Here are some photos of the new project I am helping Dexter out on. It will be an interesting structure by the time we are done following the architects plans. It is not something that I would build for myself personally, but to each his own. Out of respect for the owners I am not going to give out much information about the project, but I am going to post some photos occasionally so friends can see our handy work.
Enjoy,
Nothing makes a mess of a construction area like concrete work. My once beautifully crafted wooden home has now been covered in a grey cement powdery film. Oh well, it’s worth the mess, the stucco must go on. Rubiel, a contractor from Tonosi, has been brought on board to do the stucco work. I do not have the time, experience or patience to do this type of work. I would rather leave this to an expert and Panamanians are experts in all things cement. He is doing a fine job, in a week or two the stucco project should be completed.
Also, we have started the garage/workshop/storage area next to the house and finished the electrical wiring. I was lucky enough to have an electrical engineer friend from England help me to wire the entire house to first world standards. It was a fairly easy job since the house is built up off the ground.
The garage is being built strictly out of concrete, load bearing structural grade foam panels and metal. I hired another contractor from Las Tablas named Luis to handle this project. Luis and his team have finished the foundation and should be pouring the slab this week. Hopefully the garage will be completed within a month or so.
I have had to contract some jobs out in a need to speed things up. I need the garage done before the rainy season starts (it’s coming soon) to store tools and materials in and to have a nice area to make doors and shutters amongst other things. Also, though it is taking up some of my time, I am helping on another carpentry project in the Pedasi area (see blog post).
Luis and Rubiel are doing great work so far. I am glad they are on board to help. Luckily, labor is still inexpensive here.
Throughout the building process there are moments when construction seems to go at a snails pace, the last few weeks are a great example. We have been “pecking away” at the foam panel installation. It is a slow process filling in the spaces between the post and beam framing. Some of the spaces, especially around the eaves still had to be framed. When building one seems to always leave the more tedious parts of a process for the end. So the last few parts seem to take forever. But now all the panels are fastened to the posts, beams and bottom plates of the floor. Once the stucco is in place the house is going to be well insulated and strong.
We also installed seismic straps or “hold downs” in case of any future earthquakes. Any one who has spent time in Panama and has some construction knowledge can see that most residential buildings are not designed to withstand an earthquake. I’m not saying all houses are built poorly here, but unfortunately the majority are not constructed well. Concrete is king here. Almost all construction is concrete block and stucco. Builders here generally use the least amount of rebar they can possibly get away with. This is mainly due to economics. The majority of Panama’s population can not afford to spend anymore money than what is absolutely necessary to put a roof over their family’s head. So they must cut corners and rebar reinforcement in the popular concrete construction is minimum. If there ever is a strong quake here most likely many good people are going to have their homes crumble around them. This is one reason why I choose to go with a post and beam home. Wood flexes and bends when the earth shakes, concrete does not. Anyways, one important part of our construction is attaching the posts that are in the ground to the posts that are standing on the floor and supporting the beams that support the roof. We designed the seismic straps and had them fabricated by the local pig farmer / welder named Toni. He did a great job at a fair price in a quick manner. One strap is screwed into the ground post below and another to the wall post above, then the two are connected together by a long threaded rod. They are fastened on each corner of the house. In case of a quake the house should hold together as one unit. In the near future we will be installing Simpson hurricane/seismic straps, brought in from the states, to the roof rafters and top plates or beams. This should really hold everything together in emergency.
The past couple days we worked on the main entrance to the house. We built a small “star deck” with steps leading up to the large front porch. As those of us who live here know, the night sky is absolutely amazing. Here in the Azuero their is so little light pollution. The star gazing is incredible. This little deck will be a perfect place to recline a chair and stare in to the vast dark night watching the stars and listening to the coyotes howling in the distance. Of course we built the stairs to U.S. code, seven inches high and eleven inches wide. Easy to maneuver stairs are a rarity here, not these, their perfect.
Since the last update we also worked on the bathroom design, mainly the shower. As the photos show we placed a lot of windows in the bath for natural light and ventilation. For now the only glass in the house will be in the corner of the shower and a window between the beam and the roof above the entrance into the shower. The rest of the windows will have screens and shutters.
Enjoy the photos.
While walking around, coming or going from the project, or running errands, I can not help myself from snapping photos of random points of beauty, or at least things at that moment that I think look beautiful. And of course, since I am trying to sell gorgeous ocean view land located in Panama and always in need of new material for my website ranking, these aforementioned photos end up on this blog. Whether it’s my neighbor’s tractor bailing hay for his livestock to chew on at the end of the dry season, photos of near-by churches or the sun shining through a cloud, if I think it’s beautiful it’s my duty to share. So, enjoy the sharing.
Nothing makes a structure start to feel like a finished home like raising walls. I have a sense of deep satisfaction seeing the design come to life before my very eyes. All those hours sitting at the table, with a sketch pad, pencil, calculator and Google Sketch-up running on the computer are finally paying off. As the walls go up, empty spaces become future bedrooms and baths.
The interior construction is going slow, but after finishing the roof, working on the inside is a big relief and time passes quickly. In the morning, park the car near the house, turn some music on and build some walls. Before I know it each afternoon it’s time to clean up and go for a surf to wash off the dirt, saw dust and foam shavings of the day.
