Tuesday 6 April 2010

Early this morning about 7:00 am more workers arrived at the property. This brought the total up to 11.

The carpenters continued to work on the roof structure over the kitchen. The covering for this structure, OSB, is supposed to arrive tomorrow. However, we did hear late this afternoon that the truck from Piura carrying it didn't work on Wednesdays...so we shall see. These carpenters have worked long days; they are the last ones working in the evening and have worked until it was too dark to see.

As the structure has gone up, another worker has followed varnishing the wood. The overhangs have been jointed into the trusses. The carpenters are the first ones to have scaffolding!

Other workers worked on finishing the interior walls and beams. These beams are in the master bathroom. The walls already have the preliminary layer of cement mud on them and are awaiting the final smooth finish.

The plumber laid the pipe for the master bath sinks and water pipes to the toilet and shower. He also laid the pipe for the plumbing in the bungalows. One thing we will probably change, however, is where the shower head is located. Right now, the plumber has it going across the stall, toward the open door, rather than along the length of the stall. There are so many things you just take for granted; how we think isn't necessarily how they think.

Other workers today continued to excavate the ground between the kitchen and the master suite. There will be two bathrooms located in this space; one coming off of the piano room and one accessible from outside for the pool. They have encountered huge rocks and have patiently battered away. They've had to use rock drills and sledge hammers to break up the rocks. Each and everyone has then been hauled off by wheelbarrow. It has taken them weeks to excavate this area; all by hand.

Also today, the cement finisher maestro threw the first coating of cement onto the walls of the kitchen. Literally. The first coat on the bricks is a layer of cement that is thrown on... a rough layer to hold the next layer which is smooth and eventually painted for the finished wall.

Other workers worked on forming the floor for the dining room/ceiling for the piano room. Rebar still needs to be tied and laid out for the beams and the floor, but a lot of progress has been made in getting this done.

So much... is it enough? The cabinet maker will actually arrive tomorrow, a day ahead of schedule. Even given an extra day, we don't see how they can have the floor poured and ready for the cabinets. However, on the bright side, it seems like they have made huge strides in the last week.

Koki should arrive on Thursday. We plan on sitting down with him and planning out the remainder of the project so we have a time line. Originally Koki told us the construction would take three months. We thought four months more realistic. Even so, we've reached the four month mark and aren't

halfway. We've asked for a contract from the beginning, but never got one. We're now at a point where we want to see the end. We want to be reassured this will not be a never-ending process.