More Updates

Hola friends!

I imagine like on any construction, there comes a point when a lot of work will go on, with only a little bit of visible progress. I think we're at that stage.

I wanted to lead off with this first photo across the upper veranda. You can see the roof purlings above. Above these our roofing "tiles" will be mounted. The underside will be locally grown teak. To your left will be a railing, and to the right, a combination of "solid" wall and sliding glass doors. Above the doors will be more windows for both air and light. The width of what you see is 2.75 meters (about 9 feet).

Roofing has been sourced, and should be ordered this week. But we are in mid rainy season, so will see how well Gerardo and crew can be getting that material installed. Once installed, the lower parts should be a LOT dryer!


This next photo is pretty familiar. What you're seeing here are all roof purlings completed, and all the subfloor now fully installed. Yoou're seeing some X's on the outer kitchen wall, there will be more. But I hope in this photo you really 'see' the roof emerging. You can see how protected those lower bedrooms are as well. We'll definitely want to be certain there are good lighting systems down there. But also understand that the sun is shining and so the depth of the shadow is artificially enhanced in the photo.

This third photo is of the lower 'falls side' bedroom. You can see where the door will fall (between the two big X's). and you can see the 1.75 meter deep veranda (about 5.5 feet). Certainly not huge, but quite adequate for a couple of comfortable chairs and a table or two, plus some room to lay out a mat to stretch and do floor exercises. We'll make sure to provision for a table lamp with reading light for guests who want to be "outside" enjoying the evening cool temps while reading. We've picked out the chairs, but will leave that a surprise for now...


Finally, a great view from the the sitting area of the kitchen counter, looking across the living room to veranda and beyond. Once all that thick foliage is thinned out, you'll enjoy fantastic agricutural and ocean views! That wall with a pair of X's to your left is the only front wall. All the rest will be glass sliding doors. Left of that short wall will be the upper bedroom sliders onto the same veranda. As a reminder, stairs come up from the entry patio on your right to a short landing just before stepping into the veranda. One has to turn 90 degrees left to continue, and another 90 degrees left to enter.

Normal life will have the doors wide open, enjoying the mild ocean breeze.

All for this time, next post will be of "the wall" I hope.

Bueno! Ciao!

Ricardo y Jeeeem

ps - Jim set up a NEW BLOG which will set about to give the history BEHIND this construction project. Several parts have been posted, others to follow as this blog evolves... Link is: http://jimdicktdacasainthebeginning.blogspot.com/

Up on the roof....

Hi friends, sorry for the lengthy delay in posting.





This set of photo's was taken the first week of August when Rob and Kent were on vacation. So Gerardo took them. I found his choices really interesting. He has a gift for photo work I think.





The first photo is stepped back so you can see the whole structure. Most of the roof purlings have been installed in this picture. But I think you can figure out now the full shape of the roof, and the upper 'cupola feature'. A few friends have brought up the concept of doing something more with that level. I think Dick and I need to actually be there before we can answer that.








This second photo was particularly interesting to me. I'm honestly not sure which of the two directions this is actually looking, but is a picture from the top of the cupola feature. You can see Marlon below the roof level, and a nice view of rooms below. If we were going to put in a clear roof, this is what monkey's would see when they cross over! I really find the photo choice interesting. It is from the highest structural point.








This last photo is of the kitchen gable end (from above). In our original plan this was going to be a hipped end, like the rest of the roofing. But as we progressed during our last trip we had a much better idea of kitchen detail, and decided having all glass above those cabinets would brighten the space. Keep in mind that as sunny as Costa Rica can be (not right now, but during dryer seasons); we're pretty much under a jungle canopy and so however we can add natural light is a good idea.



This final photo shows much of the work Gerardo and crew have been doing this week. Clearly NOT one of MY favorite activities, painting. They are hand painting all the steel work with a special rust inhibiting paint (made for tropics). We needed this because we were unable to source galvanized soon after we started. So important we coat all of this before construction continues... I'm fairly certain this is from the upper veranda looking towards the top of the stair. You can see how cool looking the American Beam detail is.

More to post soon, and I won't wait over two weeks to do it.

Thank you for reading this posting. If you're not current on the prior posts, look at the links on the left to find the first and subsequent posts for this blog.

Bueno!

Ricardo y Jeeeem

ps - Jim set up a NEW BLOG which will set about to give the history BEHIND this construction project. Several parts have been posted, others to follow as this blog evolves... Link is: http://jimdicktdacasainthebeginning.blogspot.com/