A view of things to come... Honey? Where do I park the car????

Hi again everyone.  Before we left in October we did some planning, took measurments, and talked through a new retaining wall construction project with Rob.  Please double click on any drawing or photo to see a larger view. 

The object of this NEW project is multifold:

First, parking is difficult and it is dangerous to walk on the sloped driveway which heads right to the house from the main roadway.  The alternate path from the end of the roadway is also unstable and dangerous. 

Second, we've become concerned about water coming from uphill to the existing retaining wall (left of drawing) which currently intersects the house above the bumpout.  We want to extend that wall so there is a gap between it and the house foundation, and where we can put a relatively level gravel path across what we call the back of the house.  And we want to add perf pipe above that extended wall so we can better manage the flow of water coming downhill, and keep the future courtyard drier. 

Third, we don't really have an entryway to the house, nor an "inside" space connecting upstairs to downstairs.  Our vision has always been a courtyard, and an outer secure door so that we can feel "inside" when we go from upstairs to the bedroom level.  So much of Costa Rican living is outdoor living.  And we've had a long held vision that the space at the bottom of the stair, and in front of the door leading to the two bedrooms would be a finished "inside" space albeit with no roof.  In essence, we want to create a new front door leading into a new outdoor room which results in the feeling of an integrated upstairs/downstairs. 

Fourth, we need to create a safer entry to the bodega, but want to maintain it as an area separate from the house in case we wish to make it a separate small dwelling in the future.  Direct connection to the parking pad makes the most sense to us. 

This first drawing shows the house, calling out the stair going up, and the current ramp down to the concrete pad at the base of the stair, and to the level 2 entry door.  So this is a representation of what already exists.  That bump out you see on the left side of the house footprint is top floor only, so from the bottom of the stair, one walks UNDER that bumpout. 

This next photo on the left was taken while standing on the concrete ramp towards the house from the dotted lines of the first drawing below (which represent an underground tube carrying rain water downhill).  This photo is looking downhill from that point.  At the very bottom of the photo, you can see the edge of that lower curved wall as represented in the drawing above.  That "lower curved wall" is the one with the sharper bend on the right in the first drawing above.  The photo shows is sight line of what I describe below as the "left-right" wall.  The stairway is left, not visible in this photo.  The main drive/roadway is on the right, also not visible in this photo.

This next drawing represents what would be phase 1 (of two phases) to develop additional retaining walls, and create a parking area with relatively level path into the house.  It also includes extending the existing upper retaining wall (on left of this drawing) across the uphill side of the house (eg: left).  We would add perf tile along that whole wall to direct water coming from above across and away from the house.  It will also create a level path between the extended part of that wall and the house that is four feet wide (1.25 meters). 

In this second drawing, you'll see the new retaining wall go under the stair, and then proceed left to connect to the existing upper foundation wall.  The wall and left bend UNDER the stair would go directly THROUGH that vertical black post you can see near the center of the photo (below), then left to intersect with the foundation wall.  We feel that will add an additional layer of stability to the foundation wall since it T intersects the foundation wall.

Coming down from the house, that new wall T intersects to another (left-right) wall. The left-right wall intersects with that existing sharp curved wall to the left; and proceeds right, and then back towards the driveway.  To lend perspective; standing on the ground at the 90 degree corner on the right; the wall would be approximately 7 feet tall.  The top edge would be two blocks lower than the house foundation wall (roughly 9 feet below the existing concrete at the bottom of the stair).

One very significant feature on this drawing is that the tube would be extended with a 45 degree bend under the drive to a more natural downhill path.  The reason for this is that we're finding significant erosion on the current UNnatural path down the mountain, and we fear that will create a dangerous future situation.  So dangerous that even WITH this change, we will still have to rock that new channel a hundred fifty feet or so downhill to limit future erosion.  We have already lost some downhill trees as a result of this path.  The "old" mountain didn't have the valley here that our constructiion created. 

The inside of the new retaining walls would be filled with earth/rock/gravel to level it out to driveway level.  That will form a more level pathway into the house.  Due to that sharp original retaining wall blocking a direct path in, the pad will initially hold only one car.  Still, we will be able to do a 3 point turn to reverse direction and drive back up towards the Alazan entrance.  In phase 1, the dangerous existing concrete drive to the pad at the bottom of the stair would remain. 

