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Wooo has been very busy with plumbing and electrical projects and hasn't posted an update lately. Here are a few pics to catch you up:

Pouring the 1st floor. The graffiti is Wooo's form of post-it notes






Ahhh, floors and future stairwell






Start of the windblock/stargazing patio






Martín, El Maestro. Telling me " no digas la palabra mala Oladulce"...( "Don't say the bad "C" word, which stands for "cambios" (As in Changes to the plans). My new reply is "nunca hay cambios Martín, solo poco modificaciónes!" (We never have "changes" Martín, only a few "modifications")







Lots and Lots of walls to stucco, and then plaster, which does not look like fun to me. But Ramón keeps smiling and singing.







A current pic- Stuccoing is in progress, retaining walls for extension of the front deck are in, and the new curved windblock wall is built.






We have a real staircase now. Glassblock and skylights to come... I'm working on a handrail design to give to the metal worker.






BigWooo's favorite pastime-plumbing

That "view" appears to be shaping up real nice there on the entry... plus must be super on the second floor... thanks... really enjoy the pic's ..

Moving along really well... again thanks for the up date...

Nice Pic's

Woo what is with the "Header's" for the plumbing?

Pic is small are those valves on each line out?

PS: nice Plumbing work.

Wooo has been such a slacker on updates, but it looks like he's been busy otherwise....tagging with his red spray paint!

Wind break wall cool idea & even cooler design! Wooo'd expect this question from me....why didn't they stagger the blocks? Why are all the seams aligned? Is there more of a curve to it that it appears in the pics?

Will you be able to look out the windows above the stairs from bed? You're just a little bitty gal, but those are really high windows! What goes in there? Windows for cross ventilation, fixed pane or glass blocks there for natural light for the stairwell?

Did you decide to go with skylites in second floor ceiling? Or what are those two open square areas....look mighty big for light fixtures.

Looking great!!! Thanks for updating us!

Great pics and report! Makes me anxious to get back to work on our place but first I need to get my jaws unwired and several trips to the oral surgeon before we can even think about that...

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

Great pics and report! Makes me anxious to get back to work on our place but first I need to get my jaws unwired and several trips to the oral surgeon before we can even think about that...

Ok, that may be the main reason Wooo hasn't kept our progress updated on the thread- he didn't feel right doing so until your were more on the mend BG.

Don't let me stop you guys...

Really like that curved windbreak; way cool idea!

Now can start to see from the outside shot how it is all going to come together. Beautiful.

Originally Posted by longlegsinlapaz

Wooo'd expect this question from me....why didn't they stagger the blocks? Why are all the seams aligned? Is there more of a curve to it that it appears in the pics?

Exactly- here's a better view of inside the wall that shows the curve. A lot more labor involved than I realized cuz he had to alter most of the blocks to make the curve. This wall is begging to have a fountain on it some day.





Will you be able to look out the windows above the stairs from bed? You're just a little bitty gal, but those are really high windows! What goes in there? Windows for cross ventilation, fixed pane or glass blocks there for natural light for the stairwell?

Here's a better shot of the upper stair landing and windows. The windows were originally going to be much larger, but after the landing was in we discovered that by framing the view at eye level it eliminated some stuff that we didn't want to look at. These will be operable casement windows that can be opened for ventilation and cleaning. The sliding glass door will be on the right in the picture. It leads to the upper deck and should provide ventilation. There will be 3 rows of 12"x12" glass blocks on the right wall between the slider and the windows also.







Did you decide to go with skylites in second floor ceiling?

Yes, the 2 boxes in the ceiling of the staircase landing are for "Natural Light" tubular skylights which are going to be installed mañana !



CDN_JOHNNY, Wooo planned to answer your plumbing question but he fell asleep. "Retirement" is hard work.

Originally Posted by CDN_JOHNNY

Nice Pic's

Woo what is with the "Header's" for the plumbing?

Pic is small are those valves on each line out?

PS: nice Plumbing work.

Thanks CDN_J

The headers will eventually provide the framework for a drywall wall (I have more framing to do). I didn't want to run all that plumbing through the block, so I'm creating a dead space between the block and drywall to run the pipes (in this room only). I'm doing the same with the main electrical panel.

Yes those are valves on each line out. There will be no valves at the fixtures. Each fixture has it's own dedicated line. That's supposed to cut down on pressure loss when simultaneous fixtures are being used. Also it cuts down on splices. There are no splices into the line between the valve and fixture, so less chance for leaks. I'll create a door to access the valves.

Also below are pictures of the recessed light boxes I made. I did just discover one possible problem though, the exposed wood frame on the finished light. I'll have to staple a little strop of waterproof paper over the wood before taping it off for the final stucco finish.

