Last Updated Monday May 26, 2008
These photos of the construction tell the story of the start of construction from the first work at the top and progressing toward the bottom.
Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the photo.
Roy got the first licks in on the remodeling. He removed the ugly wall (left) that blocked access to the closet from the master suite. The closet is now accessible (right) and the whole suite seems more open.
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Repairing and raising the back wall of the property.
Marvin's men went right to work on the big stuff. The large blue arch at the end of the pool (top left) is now gone (top middle), soon to be replaced with a nicer fountain yet to be designed. The wall is now extended upwards (bottom left) to the same height as the neighbor's raw brick wall for a cleaner look.
Removing walls to expand the kitchen.
The kitchen was divided into three very small rooms (top) but now is one large room. The metal gate has been turned into a window and a new counter with sink and range top installed in that corner. One of the rooms was raised up but the floor is now flat across the whole space. Also the low drywall ceiling has been removed so we'll have a bit more head room to match the rest of the casa. There are some columns still in place when these photos were taken but they have all come out.
Some of the debris from the construction. Looks like the casa has lots of rebar in it!
ˇLooking bueno!
The wall behind the pool is repaired and extended upwards to hide the rear of the neighbor's unfinished second story. The spots you see on the wall are the pipes for the fountain that eventually will flow down from there to the pool.
The bulky and ugly bare concrete beams over the palapa have joined the rubbish pile. This area will be covered with a light shade roof more appropriate for a palapa to make a cool place to grow plants or lounge by the pool.
This is the expansion of the kitchen in the second floor apartment. The wall between the kitchen and what was the bedroom has been removed and the space that was the bedroom closet will be an alcove for the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. A new bedroom is being added and the old bedroom will become the living room.
We are really excited about this progress. The kitchen was three tiny, dark rooms on two levels when we bought the house. The walls were removed so we have one large room and what was an iron gated door to the patio is now converted to an arched window with a pass-through counter. The arched windows let in a lot of light and make the kitchen seem larger. Counter space under the windows has been added and now there is room for the refrigerator and even a washer and dryer.
The kitchen that was formerly three tiny dark rooms is now a large, open and bright space. The old rooms were on different levels with a low ceiling. The floor was leveled to its lowest level and the ceiling raised to the highest. The arched doorway to the patio has been turned into a window with a pass-through counter and a new counter top with spaces for a stove and a sink has been installed. The floor is tiled and the walls painted. New electrical outlets, gas connection, drain and water lines are in place.
The view from the new kitchen cooking area includes the lush vegetation around the pool and the outdoor dining area.
The wall behind the pool has been repaired and increased in height for added security and privacy. The plumbing and electrical is in place for a water feature (fountain of some sort) to be figured out later.
The wall is really straight. The wide angle view makes the bend in it.
The former rooftop laundry area has been converted to a new bedroom and bathroom for the second floor apartment. The exposed brick is the new constriction. Here the workers are installing wood forms for the concrete roof over the apartment bedroom. This is what it looked like at the beginning of the week we were there.
José and Adolfo measure for the concrete forms of the bedroom roof.
Piles of sand and gravel and the modular wood concrete forms in the driveway.
The round concrete thing is the old tinaco (water tank) that was removed from the roof. There is one newer plastic tinaco in place and a second plastic one will be added in the future.
The concrete forms were reused over and over. They use modules about a meter square, and very heavy. All the form materials were handed up from the driveway to the lower roof and then again up to the third level. This is hard work and it was very hot and humid.
Unlike the US where wood used for forms is thrown away, these forms are recycled again and again. Also the use of modular forms instead of raw lumber saves a lot of time on the jobsite.
Placing the first of many of the modular forms for the roof deck.
The finished concrete forms in the new bedroom from the inside.
The new construction and roof deck forms in place.
Forms for the concrete palapa or shade porch are almost finished.
The structure of the building is steel reinforced concrete columns and beams. The beams are formed on top of the brick walls by placing rebar in the slots in the wood formed above the brick. The columns and beams are tied together by sticking the horizontal rebar (not yet placed in these photos with the vertical rebar poking up out of the top of the column. In the case of the photos on the right there is no brick wall below so the beam is formed in the wood slot below the roof deck.
José trimming wood to fill gaps around the edges of the modular forms. The macheté is the tool of choice.
This is what the finished roof deck forms looked like from the corner near the street looking back toward the existing roof with the black tinaco. The short walls around the existing roof will be removed and a waist-high wall built around the perimeter of the deck.
The view from the new roof deck. The palm trees on the right are in the park around the basketball court.
The view from the rear of the roof deck isn't bad. It's not a long walk to go swimming after a hot day of work.
One feature we incorporated is an airshaft that vents from the ceiling of the bathroom in the first floor bedroom and runs through the second floor and opens onto the third level roof deck. Here José and Adolfo inspect the upper opening. Looking down the shaft that will be painted bright white to reflect light down to the first floor.
The crew takes advantage of the shade of the palapa forms and takes a siesta at lunch time. It was really hot and humid during this week and these guys worked hard out in the sun from about 8 in the morning until 6:30 in the evening.
The concrete forms are all in place to pour the roof of the bedroom, bathroom and the new palapa. All this went up in one week. Unfortunately we had to return to San Diego before the concrete was in place.
The construction crew changes out of their work clothes into their spiffy street clothes before leaving in the evening. They would be right in style anywhere.
One of the workers rode a motor scooter to work while the other pedaled his bike.
The last task before heading to the airport on this particular trip was to take down the flag. The flag pole was tied to the wall so I borrowed a macheté from the workers and cut the strings.
We now have a set of stairs on the front of the house that will allow tenants of the second floor apartment access without going through the house.
Three views of the front of the new addition and palapa on the second level.
What was the bedroom is now the living room with a new main entrance on the side toward the street. The new front stairs provide access to the new front door.
The new stairs lead to the lower part of the roof. A second set of steps get you up to the palapa level and the new front entrance.
Two very slightly different views of the new apartment bedroom. The door in the middle leads to the private bathroom. The door on the right opens onto the patio overlooking the pool. The two windows on the left look out onto the covered front patio.
On the third level deck there is now a wide expanse of outdoor living space. The table is built around the top of the air shaft that does down to the bathroom off the middle bedroom on the first floor. This provides light and air circulation without spending electricity.
The new addition from the pool area.
Two views from the third level deck. On the left out over the ocean and on the right the backyard with the pool and patio.
Here are the photos when the roof deck concrete was placed (you don't pour concrete, you place it according to my brother who has a PhD in concrete structures) and then a storm rolled through. Mazatlán received over an inch of rain in one day and the puddles are evidence, but look at that blue sky!
Even with all the rain they crew is already working on the perimeter walls and have stucco on the brick walls. Keeping the concrete damp helps it cure better.