This new wall would fill in this slope that you see in the photo above.  The parking wall would cross in front of those three tree trunks.  The right hand wall coming back to the driveway would go just to the left of that larger trunk you see on the right side of this photo to the right. 

THESE CHANGES WOULD COMPLETE PHASE 1.



The VISION of Phase 2 (drawing to the left) is to create a new front door and entry courtyard.  So the wall under the stair, and LEFT of where that T intersects to the parking wall would be raised to 7 feet tall. [It would actually become nearly as tall as the HAND rail of the stair where that black post referenced earlier is.]  Then it would proceed left creating a doorway, and a NEW wall would be created back out and left blocking the current ramp drive.  The concrete towards the house up from the new wall would be removed.  A new low extension of the wall left of the doorway would continue left to the upper retaining wall on the far left.  This would create a NEW planter visible from the house side, but not the driveway side.  A level concrete/tiled patio would be in the new INSIDE area.  A single step would be added to navigate up from the parking pad to the new courtyard.  A new decorative security door would go in the doorway opening, and become the new FRONT door.  A new stair down to the bodega would be directly right of that, and off the parking area.  A small gable end roof would cover the doorway and stair down to the bodega.  I did not attempt to draw in that small roof in my rendering. 

Before we ever begin Phase 2, phase 1 will be complete with new photos, new perspectives and a new drawing of what Phase 2 will actually become.  We hope construction of Phase 1 will be done between January and April 2012 - and that Phase 2 can be completed January - April of 2013.

Thanks for reading.

Dick and Jim

Bedroom 3 ready for stucco

Note: Click on any photo to enlarge


Hi again.

We open with this photo since, that fibrolet panel behind the fan had to be removed with some speedy electrical work by Javier done before we could leave and return to the USA.

You'll see a wall outlet behind that fan that, for whatever reason, was never roughed in prior to application of fibrolet in that room.  We wanted to be sure we had an outlet on that wall, since we "think" it will be the location of a shallow desk in the future. 

You can see in this second photo the stack of tile for Nelson to use in the bathroom.  There will be extra we're sure. 

As we've experienced Casa Torrente de Agua over the past two + years, we've decided that it will be easier if the primary bedroom were NOT upstairs in the main living area.  Jim is more typically an early riser and Dick more often stays up later.  So we've determined that Bedroom three will, at a point, become Bedroom one.  The space that is Bedroom 1 will be opened up a bit more, and made a convertable room that can serve as a sleeping space (convertable couch), but will typically be the main lounge upstairs.  In a future blog, once this space has been moved into and we begin preparing for longer stays at this home, we'll have photos and descriptions about how we see the upstairs evolving. 

 The wall behind the plywood (that we've donated to the upper guard house) adjoins bedroom 2.  We knew we wanted to remove the fibrolet, fill the wall with insulation, and reapply fibrolet to the wall.  We did that and in this photo, that work is done. 








This view simply reminds all the connection that the laundry is between this door, and outside.  If you look closely, you'll see that the transom above the door had the teak frame in place.  All that remains now is to have a louver transome put in with teak panels instead of glass.  Regrettably, that same transome detail needs to go into bed/bath 2; and will be done as a single project.  If necessary, Jim will fashion temporary fabric panels to fill that in. 

We have sort of a "wait and see" thing going on with the ceilings.  We think the bamboo will be perfect over the long haul.  But we're concerned about the ease mold has growing, and may want a different ceiling finish.  So we'll see how the other room does over the next six months, and if all well, that will become the ceiling in this room too. 

Once we were close to departure, and on one of the couple of sunny mornings for this trip, we took this photo through the glass Dick cleaned so well. 

You can see this room has a really nice view of the delta, and although hard to see in the haze, the ocean on clear days (about 5km off the edge of the veranda). 

So all this is tending to come together in the vision we had so many years ago. 

Much more to come about the other Winter project we hope to have done while we're away....

Thanks for reading!

Jim and Dick

A couple of years in the making - Bath 3 ready for tiling

Opening note:  Click on any photo to enlarge your view of it.

This was an amazing trip!  While there were challenges and we worked ourselves ragged, we completed the installation of the fibrolet on all surfaces of Bathroom 3!

