Finished another 2 weeks work

Got the same good crew back that built the bodega and plan to finish the plumbing, electric and roof in the next few weeks. Made a lot of changes of windows and doors, opened up the inside of the house, added another room off the front side. Extended the bathrooms a few feet so everything is inside. No sink in the bedrooms (motel style). The roof also had a 20mm pitch and we decided to level it for future construction above. I eliminated the back bathroom and will just use the old bedroom area as a bodega and workshop.

Next week will be the wooden supports for the roof pour and then installing the electric and plumbing on top of the supports along with a large amount of rebar. We also decided to run a beam the length of the house that will be hidden inside the cement (not showing above or below).

Foundation of new room

Walls almost up on new room

New doorways through the house

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

Electric and Drainage - Week 22

Chui is still not feeling well enough to get back to work after his fall and may require next week off as well. This week I got the plumber/electrician out and we put in the drainage for 3.5 bathrooms (outside wash basin below the stairs and a toilet under them).

I was advised to buy a 4 meter pole for the electrical hookup but it turns out is was too long and wouldn't be well supported. We cut it back to almost 3 meters and cemented the castillo (column) around it. Then installed the two meter bases (basos) and installed a main breaker for each meter behind the wall. Also one outlet so have electric on the site. Will be headed for the CFE office in Cihuatlan next week to apply for installation from the pole.

Drainage plumbing runs along the outside of the house to a connection box (registro)

Breakers and an outlet

Two meter bases (basos)

I guess this is week 21

We have just been finishing up walls around the lots so not much there. My albañil fell off the scaffolding on Monday from 2 meters up. Nothing broken but scraped and bruised. Doctor told him to take 3 days off and we've since decided the whole weeks rest is better.

Next week we will be working on the electric pole, the support castillo, meter base, a breaker and plug. If we have time will start on the septic and drainage lines

The septic (fosa septica) will look something like this

The roof maze

This is the maze we are going to deal with someday when we put on the roof. The foto below is of a soon to be multi-story so we'll have no plumbing extending up - but all the electric will be in the ceiling. Most plumbing in Mexico is also on the roof because that is where your water storage tank is unless you have a pressure system. The foam is both to lighten the load and to better insulate from the sun. The orange tubing is where the electrical wires are run - after

Building a house in Pinal Villa, Costalegre, Jalisco