The Second Floor Pour

May 28, 2010

There is a low pressure system on the Pacific Coast, and it has been raining here almost constantly. In fact, one town on the coast got 11" of rain in one day. This has slowed things down a bit, but as of today - the second floor has been poured. Now, they are getting ready to lay the blocks for the second floor. Take a look at this:

This is the main ramp to the second floor - originally, it was designed for Evil Knievel to run his high powered motorcycle up the ramp and over the building onto the hill above. However, Luis decided the best use for this ramp was to get the concrete in wheelbarrows up to the second floor. And, that is exactly what they did yesterday.

The floor and crown is now poured, and we are ready to start on laying the block for the second floor.

Here you see the framing for the crown, which will be removed during the next couple of days. Now that the second story floor is in, the men can work down below every day during the rainy season.








Below, you see the men preparing the re-rod to lay the blocks for the second level.

It is starting to look real good. By mid July, Keith needs to get down here to pick out the tile and many other things.

Almost Ready for Second Floor

May 21, 2010

Luis is really making some progress. I was shocked at how much he accomplished in only a few days. Another thing I noticed was that the quality of what he is doing is better than what I have seen in other homes.

Above, you see the forms enclosing the re-rod and the end of the metal beams. When the concrete is poured next week, everything will be secure and all the walls joined together for total support of the structure.

The way Luis is doing the metal beams is pretty impressive. Although they are made out of corrosion resistant material, he had them painted with anti-corrosive paint to insure durability. The man working on top of the beams is welding the seams to ensure no movement and a more sound resistant floor. The corrugated metal above the beams is the base for the concrete floors.

Because Luis has been working the men Saturday's, the pouring of concrete should take place Monday or Tuesday of next week. You are going to be amazed at how they do this.

Stay tuned...

Preparing For The Crown

May 17, 2010

The crown is the final pouring of concrete before the roof is started, or the start of the second floor as is in this case.

Here, you see all the formed re-bar going across the top of the walls and all the arches and doorway openings. The purpose of the re-bar is to stabilize and reinforce the concrete after it is poured.

The curved wood forms you see here will make the arches between the columns,

This man is busy building the forms that will be used to enclose the re-rod. Once all the forms are in place, they will start pouring the concrete to make the crown. Once that is done, they will begin construction on the second floor.







Below, you see the man painting steel beams. These will be used to support the floor for the second story. The beams are set first, then corrugated galvanized metal will be placed on top of the beams - then they start pouring the floor.

Below, are some more pictures taken of the project on the same day.

Moving Right Along

Luis has really made some progress during the last few weeks. He intends to start work to get the second story floor ready to pour soon and then start working on the second story walls.

This is the side where the stairs going to the upper floor will be. In addition, it will house a bodega that is very useful.

Here we see the bedroom and bathroom area.

 This is the rear shot of what will be the dining/kitchen area with an additional workspace area

The living area with sliding walk-out doors to the terrazza's

When you look at the pillars being built, you can imagine how much covered outdoor space Keith and Marina are going to have to enjoy.

Stay tuned...

Really Starting to Shape Up

May 7, 2010 - It has only been two days since the last pictures were posted. Luis is really at it in getting this guest house built for Keith. The blocks for most of the rooms are almost in place. He has started shaping up the stairway to the second level and almost all the pillars have been poured.

The Walls are Going Up

 May 5, 2010 - Luis and his crew are now into action getting the walls started. He even started pouring the molds for the pillars. Take a look - Progress is being made now!

I really think that this one is going to be much better than the last one.

Countermeasures Are In Place and Now We Get Things Going

May 1, 2010 - For the last few days, we have experienced much rain that has slowed things down. I arranged for a meeting with Jose and Luis at the job site on Saturday to discuss the countermeasures. When I arrived, Luis and the men were going full bore pouring the concrete footers.

When Jose arrived shortly after, he had the final plans that he is going to submit to the Municipality on Monday to get the permits. He gave me a copy and promised to email Keith a copy.

We discussed the plan for the footers. They went as deep as they could all the way around the foundation and Luis is doing what they call an armor footer to strengthen everything. Jose explained that they will lay two rows of block, lay all the required piping and fill it in so the floor will be above the 2nd row of blocks. This means that everything on the lot will have to be raised to the height of the floor, By the time this is all completed, the footer will be 1 meter deep and more in some areas. The end result is that the building will not be affected by any changes in the soil around it, and will be much stronger than others in the area.

Luis leading the way for the concrete. No, here in Costa Rica, truck concrete mixers are not the norm. Concrete is poured one wheelbarrow at a time.

In order to make more room behind the house, Luis utilized the jack hammer to cut out a portion of the dirt/rock wall. This will also provide more stability for the dirt when they are finished.









As you can see in the pictures, the re-rod for the first floor walls are in place, the blocks for the walls has been delivered - I think they will be ready to start laying the blocks on Monday. We will keep you posted.

Man, This is Some Very Hard Ground!

April 24, 2010 - Even though there is a lot of backfill near the hill end of the lot, Luis ran into a lot of rock behind that fill. When I was there, I could see where this was going to slow down the building process. I requested a meeting with Jose and Luis to discuss this. At the meeting I showed them a picture of an attachment that you put on a backhoe that will cut through the rocks. I found out that Luis went to Alajulea and got an electric jack hammer to take care of the rocks. This worked fine until...

Luis ran into solid rock that was in no way going to be cut by anything, and no one was interested in doing the dynamite thing. So, Jose and Luis put their heads together and came up with a very good countermeasure.

Getting the Lot Ready for Construction

April 22, 2010 - In many areas of the world, the land developer will use fill dirt to make the lot larger. However, it is not a good idea to build a house on areas where this fill dirt is present. Luis refuses to build on anything but solid ground. After Luis had the lot graded down to obtain as much solid land as possible for the building construction they started getting things set up.

 Here, you see the men setting up a structure that will house some of the building materials and act as the base of operations.

Jose gave Luis enough information to get started on the footers. Once all the measurements are verified correct, then the process begins.

Within the next few days, Jose will have all the changes made to the blueprints and apply for the building permits.