We framed all the walls with 2 x 6 material from bottom plate to beam so that after the foam insulated panels have their final stucco finish a 3/4 inch relief between the lumber and the stucco will show. We choose this particular construction method for easy framing and for a unique style that does not exist around here. We will see how the finish product turns out. At this point I am very excited.
Here are some photos of the project up till now.
Here are some updated photos of parcel one, the premier ocean view titled parcel we have available here in Ojo de Agua, Panama. This parcel has one large home site and several other building sites. The property has basic utilities on site and is covered in native fruit and hardwood tree species, some mature, but most trees planted during our intensive reforestation project started four years ago. Take a look at the real estate section of the site for details.
Here are some nice photos showing the vegetation difference at the entrance of the property after a few years. The before photo is right after we installed the fence about three and a half years ago. The after photo is from about a month ago. The pampas style grass in the photos is Vetiver or locally called Valariana. Vetiver grass is amazing at retaining moisture, controlling erosion, shading out weeds, has medicinal qualities and is used throughout the cosmetic industry. Also, the root can be dug up, cleaned, boiled into a tea and drank for a pain reliever. I have never tried the tea, but someday I probably will. I bought about 60 small sprigs of Vetiver a few years ago and have propagated it all over the property. I lost count, but I must by now have nearly a thousand of these plants along the road side and on many slopes. It stays green all year, never needs watering and the seeds are sterilized so it does not spread. It’s a wonderful plant. I look forward to planting more each rainy season.
For more information about Vetiver and it’s uses take a look at Vetiver Network International, vetiver.org.
Most people have heard the expression, “hotter then a tin roof.” Well now I understand the meaning. Never wear surf trunks while working on a metal roof. It’s hot! Especially in the Panamanian equatorial tropical sun. More than once I kneeled down to tighten a screw and my knee or leg got burnt. Next time I will wear long pants. Wait, do I even own a pair anymore?
From Hopsa, a construction material store located in Chitre, we ordered twenty-two gauge corrugated metal. Under the metal is one by six tongue and grooved treated fir covered by felt paper and striped with two by two boards screwed into the roof rafters. The steel is screwed into the strips.
Old style corrugated metal is not the most beautiful material, but here on the Azuero Peninsula their are not a lot of options. A popular roofing material is corrugated cement fiber sheets that is very inexpensive, but fragile and should not be walked on. Another commonly used material is the traditional teja. Tejas are beautiful rustic hand made tiles, but again they are fragile and can not be walked on. Their is also corrugated metal with a painted coating, but it does not come in as thick of a gauge as the twenty-two that we used. As Dexter likes to say “steel is real.” I went with the strongest metal available in the country. In the future I can comfortably walk on the roof and sweep it off or make repairs without fear of breaking something.
There is a certain feeling of pride building a home for yourself. The feeling is really strong once the roof is on. I am relieved knowing that the interior work from here on out is all in the shade.
I thought we would have the roof on before the end of last year, we almost made it, only a few days behind schedule, not bad for around here.
Below are some photos of the roofing process.
Enjoy,
Here we are, the third month working on the home here in Ojo de Agua, Panama. Since my last blog update things have been moving along steadily. We had to take about two weeks off due to the weather and other responsibilities, but for the last week we have been going strong. All the posts and beams are up, all the rafters are up, nearly all the blocking is finished and we are starting on the 1 x 6 tongue and grooved sub-roof. If all goes well we may have the roof completely finished before the end of the year. The weather has finally improved here in Los Santos so rain should not be a factor, we hope to maintain a brisk pace. Here are some photos of our progress.
Enjoy,
After a couple of weeks of the worst rains this year, I know I have probably said that at least once this year, it appears dry season is around the corner. There is nothing more enjoyable than working a short time and having to stop and cover everything from the wet weather, three to four times a day. Sarcasm.
Although the weather was not helpful, we did manage to finish the floor and start on the post and beams for the house. Soon we will be starting on the roof and hopefully by the middle to end of December we will have a roof to work under. The house is really starting to take form, I can now easily visualize the design coming to life.
Below are photos of the weeks work. I had to throw in some photos of the new table saw I purchased as a fine example of one of the quirks of doing business here in Panama. I ordered the saw from a hardware store in Chitre, the only one that had a table saw, or at least said they could have one for me by monday morning. This was on friday afternoon, impressive statement here in Latin America. They could send the saw from another of their stores located in Colon, on the Caribbean coast, about a eight hour drive, on the other side of Panama City from the Azuero. Monday morning while working I get a call from the hardware store, “the saw has arrived and it will be delivered in the afternoon at the work site.” Sounds great. Then they ask me if I want them to put it together or would I like to do it. Now at this point I think about where I am (third world) and how many times I have bought tools off the shelve here in Panama, tools that were put together by employees of the store. Must of the time the display product is the only one they have at the store and it takes weeks to order one out of the box. I buy the display and the seller can’t find the manual, instructions, box, nothing, and once said tool is brought home to be used it is missing something or some screw is stripped or something is wrong and I have to fabricate/invent missing or damaged part for tool to work properly. Bosch Miter Saw as latest example. Anyways, so I am thinking, how hard can a table saw be to put together, I will take my chances, “send it in the box and do not open it, don’t touch a thing” I say. It arrived in the box and only took a few hours to put together. Every part was there, nothing was missing. Works great. Awesome!
Charlie
Ojo de Agua, Panama