Home Construction Week 2
June 12-18, 2006

Sandra peering down into trench where foundation for home will soon rise. The cement has been laid and rebar has been embedded for the columns that will support the house.

This photo shows the bottom level of our lot. The street shown is the street below us. A retaining wall is being build out of rock and cement. This wall will be about 5 feet tall and will enable us to level out the back part of the yard, enabling us to have a nice large garden.

This photo shows one corner of the retaining wall in the back of the lot. The works chisel and chip the rock face to make it flat on the outside. This will give the wall a nice finished look. This past week there were 8 men working on the lower retaining wall and 4 men working on the upper wall supporting the house. It appears to be very hard, physical labor. Some of the larger stones must weigh over 200 pounds and the workers have to roll them to move them into place.

This last photo shows our lot taken from the street above. It appears that not much has changed in the past week, but most all of the work is being done below ground level and can't be seen from this angle. The workers labor from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. with one hour off for lunch. They build a fire and cook tortillas and make tacos for their lunch. Sandra and I try and go out to the lot each afternoon after we have exercised in the gym. We have enjoyed seeing the workers and learning of construction techniques here in Mexico.