Legz: The blocks are lined up to create the curve more efficiently, but all the cells are filled with concrete.

Woo
Again nice job>>>>>

I like the Red = Hot / Blue = Cold for the plastic pipe.

Wooo, when I first looked, that looked like a metal plate surround for the skylite & I was gonna tell you you had more to worry about than the wood....then I zoomed in really close & can now see that it's sheet rock! Whew!

That is going to be one cool looking wind break once that area is all completed!! Looking good now, but it'll be spectacular when it's finished!

Glad you found a solution you trust not to leak to allow natural daylight inside. Since I got my vented one reinstalled correctly above roof level, nary a leak (I reserve the right to update this after first hurricane!) & it does add quite a bit of air flow into that little inner room....no more sauna!

Your place is really coming together nicely!! You guys should be really pleased!!

I cannot emphasize enough that there is no such thing as too many pictures - especially around electrical and plumbing installations. You have no idea how valuable those photos may become one day...

Great job!

When the stairs to the 2nd floor of our casa were completed, the Master mason Martín mentioned he had a friend in Cd Constitución with a decorative iron work shop if we were interested in having an iron railing made. With so many other aspects of construction going on, the railing was put on the back burner. Then one morning a nice fellow with coke-bottle glasses drives up in an old blue truck after the 2 hour drive from town, "Aquí viene el hombre de pasamanos"- Here comes the handrail man. Martín introduced Osvaldo, the Iron Man.

Out of character, we decided on the spot to have him make the railing without knowing much about him or having seen any of his work. Almost forgot to ask him for an estimated cost- what's up with that? A huge leap of faith.

Osvaldo got to work measuring and making the stair angles with these metal forms. Then we worked out the best height and how to make the turn at the landing etc.





We decided a part of the outdoor deck could use little railing too. He took out some string and bent some rebar to match the slight curve of the deck and jotted down some notes in his book along with some drawings.





While he worked on the measurements, I had to hurriedly come up with a design for the railings which I'd typically be working on for weeks and would be stressing about all the while since I don't have an artsy bone in my body. For once I decided to let it all go- que será, I'll just keep it simple.





He took my funky drawing and a diagram of tropical weather chart symbols so he'd know what the circles were about, and put them in his notebook and loaded up his pieces of string and the bent rebar templates. I gave him a deposit and he said he'd be back in a couple of weeks. As he drove away we thought, "Man we must be nuts, and it'll be interesting to see what he brings back". But I had a good feeling…

Osvaldo returned in 2 weeks and here's what he brought.






Sparky






We liked it so much we commissioned him for a little more work- a railing for a semi-circular area of the deck. He brought out his tools (measuring tape and ball of string) and got to work bending rebar to make another template of the curve. Then loaded up the rebar and said he'd return in another couple of weeks.

Here is Osvaldo Sr and son, Osvaldo Jr during installation of the curved railing which they made in 2 segments.




In some areas we have Northern hemisphere Hurricanes and sometimes they're Southern hemi Cyclones, it all depends where you're standing, but it adds to the charm I think.

I would highly recommend Taller "JR" for decorative iron work. Osvaldo says he's traveled as far as San Jose del Cabo to do custom work before, so you need not be in the immediately vicinity of Constitución. He speaks only spanish but is easy to communicate with.

Taller "JR" - Herreria en Gral. Puertas Residenciales de Forja Actual
Osvaldo de Jesus Rodríguez
Nicolas Bravo #134, Cd Constitución, BCS
613-132-5549 cel 613-100-6487

Oladulce, thank you for posting! It's been a while, and it's great to see your progress.
It looks like things are really moving forward, even though I'm sure our perspectives on that differ a bit.

Your place is looking beautiful!!

It's always satisfying to have sketches and dreams transformed into 3-dimensional reality.

If possible, do a photo walk around when you have time, please?

Love those railings; especially the curves instead of just rote straight pieces.

It has a certain feel to it(pushing some swell?); nice!

WAY COOL!!!!! I really like the non-pho-phooey design! It's classy, yet casual looking & it suits the open & airy light-filled interior spaces & looks great outside too! Plus it looks like Osvaldo did a great job at spacing the pattern considering straight runs of differing lengths & the curves. Keep his number handy....ya know, maybe for Casa #4!

Wow, that's really coming along!! I like your little storm symbols, which hopefully will chase the storms around you rather than attract them to you. Now comes the hard part ... indoor finishing!!

Wow really nice. I also like the curves in the fencing and the railing. Super nice. When I retire late this year. I need to head down that way from Ensenada and give it a look. Maybe even drop by and say hi with some Pacificos in hand.

Thank you for the compliments. We're pretty excited about how things are turning out. Sooooo much going on all at once right now I barely have enough energy to drink a beer and eat dinner in the evening before falling asleep