TalkBaja.com » Baja Mexico Forums » Building your Baja dream home

OK . . . .. So I have read with due diligence and looked over all the photos for the past year of several of your house building projects. What a group of fantastic homes you all have created. You really have done a lot of investigation and work to succeed in building your own homes. I compliment you all. Now I have a question or two, or maybe three or four, time will tell! (smiling)

I am not intending to steal the thunder from this thread, so if anyone feels it belongs in another more appropriate arfea, please let me know, or post it to another more correct location.
.
You have really given me some great helpful ideas, in building / constructing "Mexican style" that I can use on my own remodel and new addition to our home in Central Mexico (San Juan del Rio, Querétaro) I hope you will indulge me from time to ti, especially Mexican construction. Even though I am an architectural consultant with a lot of years of commercial architecture behind me, it is a very different animal than residential architecture and hopefully a few in front of me, This is a whole new world in Mexico when it comes to construction, so I figured I'd go to the experts!

I will be adding on to a home built 25 years ago out of some pretty poor grade Cantera stone. It is a single level home and the addition will also be a single level. The additions will include a master bedroom of substantial size, a master bathroom (250 sq feet), laundry room (350 sq. feet), a kitchen extension (375 sq. feet), combination boiler room / garden equipment room (35 sq feet), and a office of 450 sq feet). My question is, that I am going to build all of these spaces with flat roofs that will slope 2% in any given direction towards two or three downspouts (for rain water collection) leading to a couple of 5000 liter cisterns, one a gray water cistern and the other a city water collection cistern. Using those ugly black plastic 700 liter roof containers is the worst water storage system I have seen since the Romans built them a few thousand years ago, (not of plastic)!!

Our existing home has boveda brick ceilings. I want to marry the new construction phase of our home (with flat roof) into the older home and I am really concerned about leaks forming along the main seam of the two structures.

Although we sit on thick bedrock covered with about 3 to 8 feet of loose soil, which bodes well for building footers, I am still concerned about a certain amount of “shifting” over the years as opposed to settling will cause some stress on an addition to another building. I am thinking of simply building an open (small garden) passageway between the two buildings and making a cross connecting passage way with exterior doors on each building entrance. My sole reason for doing this is that I do not know of a product here that can be seamed into existing older concrete with overused amounts of cal in the process, and a new concrete roof on the addition that will not be using any cal in the mixture. So any suggestions about this quandary would be appreciated. The new roof to the entire expansion will also have a terrace on top with a great view of a nearby large lake. I will l will also be installing water, gas and electric on the new upper terrace, for a nice outdoor BBQ and outdoor kitchen.

Secondly, I understand that you all being from Baja Sur, deal with different water quality than I will be dealing with. For example, I believe from my time living in Coronado, we used to at one time have neighbors that had a well and their water had high salinity content in it. I am looking for the most practical filter for hard water, some sand (minimal), and some iron, (minimal) along with the amount of dirt that blows here in during the early afternoon hours.

On the gray water tank, I was thinking both an inlet filter (rainwater) into the tank and an exit (clean water) filter out of the tank for the rather medium size garden with about 14 fruit trees. The clean water tank I was thinking of only one filter on the exit side. For filters I am thinking diatomaceous earth filters. What do you all think about that material for filters?

I am planning to have a pressure pump for both tanks. The pressure here on the municipal water is a terrible 27 lbs on good days. I miss my hot and high pressure (50 # minimum) showers. Plus using NOB automatic washing machines depends on a minimum pressure to operate well and for a long time, as do mixer valves on shower units and hand basin water valves. If there is anything you all would have changed in your original construction process, now that you have lived in them a while, I would really appreciate knowing that as well.

I appreciate your all’s help and welcome any suggestions.

Regards,

Robt65
San Juan del Rio
Querétaro

" I understand that you all being from Baja Sur".............not "all" by any means, but go ahead. We're listening.

I don't have much advice, except that I think you are confusing square meters with square feet.

I doubt you are building a laundry room that is 3766 square feet. (1 square meter = 10.76 square feet)

You'll definitely want to make the correct conversions or you'll have many misunderstandings on your hands.

Good luck with your addition!

Originally Posted by BajaCarpintero

I don't have much advice, except that I think you are confusing square meters with square feet.

I doubt you are building a laundry room that is 3766 square feet. (1 square meter = 10.76 square feet)

You'll definitely want to make the correct conversions or you'll have many misunderstandings on your hands.

Good luck with your addition!

