Home Construction Week 25..
November 20-26, 2006

This past week more plastering of the brick walls, more work on the fireplaces and the gazebo is nearly finished. The first photo shows a view from the back yard. You can see an addition of 9 beams extending out from the living room floor. These beams will support a glass covering which will keep rainwater off the lower terrace. About the only thing left on the back outside of the house is leveling and water proofing of the roof before a first primer paint is applied to the walls.

This photo is taken from the street above. You can see that more of the plastering has been completed, but it is not complete as brick is still visible. Architect Arturo tells us that the outside plastering, painting and roof leveling should be done in about two more weeks. Sandra and I haven't decided on colors yet, but it will be fun to choose.

The photo below shows more of the work on the gazebo. The ceiling has been stained and the clay columns have been varnished, giving them a slight gloss. Architect Arturo says the gazebo will be finished this coming week! Then for our first BBQ.!!

About a month ago Architect Arturo took us to the town of Patzcuaro (I will do a blog on this visit to Patzcuaro soon) where we went to a metal fabrication shop. While there we choose and ordered the metal railing for the staircase and upper terraces. We also ordered some outdoor furniture for our gazebo. When we went to visit the house Saturday, Arturo had delivered the furniture for us. The tables and chairs are made of cast aluminum and will be able to stay outdoors without damage. The third photo below shows the pattern we chose. It is the mother moon and father sun. If you look you will see the face of the moon on the left with the face of the sun in the center. In Mexico there is a lot of symbolism concerning the sun and moon. The furniture has a gold finish and is really beautiful. Sandra and I are very happy with our choice.

The first photo below shows the progress on the fireplace in the living room, while the second photo shows the progress on the fireplace in the master bedroom.

The next two photos below give views of the master bathroom. It is hard to see because of the photo angles but the first photo shows at the left the future shower enclosure and in the middle the future tub. Now there is just dirt. The next photo is the master bath taken from a different angle. The dirt along the brick wall will be an indoor garden. The sky seen above the brick wall will be a glass dome, letting in lots of light for the bathroom and the future plants.

The final picture is the service/laundry room. I don't think I have ever shown this room before. There is room for a washer and dryer. A sink, an ironing station and closets. There is a skylight/dome in the ceiling which will provide light and also give us access to the roof. Things are moving along and I hope to not get behind on next weeks posting.

Home Construction Week 24

November 13-19, 2006

I fell a week behind in my postings of the house construction. I haven't been feeling real good, in fact I only visited the house about 5 times in the past two weeks. Normally, I go everyday. But I will try to catch up today. I will post both week 24 and week 25 in separate blogs. The changes this past week were mainly in more plastering of the outer and inner walls of the house. The plaster covers the brick prior to painting. As I have mentioned before, the bottom level of the house is finished except for leveling of the floors, windows and doors. We are going to wait on this work in order to finish the top level so that we can move in. The first picture below shows a view from the back yard and you can see the work on the roof line is nearly complete. The three opening on top are decorative.
The picture below shows the front of the house looking toward the entry. The garage is to the right. My office is the small window left of center and the masterbath is behind the tall wall at the far left. You can notice that most of the bricks have not yet been plastered.
This photo below shows the view from the street above. The two chimney stacks are visible and have not be plastered. You can see the three decorative openings on the top of roof wall. The two smaller windows below the three openings are windows in the living room (sala) We will have crystal installed which will provide beautiful light reflections in the morning. The front of the house faces East and we will get morning sun. The back of the house faces West and we will get afternoon sun. South is the left side of the house. We will pretty much have sun all day long as it rises and rotates around to the back of the house.
The two photos below show the very beginnings of the fireplaces (chimineas). The first is in the living room (sala) and the second is in the master bedroom (recamera principal). Both will have gas lines and we can use them to heat the house in the winter.

The two photos below show some of the detail work on the asador (gazebo). The first shows the roof line and you can see the brick work that has been added between the column and ceiling. The second shows some of the tile that has been added to the base of the columns. Architect Arturo is really fantastic with the finish detail work and is one of the reasons we hired him to design and construct our home.

This final picture shows a view of the living room (sala). You are able to see the wood beam ceiling and the two windows that will let in morning light. The view is out toward the front or entryway of the house.

Home Construction Week 23..
November 6-12, 2006

This photo shows a view from the street above our house. The roof parapets are nearly done and the chimney's for the fireplace in the living room and master bedroom are visible. Now, plastering of the outside walls is beginning. The roof still needs a final coat of cement and leveling for waterproofing. The house profile is larger and more majestic than Sandra and I ever imagined from the architectural drawings, but we like it. The high roof lines make the house look much larger than the actual square footage. The photo below shows the house from the back garden. You can get an idea of the height of the house by seeing Sandra peering up on the right hand side of the photo. The two photos below show the front of the house from street level. In this perspective the house appears to be a single level home. It is only when the house is seen from the sides and rear that the house is two levels. The two photos below show the gazebo stone floor (red porphyry-quarried in Guanajuato Mexico). The floor is finished except for an acid wash to clean the stones. So far, this flooring is my favorite detail. The same stone will be used for the garage floor, the entry walkway and the lower stair case to the garden. The final photo below shows a view from the lower television room, looking toward one of the guest bedrooms downstairs. The wall plastering is done. All we are waiting for is a final coating of cement to level the floors and the windows. We plan on leaving the bottom unfinished until we complete the upper level.

Home Construction Week 22
October 30-November 5, 2006

If you look at the roof edges you can see the parapets that line the sides. In the old days parapets were used for protective barriers for men on the rooftops defending the fortress. Today, they are used for architectual detail, to give height and to hide water and gas tanks. The roof will have a final coating of a water impermeable material and given a slight downward sloping angle so that water run down into drain pipes and off the roof.
The photo above shows the columns along the sides of the garage. The column to the right will have a storage space on the bottom and the top will have the gas tank for the house. All of the electrical panels, control panels, and the water heater will be housed in this space. The column to the left will be covered in a color contrasting natural stone finish.
The photo above shows the second of our alcoves. This one is on the wall separating the dressing room from the master bedroom. I think Sandra and I will be putting some wood carved statue in this space. We saw something that gave us an idea while vacationing in Tapalpa. It was a carved statue with beading that the indigenous Huichole had made.
The final photo above shows the gazebo and the progress with the red rock floor. This picture doesn't do the rock justice. It is really a beautiful rich color.