Green Concrete

Pretty amazing video on how this "slab" will return water to the ground rather than create runoff headed for the ocean, lakes or low lying areas that can flood.

Mexico Ecological Concrete took first place in the contest Cleantech Challenge, their products are pavement and floors can capture rainwater for harvesting.

By: Viridiana Mendoza Escamilla

MEXICO CITY (CNNExpansión) - Mexico Ecological Concrete created a system for the recovery and use of rainwater through porous pavements and floors made ​​of concrete, a project that earned her the company's first Cleantech Challenge contest.

The prize for this company were 250,000 pesos, a 100% scholarship for graduate studies at the University of the Environment (UMA), and the possibility of going to Boston to present product benefits to a group of investors where there is potential for collect up to 30 million dollars in investment.

Contest article in Spanish

First real bathroom

This is my first real "indoor" bathroom. The first was tucked under the outside stairs and has served well during construction for the last 10 months. Now I need to think about shower curtain, bathroom door and possible moisture ventilation problems. There is only a small vent over the shower. Moisture and ventilation is of extreme importance here in the summer.

Just bought an identical bathroom set for the second bathroom

Humidity, bathroom, tropics, Mexico

Tecata tiles are here

The tecata tiles arrived sooner than expected and late enough in the day that we had to leave then in front of the house over night. We also had to get a pulley and large rope used to pull them up the wall bucket by bucket.

Hugo pulling from below, Oscar handling the buckets at the top ... and me stacking them. From 9am to 1pm and 3000 tiles later they are up on the roof where they will be used

Pinal Villa, Melaque, Mexico

Beginning to paint

Why do rooms look bigger when they get painted a light color. Don't know but they always do.  My rooms are small so it makes a difference

This is the second coat (paso) of a mixture of sealer and white paint. I actually have 5 rooms that can be painted and I won't show you the bathroom - a strange under the stairs contraption that works but is not a visual delight. Another is the bodega that is full of stuff that I don't feel like moving. Another is the pumphouse that is also full of stuff and the tinaco above has been leaking - think it's fixed now. The last is the wash area upstairs.

Haven't painted in awhile, never painted new cement ... and never painted 10 foot ceilings. It's a workout.

Painting a small house in Melaque Mexico

New front window bars

These front window bars were put up just to keep kids out while I took a break from construction. We never considered the added thickness of the stucco so the bars had to be adjusted for the new finish work. I also decreased the window size across the bottom so the bars were raised.

Pretty simple, chip the cement away from the bar legs, pull them out ... and I get to wire brush and paint them. Usually new metal work is not well painted here in Mexico so the owner is responsible.

So now the unfinished stucco is a distance away from the bars that we can continue with the fine finish and the front of the house will look a lot better. Windows will be installed inside the bars for double protection since these are the only openings to the street. Yes security is an issue in Mexico, especially if you leave for any period.

You also see the difference light makes in a foto. The first is in the morning ... and the second is afternoon with no shadows and was automatically adjusted with MS Picture Manager. Sometimes it works and sometimes not.

On the right - old bars.  Left new window size

Complete and ready for a fine stucco

We have roof (supports)

When cement roofs are poured they require lots of support to hold the weight and also just something for the cement to sit on (obvious). Well here we needed three loads of flat lumber and support posts to hold a 125 meter roof. Took the crew a day and a half to put it up and the wood will remain for a little over two weeks while the cement cures and dries.

The roof actually got poured yesterday (Saturday) and I've begun the twice a day watering (sunset and sunrise) to let it dry slowly. So far the crews have been great and priced under estimates. Next will be about the roof pour and preparation.

One load of lumber

Filling rooms with support posts

Roof is about half done

All wood supports in, rebar in along with plumbing and electrical

Cement roof in Mexico

House construction Mexico Videos

These are a semi-interesting set of videos if you are considering building and living in Mexico. Not really new information to anyone that's been here awhile. I imagine they were created for those considering Mexico for retirement.

This guy has his prices of construction lower than most can manage but this is his third house in Mexico and he's been here awhile. Looks like quality work too if you check out his perimeter wall. Masons that will build a wall that does not have to be stuccoed after are rare.

Electric installed and Septic dug - Week 23

Another week of not getting a lot done as far as man hours but still major accomplishments. Went into CFE (electric company) on Monday and they had the service installed the next morning. I paid nothing up front and told to just pay the first bill.

Was supposed to get the septic dug Thursday afternoon but the guy came up on his scooter and said his machine had a flat. Made an appointment for 8:30 Friday morning and he showed up about 10:30. When he moved the gravel he broke the water line but we'll fix that next week.