Hello Carpintero,

Damn . . . . . that's embarrassing for sure! I guess that's what happens when you let a 70+ yr old stay up past nine o' clock! Thanks Carpintaro. by the way you are right and I have made the corrections to feet. . . . . . . .. I sure do appreciate the style and obvious quality of the cabinets that you made for a few of the folks down there. Sure wish you were a little closer. But if you were I would suggest double checking my measurements!

Regards,
robt65

Glad I could assist in embarrassing you!

Thanks for the compliments. I wish I was closer too, it sounds like a nice project.

Remember, measure twice, cut once.

Wow, sounds like a great house and an even greater re-model!

I like the idea of separating the major new additions from the existing house. I have always liked the "compound" approach with scattered buildings, each serving a different function. One benefit you didn't mention is increased ventilation and natural light. Plus, you don't have to get the floor elevations perfect either, something not too easy to do with tile on slab floors.

As far as the water system, and filtering your water. For the grey water side, to be used for irrigation, seems like all you need to do is to keep out stuff that will plug drip irrigation emitters or that would damage your booster pump. Seems like a sand filter would take care of that. For the domestic side, have you considered a whole house RO unit? The motor and pump are easy to buy, through Grainger's, for example, and the membranes and housings are available through several web-based market places.

Because you're treating fresh water you can use a lower pressure membrane than I use for de-sal, and with the lower pressure your pump and motor costs (and noise while operating) are far reduced from those needed to push sea water through two 1000psi membranes.

That and a simple UV purifier should cover all your bases.

It would be great to see some "before" pics of your place, and progress reports as you go through the process.

Enjoy!!

What a great project!

Adding on to an existing 25 year old building as you describe will definitely present challenges. I don't know what type of roof the new construction will have, but if it's concrete, you will have to substantially rebuild, or reinforce the walls of the existing structure in order to support where the roof of the new structure joins walls of the old.

It would definitely be easier and less expensive to make the additions their own buildings as Islander describes, but on the other hand, I've seen very old buildings that have been successfully remodeled and added on to. Unfortunately it involves a lot of work, engineering, money and surprises. I would look for a reputable contractor who knows the local construction methods of the time, and has experience adding on to older buildings.

I doubt you are the first to attempt such a project in your area. I'd drive around and look at other projects, talk to the owners and get a good idea of what you're in for.

As for grey water, I've done a lot of research looking for a grey water system for our house. I didn't find any systems that can clean the water well enough to use standard drip heads. Even sand filter systems still use special grey water drip line.

Check the products here: http://www.besthomewatersavers.com/p...g-systems.html

We used the 20 gallon tank:



and connected it to three zones so we don't over-saturate one area:



We also have a 5 - Zone regular drip system. I kept one valve free and tied it into the grey water system so the plants can get water when we are away on vacation. I just open the valve to the right of the filter and close another to keep the water from back flowing into the tank, then set the drip timer to supply water to the grey system while we are gone. I also put a hose bib in so that on occasion, we can fill buckets with grey water when we are doing laundry to water plants that don't need water often.

I also plan to add covers to the valves and exposed PVC to prevent UV damage and keep algae from forming in the lines.

Good Luck, and please post pictures!

Originally Posted by BigWooo

What a great project!

Adding on to an existing 25 year old building as you describe will definitely present challenges. I don't know what type of roof the new construction will have, but if it's concrete, you will have to substantially rebuild, or reinforce the walls of the existing structure in order to support where the roof of the new structure joins walls of the old.

It would definitely be easier and less expensive to make the additions their own buildings as Islander describes, but on the other hand, I've seen very old buildings that have been successfully remodeled and added on to. Unfortunately it involves a lot of work, engineering, money and surprises. I would look for a reputable contractor who knows the local construction methods of the time, and has experience adding on to older buildings.

I doubt you are the first to attempt such a project in your area. I'd drive around and look at other projects, talk to the owners and get a good idea of what you're in for.

As for grey water, I've done a lot of research looking for a grey water system for our house. I didn't find any systems that can clean the water well enough to use standard drip heads. Even sand filter systems still use special grey water drip line.

We used the 20 gallon tank:

We also have a 5 - Zone regular drip system. I kept one valve free and tied it into the grey water system so the plants can get water when we are away on vacation. I just open the valve to the right of the filter and close another to keep the water from back flowing into the tank, then set the drip timer to supply water to the grey system while we are gone. I also put a hose bib in so that on occasion, we can fill buckets with grey water when we are doing laundry to water plants that don't need water often.

I also plan to add covers to the valves and exposed PVC to prevent UV damage and keep algae from forming in the lines.

Good Luck, and please post pictures!

