More rain preparation

In the previous post you can see the beginning of the drainage we turned around from the yard next door - into my yard. You just can't dump any amount of water on you neighbors no mater how small the amount. It's now all stuccoed, sealed and painted just waiting for impermeabilizante covered cloth.

Second project was beefing up my front sidewalk. Three downspouts dump water on it, ants build caves under it, chickens excavate the edges looking for bugs .... and then there's the kids who like the sidewalk and the dirt in front of it. I told Hugo generally what I wanted and let him make the design decisions. I like what he came up with. A little more on the driveway to go.

The final is my north wall.  Because someday (maybe never) there will be a house up against that wall I didn't worry too much about the stucco and it is pretty sloppy and very ruff. I also cut corners on properly sealing and painting it. Shoe had a couple 5 gallons of cheap paint that was old so I mixed that with a little sealer and some decent paint but not semi-gloss. I'll only paint with semi-gloss from now on.  

So I figured I'd clean it up, primer a few areas and let Hugo go at it with a roller. Turns out I have wire brushed and/or cleaned with Clorox almost the whole wall. Also it's so ruff that doing a good job with a roller is almost impossible and you can't see your holidays 10-12 feet above you.  I will end up painting that whole 20x4 meter wall with a brush. Plenty of other painting for Hugo.

The second sidewalk

North wall mostly painted - sealed the bottom section today

20 meters by 4 high

Dos Marquesinas

The weather has been good, a little too hot actually. It has allowed the guys to stucco the inside of the roof wall an build two marquesinas (awnings) over windows and doors. The large awning below on the side of the house and a smaller one over two windows in front. I just finished painting them this last weekend.

Besides providing a little bit of shade the marquesina stops water from running down the wall and in the doors and windows. Typical Mexican construction usually the roof is extended for the overhang. Eventually I'm hoping to cover the walkway with a lamina roof tucked under the marquesina so I won't have to seal the lamina against the house.

The storm windows I made a few weeks ago work well and I guess I could have taken the plastic tarp off the door for the foto ... but what the heck. The tarp is to stop wind blown rain

Marquesina and storm windows

Front marquesina

Yard and pump house from above

Keeping the water out

The one meter wall around the roof level was left uncovered block and I'm convinced part of the roof leaking problem was water seeping in through the block even though the block sits on top of the cement roof slab. I may be wrong but it definitely looks better, I'll be able to seal and paint it and will be able to run the impermeabilizante 20mm up the wall.

The other water issue is the windows. I like the steel frame windows but they don't seal well when rain water is blown against them. I took care of the side windows with plastic in a wood frame but the two front kitchen windows have water spouts above them. When the wind is blowing there's no way to keep that much water out. That's what the small awning or marquesina is for in the bottom picture. They'll start stuccoing it today.

Newly stuccoed wall

Marquesina made with foam panel

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

Oscar enjarrando mi casa - video

Oscar is my maestro and here is finishing up the last part of the rough stucco (enjarrar). The music in the background is what we listen to all day ... and the other noise is Hugo mixing more mortar.

Viga falsa

We are now enjarrando (stuccoing - verb is enjarrar) the kitchen/dining room and that room has a viga (support beam) across the middle of it. The problem is the roof was originally designed with a slope and now it's flat. The solution is to extend the high side of the viga down to the level of the lower end. To do this they use a wire mesh nailed to the viga and just trowel on the mortar mix.

So Oscar says we need 4 meters of this wire mesh (maya falso or maya plafon) and off to the ferreteria I go not knowing what I was really looking for. The first ferreteria sent me back with 4 meters of chicken wire. Nope, that's not it. The second ferreteria had the wire mesh but only in 20 meter rolls. No other options so I now have 16 meters of this maya to use on something else.

Below is the roll, the bending process, the installation and the stuccoing. These false vigas or beams are sometimes used to cover plumbing pipes or electrical wiring.

The viga pretty well covered

Stuccoing the second floor

Had to rent three sets of staging (andamios, torres) to safely stucco the 2nd floor of the laundry room. I was relieved that they were a sturdy as they were when locked together. Last thing we need is someone getting hurt. Oscar will do the 'fine' coat today so we can return the third andamio. The two remaining sets will be used by a neighbor who will start to stucco the front of the house and front walls.

Oscar almost finished with first coat of stucco

Roof is nearly a week old

And the laundry room roof was just finished. Small area looks kinda out of place but will not look so strange with one meter hand rails and probably a screen porch beside the wash area. The second floor is important for tinaco pressure as I've found with the first tinaco above the first floor of the bodega.

Next is the hand rail on the stairs and stuccoing the walls where we have room. Still another week to wait before the roof support posts and lumber come down.

The plumbed area in front is for a future small apartment