Still not sure about Chui so next week Pedro, Jorge and I will be working on cutting the brick for electrical and incoming water (you have to inlay the pipes in the wall)

Slow house building in Mexico

Building a swimming pool in Mexico

This Pool project is shown from start to finish. Sadly Barbara and I had to move out of this place due to landlord problems after she paid for the entire construction. Another lesson to trusting gringos new to Mexico. There is a link to a complete foto set of the project at the bottom of this page. Not sure if we'll get around to a pool on our lot some day but we should have the room for a smaller one

Cement floor directly on the sand

Double rebar around the sides and in the second floor layer

Side walls getting finished

Grounting in the tiles

Link to more fotos of this swimming pool project

Lucky Week Thirteen

After a paid vacation over Christmas week and a paid New Years day the back of both lots are walled, a 5 meter lot divider almost finished and the stairs are started. The vacation was a kind of aguinaldo which is common in Mexico at the end of the year. Normally the aguinaldo is equivalent to 15 days pay if they have worked all year and is paid by the 20th of December for buying Xmas presents, food and fiesta.

We finally have a stair plan and that is up the back wall with a 2 step approach to a one meter landing. Under the stairs will be walled for a small bodega (storage). If any more stair work is done this week I'll add a few fotos at the bottom.

Back of lot walls, divider wall and 2 steps of the stairs

Platform at the beginning of stairway - one meter wide all the way up

Semana Diez para la Casa

Updates may be every two weeks but we will see. Putting up walls is only so interesting. Last week we finished the walls to roof level and installed a support beam across the larger front room. This week we've started on the second stage of walling off the back of both lots, stairs and a wash-utility-storage area. I have no exact measurements for this utility area so we will wait for walls and when the dirt is removed, mark it out. The jog that you can almost see in the second foto is because both lots are not the same size

Roof support beam for the large room

Second stage foundation

Second stage from roof level

Retired and building a small house in Villa Pinal, Costalegre, Jalisco Mexico

Putting up more walls - Week Five

This week we are finishing up the walls of two rooms of the four and putting up half walls of the last two. The half walls you see are one meter and they stop there so as to not put too much weight on the wet mortar

The second foto shows how the wooden forms are held in place for the castillos. They push a stick through the wet mortar as they lay brick (rather than drilling holes later) and use wire to attach the boards. The brick and smaller board make a lever to hold the forms close.

The bottom foto is how one of the neighbors brings out water from his place because the street water has been shut off for two days. Like siphoning gas out of a car, we suck on the hose and get 55 gallons mas o menos.

A couple of windows in front and more second level walls


Forms for the castillos (upright beams)


The neighbor brings water needed to mix mortar
House building in Pinal Villa, Costalegre, Mexico

Our lots in Pinal Villa, Melaque

These are fotos of our lots in Pinal Villa about a mile back from the beach and directly behind Melaque. I looked for lots for over a year and was about 2-3 years late to find real bargains. Prices closer to the beach doubled and tripled in that amount of time. Even though there were a number of lots in our price range back from the beach, many didn't have water or electricity. Pinal Villa still does not have Telmex (phone) services.

I found the lot in the first foto last winter but the family member of the adjoining lot didn't want to sell at the time. He later called us to see if we were still interested.

The two people sitting in the back of the first foto are Canadians who own three lots behind us and are building two casitas. They only plan to work on their place during the winter and I'm not sure they will finish this year.

The lots last winter with Canadians sitting on lot behind

Costalegre, Jalicso, Mexico

Building a house in Mexico

Building a house in Mexico
A small place in Pinal Villa, Costalegre

Pinal Villa is a small community about a mile behind Melaque, Jalisco on the Costalegre, Mexico.

I bought the first of two lots in November of 2007 and the second adjoining lot in the summer of 2008. What we paid is less important than to say they were equal to less developed lots that had no water or electricity and no neighbors to share the costs.

I've learned a lot and am still learning - but the first lesson was to fence and mark your lot well because the Ejido will just go by fence lines and ignore what your original paperwork says. We lost almost three feet off the back and a foot or two on one side. Many of the lots in Pinal Villa are un-plotted (not on a map) so had to be re-measured.

The cost of title transfer is only per square meter and doesn't matter if there is a house or vacant lot. For us it was about $2500 pesos. If the previous owner has not paid taxes or have receipts you need to pay the last 5 years - $100 pesos a year.

Building in Pinal Villa Web Page

Costalegre, Jalicso, Mexico