Hi Big Wooo,

Thanks for the advice and encouragement. All this will take some time, but I prefer to be slower and better, than fast and have problems later. I have definately decided to build a separate building for the addition. It just makes more sense from almost every angle. As you will see from the following post, I have added a lot more information for you all to get a better prospective of what I have done already and what I am dealing with.

Regards,
Robt65

Hello Islander, Big Wooo, BJ Longlegsin lapaz and others,

Thanks for your replys and ideas, I appreciate them.

While I had certainly given thought to and part of the reasons I decided on two separate structures connected solely by a covered walkway (for shade as well as rain (when it does rain here it can come in buckets) and cold (it actually gets to 0° Celsius but usually 2° to 5° Celsius in our winter months (December thru February) as we are located just outside San Juan del Rio and a little higher elevation at about 7,300 feet.

We are somewhat fortunate to have some pretty good Cantera stone quarries not far from us. I have in the past year since buying the property torn out all the old electric of the standard Mexican 100 amp service and installed a new 220 Service including a Square “D” (42 space) breaker box with a main shutoff. I have reinstalled all # 6 wiring from the house to the new curbside 220 meter and on into the subterranean service box.

I have also taken out all the old existing floors to the house which were a catastrophic mess of original laying of the tiles. The old tile installation of cheap tiles was quite a bit worse than “longlegsinlapaz’s” new construction installation. All new ceramic tile floors were installed throughout. The concrete bathroom sinks as well as the showers were all torn out and new ones installed. We have boveda ceilings in all three bedrooms, small kitchen as well as the existing dining room / living room area. The small kitchen was retiled on a temporary basis as I plan on probably adding a new larger kitchen in the new addition; especially after seeing a few of Talk Baja member’s construction projects and the incorporation of a two level seating island. That really makes sense to me, especially with two young ones (2 yrs and 10 yrs old).

Cantera stone comes in several different qualities. Some is very cheap and does not really hold up well over the years. The black Cantera stone (at least in our area) is a very hard not very porous and provides a lot of strength if mortared and not installed using cement with a lot of Cal in the mix. Folks here seem to use a lot of Cal in their cement mix and that does not really hold up well over the years either. In my estimation “Cal” is only used here as a quick drying agent but turns around to bite you in the “you know where” after a few years and starts “falling away” from any surfaces it is used on.

Concrete was “slopped” over the interior poor quality cantera stone walls and smoothed out to paint. The two room brick fireplace / one flu chimney has been permanently plugged with concrete and a cap on top. Now it is only for looks. In the future maybe a set of gas logs to be installed who knows!

I have replaced all the windows in the existing home with thermopane, argon gas, low-E windows which have made a big difference in the homes heat retention in the winter, now to see how they are in the heat of the summer. The home has a cupola with two fixed slanted pieces of glass on all four sides. I am contemplating removing the entire glass and putting in solid reflective glass panes as in the summer this cupola absorbs into the home a tremendous amount of heat even though it is in the boveda living room roof. I believe that I can incorporate a small exhaust fan in the rounded top of the cupola that would not damage the esthetic look of the cupola and yet provide for a separate wall switch for removing hot air during the hot summer months. I could use some ideas about this for sure.

Our custom made 3” thick, 40 inch wide, mesquite door arrives on Thursday (27 Feb) afternoon and will be installed over the weekend of March 2nd and 3rd . This door has taken 4 months to handcraft and it should last many years. The door frame is also a thick 4 inches and 9 inches deep, being made also of mesquite.

The house sits on a sloped lot 150 foot depth by 100 foot in width, which drops about one foot every four foot front to back and about 3 foot every 100 feet side to side. This is one of several reasons I wish to build a separate building for the new addition along with the original facts presented in my original posting. I had given some thought to natural light but not to the afternoon breeze that I could have taken better advantage of as well by a separate building. Thanks’ for that reminder Islander.

The 100 foot by 150 foot wall is newly constructed by a crew I hired who work in Cantera stone and I have previously seen some of their work before hiring them. The wall has a one meter (yes meter - Smiling) deep footer and the concrete footer is 3.5 foot wide. It is a double sided wall with interior rebar reinforced 12 inch by 12 inch concrete pillars, so the wall on the exterior looks as though there are no supports. The wall is 2 foot thick and all constructed out of what is called here, “large quarry ruble” that are mortared in place, one by one. On top of each gate entry stone post is a hand cut 100 kilo Cantera stone pyramid with a flattened top for future wrought iron entry gate lights, Each gate entry stone post has been pre wired of course! At the base of each Cantera Stone entry gate post is an 10 inch thick by 3 foot by 3 foot Cantera Stone slab concreted into the footer of the wall. I hope not to have any leaning posts until long after the next century!

