Up to 2 meters

Oscar is a brick laying fool and Hugo is keeping up with him mixing mortar. They will be able to finish the walls to 2 meters all the way around and should have enough time to pour the castillos. I hope so anyway because next week is the last bit of work for the year.

Black mold on walls

I finally decided to deal with what I'm convinced is at least partly mold.   My idea is that the dust from the top of the wall washes down in the rain and sticks to porous paint.   The constant summer time moisture then turns it to mold.

All flat paint may not be as porous as the next but I've used a number of brands and qualities of paint and most of them watered to some degree or another.  The inside of this one meter wall on the roof is stained the same way all around which makes me think I used the same paint. None of the house outside walls have this stain .... so maybe paint quality.

My treatment, which I think it needed, was to scrub twice with a brush, spray pure cloro the next day and then paint it with undiluted exterior semi-gloss.   The new paint is actually shiny so I assume less will stick to it or absorb into it.  The catch is I'm finding out what a real good paint job costs because this paint is expensive. Still much of the house that never gets wet so I don't have to paint it all at once.

After scrubbing and cloro on one section

No treatment

Whole wall section painted on top and sides

New interest in the property

Well my interest is somewhat renewed in the property as well as that of a local store owner. He's going to be looking with family when they get here. My interest was peaked when we found the 3 meter walls would move towards the top when they had only standard width columns (castillos). For that reason they're putting in 5 new castillos next to the existing ones that will act like buttresses. I did not want to get a call that one of the walls collapsed in the next earthquake.

So I spent the last week working on the place and enjoyed it once again. They are also finishing the third meter of the walls that was only 1/4 completed. If they have time they'll paint the rebar. They have all the material and wages for two more weeks work. The lot is cleaned and leveled once again after the rains so should be good for at least 4-5 months before the growth starts.

The bottom foto is of the Canadian neighbors place over my back wall. Really coming along nicely with all the conveniences of home even though they live in their garage. They started the year (November) camping in a tent but now have a real bathroom, electricity, water and a nice garden.

New interest in Pinal Villa property - price went up!

Walls and Gates - Week Nineteen

The foundation is in around the lot and walls are one meter high. Driveway and gate opening are lower for drainage. Going to have two people gates in case there is ever a privacy divider between the two lots. Mari has no car and doesn't expect to get one but you never know. Still she opted for no vehicle entrance on their side.

Soon will have to start thinking about gates (porton) and bars (reja). Something strong enough it can't be easily bent, not easily climbed and the locks out of reach. No I don't think it will look like the foto below.

Walls and gates across the front of the lot


Now what is that gate going to look like - this one, I don't think so

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