One of the things we had to wait for was just other priority work we've  been doing since we've been able to live on our house starting in July 2009.  So much has been done upstairs and other spaces since then.  And our course some of our health challenges between then and now caused much longer delays than we had hoped for. 

Also, before we could fibrolet the shower in Bath 3, there were some electrical preparations that had to be done, installing a service panel in the dry bodega room so that we had places to take off power for property lighting and AC in these two bedrooms. 




After completing Bedroom 2 and Bathroom 2, we set to work on applying fibrolet to the walls of Bathroom 3 - which you can see in this photo set. 

Once walls were covered, we set to work building a lowered ceiling structure that would clear the plumbing above that services Bath 1 upstairs. 


We had to think through how we would light this room that has a ceiling height of only 7.5 feet.  We wanted to avoid surface lights that would further limit headroom.  We decided upon recessed flourescent lighting with glass covers so that splashing, if that happened, would not hit a hot bulb. 

Then we spent time working out a pattern for the five lights (two over shower, three in rest of that small room). 

We have one temporary light in place that will be the starting point for drawing cable to connect all five fixtures.  The switch is outside the room, consistent with our small bathroom design to ensure greater safety. 


If you scroll back up to the opening photos you'll see the wall tile that will be in place in this bathroom.  We have TONS of the green tile, and that will, as with the other rooms, be the bottom field color in this bathroom.  But we will break that up with a blue and tan color field in the middle and a blue row going over the mid stopped green behind the sink and toilet (view in this final photo). 

The other thing we did in this shower space, only visible if you look close, is that we layered fibrolet so that there is a natural slope to the drain.  All Nelson needs to do is a skim coat on the bottom, and then lay the shower floor tile .  The shower floor tile is visible in the second photo above, and is actual rock sliced to tile thickness, and arrayed to be a "stone" floor.  We plan to repeat this tile on the vanity top.

There is another wall cabinet, like Bath 2; and during Winter 2012, Jim will build in Saukville another wall vanity, but this time with a drawer in it.  We will assemble in a fashion that will allow it to be broken down flat for transport, and reassembled in Costa Rica prior to installation. 

So, tile and stucco will get done by talented Nelson in the next couple of months, and will be ready for completion next visit.


Thanks for reading!

Jim and Dick

October 2011 New Work

Opening note:  Click on any photo to enlarge your view.

 After a few visits, we finally completed Bedroom 2.  You can see the finished bamboo ceiling; lights and fan up, even curtains. 

If you look at the bottom two panes of the window, you'll see the privacy film identical to what we used in the bathroom window.  This will give modesty privacty for this room from what will, before two long, become the new parking pad. 

We had fun shopping at Ikea for curtains for this room, getting the same drape, but in two colors that are more along the line of our wall colors in the room. 

Prior to our trip, the mid level dehumidifier stopped for a couple of weeks since it was plugged into a GFI circuit which tripped.  Dick spent a full day once again scrubbing the furniture with bleach water.  Then a day restaining, and another day applying satin finish varnish to the furniture to make it more resistant to mold. 

He also spent several hours once all was done thoroughly scrubbing the floors in both this bedroom and the en suite bathroom. 

At the end, he once again washed the windows so the whole room sparkles!

 At the beginning of this trip, we took a trip to the home center in San Jose called "EPA".  We found some Teak Oil.  Jim oiled the teak he put in during the May visit - and you can see the beautiful colors that oiling the wood brought out in the shelf next to Bath 2 sink. 

We worked together to replace the leaking drain piece at the bottom of the sink with a nice one we purchased in USA from Home Depot.  And we attached the little magnifying mirror which will be the utility over the sink mirror in that bathroom.  One day we'll add a full length mirror on the wall behind the door; or in the bedroom behind the door. 




We completed the bamboo ceiling in the bathroom as well.   Between trips, we bought towels that bring out the small tile colors in this bathroom,

Over the summer Jim, designed and created a wall cabinet so that there would be storage in that bathroom for incidentals that might be useful during a stay, and also to hold some towels over the toilet. 

You can see the finished countertop of the wall mounted vanitity we worked on during our Winter 2011 visit; and which Jim, attached and finshed during the May 2011 trip. 









So, the second bedroom and bath are complete, simply waiting for the time we put air conditioners in both bedrooms on this level. 


Thanks for reading our blog, more to come from this trip!


Ricardo y Jeeeem