The iron gates are all out of ¾ inch iron and ride on stainless steel sealed ball bearings, top and bottom. The outside frame of the gates are 2 X 2 inch 3/8ths square steel tube pieces with all steel tubing frames pre-painted inside and out with two Rustoleum paint products. I have yet to install the electric gate openers. They will be put in at a later date.

I was able to get some large size ¼ in tapered to 1+1/4 inch scraps of Black Cantera stone wedges used in laser cutting the black Cantera stone on the moveable tables and re-cut it to minimum ¾ inch pieces and used those for a rear patio with a black gray mortar. I got that material for a tenth of the price of the pre cut patio stone and in my opinion it looks a lot better. They are amassing a few truck loads of that for me. I will continue using that material on the walkways around the new addition and also tie the two buildings together using the same walkway materials.

Once the addition is completed I plan to use a laser level to mark each of the two buildings and concrete “slop” the outsides of both buildings, and install flat two inch thick (rustic finish) Black Cantera stone up to the bottoms of the windows from the 14 inch tall concrete footer of the buildings. Along the 14 inch concrete footer base where the structures meet the ground, I plan on installing some tile along the entire circumference of the buildings The upper portion of both buildings will be painted.

The front to back slope will be terraced with a front garden as the original home is set well back on the lot. On the upper terrace a curved driveway with electric double iron gates will be installed with gardens on both levels as well as a small 8 foot by 8 foot square by 2 foot tall Cantera Stone base with 4 round Cantera Stone Balls of different sizes for the water to come out of a small spigot on the top of each ball.

You’re probably absolutely right Islander, on the sand filter for the gray water tank. I am still not totally convinced yet what type of filter to use for the house fresh water tank. We are lucky here in our small pueblo of Galindo as we have always had good water. No worries using the pueblos water to brush your teeth, although the women of the house do still use bottled water for the children’s drinks, tea and coffee. The fresh municipal water here is very good chlorinated water and they just finished building a new water treatment plant to replace the older one. But I still have concerns when it comes to mountain runoff water that has been sitting in a “pressa” for goodness knows how long. I guess it’s as much for peace of mind as anything else, but I do want a water filter on both inlet and outlines of the fresh water tank. I don’t believe that we have anything heavy enough in the water to require a reverse osmosis setup. Our water here is a little on the hard side but I also do not want to have a softener as I do not believe the water is that hard to warrant one.

The reasons I want to use a fresh water cistern, is that at certain times of the year the local very large pressa, that feeds several pueblos, starts drying up and water is rationed. We have to have a permit here to dig a well and if you don’t get a permit to do so, the repercussions are dire indeed. The government can waltz right in and even confiscate your home and everything that is in it. I think I will pass on that idea.

City water pressure here is another problem with using a tinaco and being a single story house. The water pressure is 27lbs at best and that drives me crazy!!! Few things in life I chose not to part with and aside from my Labs, another is a strong pressure and very hot shower. So I want to have a good pressure system in place to deliver water to the showers, sinks and laundry. I have also found that if the water pressure is not significant enough, these single control handle shower and sink faucets do not operate efficiently. This can also be very costly in repairs on washing machines.
home remodel post.

As soon as I figure a way to up load photos on this posting I will indeed post some, as well as start a new . But for now my 7 year old laptop is on its last legs (being an amputee, I am allowed to say that!), and I hope to have a new one next month when I go NOB for my VA appointments.

Now you have a better idea of what I am dealing with. I needed my head examined for even thinking about remodeling a Mexican home! I would never do it again for sure. Now I am too far along to change directions too much. Thanks goodness, I do have a good contractor that has had 8 years (illegal) training building houses in the USA and knows about measuring correctly. He cuts no corners and does exactly what I ask him to do. He does offer some really good ideas from time to time.

Any ideas are certainly solicited and appreciated.

Regards,

Robt65
San Juan del Rio,
Querétaro

What a project! I can't wait until you figure out how to post pictures!

Originally Posted by BigWooo

What a project! I can't wait until you figure out how to post pictures!

This is a really different site for me to try and post photos. Can you gove me some ideas on how to do it? I have a windows 7 program and it is on it's last legs. I have a bunch I can post now, but I can't seem to push the right buttons!

Regards,
Robt65

Originally Posted by BigWooo

What a project! I can't wait until you figure out how to post pictures!

