Construction - Week 12

It looks like a room! And now we are ready to paint!

After a meeting with the Architect on Saturday a week ago where we basically said, the concrete and brick work should have been finished and if the albanil isn't finished this next week then we need to find someone else who can finish the job. So an amazing amount of work was accomplished this past week. They grouted the entire terrace, about 450 sq. ft. in 1-1/2 days....it took four day for the same space downstairs. The new stairs were finished with saltillo tile on the treads and talavera tile on the risers. They look great.



The plumber was working too. The comode and faucets were installed in the bathroom. The laundry room plumbing was set and the washer and dryer moved back into place. The plumber had recommended that we put a small hot water heater and water tank on the roof to supply the new bathroom and laundry. Stands had been made for them but we had to lower the stand for the water heater and raise the stand for the tank in order to get good hot water pressure. But that isn't any problem. Just chip, chip, mix a little extra concrete and it is done.



Looking from the fireplace end of the room you can see wires sticking out holes. Yes, the electrician was here too pulling wires. He seems to know where the TV, internet, plugs, light fixtures and switches all go. Just hope that it will all work.

The terrace plants were taken back to the roof so now the patio is beginning to look a little better. I can see we have a lot of work to do to get the garden on the patio back into shape but until the sewer is connected and the outside painting done, I'm not going to do anything about it.

Juan and Raphael, our painters, checked in with us during the week. They will be here on Monday ready to go. First thing will be getting the doors and windows painted so we can get the glass installed and be weathered in. I think the inside painting will go fairly fast because they aren't working around furniture. They will also do the Saltillo tile floors. That will take time. The tiles have to be cleaned, then sealer two times and then a finish coat. You really can't rush that because you need to have drying times between applications.

We will put a tile roof over a part of the terrace but we are so tired of construction right now that we have decided to finish up with what has to be done and give ourselves a little break. We have been back in San Miguel for 3-1/2 months and all we have done is construction. Initially the architect had said that the project would take about 8 weeks. I was not as optimistic about finishing that fast. My guess was it would take 12 weeks. We just finished week 12. But I'm really pleased with the way the new space has turned out and I can't wait to get our studio/office set up.