farting around to do with those.

Onto the build

So in castillo style construction, the blocks get filled to the height above the lintel, where a horizontal beam is poured around the entire building perimeter and inside walls. This is because there is a structural limit on the blocks themselves, which only serve to fill the holes between the beams.

Front bedrooms and hallway looking westward at the neighbour. backfill has begun on the east bedroom, from where the pic was taken

Is this construction steel-intensive? Hell yeah. But it's also designed to be able to add another floor beyond what we're planning, be highly earthquake resistant, and is far beefier than most buildings of it's size. Built to last is the goal.

Front 'window' into the stairwell area, made of celocia (trans: lattice, but we use it for breeze block as well). This block design will mimic the pattern of the balcony railings. Thanks for picking these out, Rob! Your timing was perfect.

The vertical columns (castillos) have been poured to the 2.6m height, now its time for the horizontal beam. The forms are in place.

View down the east side of the lot. Lots of brick being stockpiled.

first floor coming out of the ground

Here are a few more pics as the building comes up. 

view from the front. We're almost at the 2.3m stage, where another beam will go as the lintel above the first floor windows. 

The view down 'main street', from the sidewalk back to the back of the lot. It was designed this way  in order to provide a good breezeway.

View of the house from the back. Back wall and outdoor courtyard is taking shape.

Outside the lot view. No windows on this side, since there will be another building (eventually) going up beside it.

Worker climbing the castillo rebar. Inside of the rebar is the water main that heads up to the rooftop tinacos from the cisterna.

A few more pics as it comes out of the ground

So we're up to where the floor will go. Lots of brick, lots of steel, and lots of concrete. Meeting the new earthquake codes is expensive, but well worth it. 

Foundation build continues. This shows the moisture barrier component of the foundation. Our street floods regularly during the rainy season, so the foundation is designed to prevent undermining of the foundation by running water. These voids will be backfilled and the floor will be above the black beam.

I'm guessing by the location that these pipes are either storm water drainage to the street, or cistern overflow, or both. I'll have to confirm that.

House is starting to take shape

The building is starting to come out of the ground, and it looks pretty good. I'll post the drawings on here soon so that those of you that are following along the build can compare the pictures to what it will ultimately look like.

Shot from the back of the lot. The partial wall on the far right is the rear wall of the lot. The pool will eventually go in that corner. The wall on the side shows where the end of the structure will be.

This is a view from the lot beside, where there will eventually be another house. The 'notch' in the building is on both sides. It allows for natural light and air, as well as light duty services to be run up and down the building.

So this is all standard castillo (castle) style construction. The fields of brick are laid first. After the walls are complete, the castillos where the rebar is sticking up (structural vertical concrete pillars) are poured, in preparation for steel beams on the perimeter and for the boveda ceiling. What that might look like at the end is like this:

example of a traditional boveda ceiling

View from the front sidewalk. The area in front will be golf cart/bicycle parking on this side. The black strip is part of the weatherproofing regimen. Sewer services to the street will run in here. The middle is the main entrance, which is inset another 2m or so.

Another view from the front. the far right corner is where the stairwell to the second floor will be. at the house, you can see that they're to the bottom of the window for bedroom #1

Another view of the front. The castillo construction is in evidence here.