Should I be trying to post this on another page or would this be the right section to do it? I hate appearing to be stealing others threads and posts. I have to admit I am the "ultimate computer dummy" !:

Robt65

Here you go
How to Post / Upload Photos - TalkBaja.com - Baja Mexico Travel, Living and Retirement

Originally Posted by Marty Cortez

Here you go
How to Post / Upload Photos - TalkBaja.com - Baja Mexico Travel, Living and Retirement

Hey Marty,

Thanks a lot. I am probably dumber than soulpatch when it comes to computers, sorry about that soulpatch but I think it is true. I leave for NOB on Friday and I am busy packing tonight and tomorrow, do the banking, pay the utilities before I head out, do the banking from my pension and Social security, for the "little woman and family" so they are all taken care of before I go.

Tomorrow, I have to by a bunch of building products for the new Castillo’s, for the new wider custom door that will be installed in the existing home on the day I leave for NOB! How's that for good timing!!! Actually my contractor and I are always on the same page when it comes to shortcuts and that page is blank . . . . . in other words there are no shortcuts allowed, I got lucky he is a really good guy, honest and works very hard. My wife will be here to supervise . . . . poor contractor!!!!

I will return in three weeks. That should give me enough time in Texas to not only get all the doctor prodding, tubes and such complete but also get to learn how to upload photos on this site. I really appreciate your help Marty. I definitely will get some of the photos I have taken over the past year uploaded for one and all to see.

Now I will also tell you, that if you are expecting another wondrous set of homes, such as BG's (very Red Faced!), Whoooosh’s, longlegsinlapaz’s, and Big Whooo's, fantastically beautiful places (not to mention house of the year!), you are in for a shock. We will not probably finish this whole journey for another year. But this old fart keeps plugging along .. . . . . . .

If only this 38 year old wife of mine, would leave me alone and keep her hands to herself for a few hours, I would be in much better shape!!!! (I get out of breath easily)!!! We already have two young ones, and I have told her to wait until we finish the project, but she never listens!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course you know I have to give up easily! (Smiling)

Regards,
Robt65

you've certainly mastered the "smiles" library! On to Photos!

I learned from some "Masters" Woooosh! If I can do as well with photos, I hope to earn my stripes! (smiling) All kidding aside, your home is really great, what color. Your kitchen is also a very unique space that says warm, casual and comfort. But I'll have you know that both you and “longlegsinlapaz” are costing me big time. . . . . . . . Now after seeing your pools, she wants one also!!!

You also have excellent tastes in dog breeds by the way. We have two labs and a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Mother in law has a yippy little hot dog (but a great mouser) and the Girls have 4 Peach Faced Parrots, I'm just happy our Zoo's food bill isn’t near as large as yours!

Regards,
Robt65

I love it when someone gets a username not quite right...

So far we have caliente and now BJ as distinguished "members."

Originally Posted by robt65

I learned from some "Masters" Woooosh! If I can do as well with photos, I hope to earn my stripes! (smiling) All kidding aside, your home is really great, what color. Your kitchen is also a very unique space that says warm, casual and comfort. But I'll have you know that both you and “longlegsinlapaz” are costing me big time. . . . . . . . Now after seeing your pools, she wants one also!!!

You also have excellent tastes in dog breeds by the way. We have two labs and a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Mother in law has a yippy little hot dog (but a great mouser) and the Girls have 4 Peach Faced Parrots, I'm just happy our Zoo's food bill isn’t near as large as yours!

Regards,
Robt65

Thanks. It's just cement blocks- some kids are better at building things with legos than others, that's all. Color is hard. We took our time. We spent a few years buying what we needed when we saw the right item, for the right purpose at the right price. I don't think we paid retail for anything. Anyone can spend a lot of money- tell your wife it's more fun to make it look like you spent the money and didn't. My only advice is to be fearless. If you screw something up in Mexico- it's no big deal. It's amazing what you can learn to do from the internet and YouTube videos these days. If near the coast, use plastic outside wherever possible over metal (salt)... Metal looks better than plastic, but plastic looks better than rust. Oh yeah- and there in no such thing as Stainproof steel- only Stainless; it's a lot of work in salt air. Six Labradors is just plain crazy, but it's a once in a lifetime thing. Chessies are beauties. We cut our dog food costs in half by going from Eukanuba to Kirkland (CostCo) and are happy with the results.

Originally Posted by Marty Cortez

I love it when someone gets a username not quite right...

So far we have caliente and now BJ as distinguished "members."

Define "distinguished"...

Sorry about that Ron , That's the second time this year I have got caught! I gotta straighten up! Leave it to the proof reader though.

Robt65