Happy Monday! Happy indeed, as the works are nearing to an end. Or who knows, while BF was away, we nearly lost a whole week of work.
They were building a small extension to the main house to serve as storage, and had clear instructions on how things should go. Pour concrete on the floor, build three walls (the fourth is against the house), get a roof between the walls. They managed to pour so much concrete that my hand washing sink is now so low I break my back when I wash clothes, hang what should be a (solid) roof structure from the main house’s roof, weakening the whole structure, and other little mistakes that made us furious when we saw them. Since BF was away I didn’t know exactly what he ordered and lacked the words to explain how things should be, but when they asked for the remainder of payment last Friday, I told them it was not finished, which was true, and our deal was no pay until completion. Good thing because they had to take the whole roof down and do it again when BF came back.
That is the future storage room with the washing area barely higher than my blue bucket. We don’t know why the contractor poured so much concrete, just that it was expensive and wasteful, and resulted in impracticalities.
This storage area is hidden from our living area by this traditional wall of wood and little stones. Watching the handyman putting stones one by one to fill the walls was about as painful as when he was watching paint dry last week, I think he talked to every one of them and assured them they would live a happy little stone life ever after.
On the roof terrace, the new kitchen top is ready, with a sink and a smoke room (those wooden doors at the end) so we can lit fire and smoke some meat. The fire also warms the shower downstairs to do a sauna.
There were many other mistakes, the next big one was a guy destroying the floor because the door he had made was too big for the door frame. I told him to adjust the door to the house and not the other way around but he thought 6am was the perfect time to take initiative, and by the time I got there around 630am the damage was mostly done. We will have to varnish the whole floor over again, something we do because it requires attention to detail.
One more source of concern is the construction materials seem to go as fast now that we are just finishing off the house as they did when we were in full construction swing. Pretty sure one or all the workers occasionally go back home with bags of concrete and other stuff. A bag of concrete is worth one day of their salary, and can always be used on other construction sites. The workers on a nearby house came over to offer us some stones that they would steal from the house owner! We thought we wouldn’t have to go through this since we are on site, but I am pretty sure it is happening anyway. And for a bag of concrete I won’t spend two months guarding the door, and doing deep searches every time someone goes out. I simply hate hypocrisy and their big smiles to my face when they come in the morning.
Moving on, to good news. We have moved from the house to the new room!
There was a lot of stuff to move,
then it was tidy… for a little while, still with the undersized mattress.
The view (it is very hard to take a picture that does it justice) makes me want to stay in bed all day
The undersized mattress received a frame to fit it over the concrete bed, we used the bed it came with (since apparently you can’t buy just a mattress) and cut to L shapes to fit around the mattress. That is the blue stuff around the mattress.
At the foot we made a nice wooden coffer to store bed sheets and towels.
It is made with a lovely local wood, and we put a bed header too so we don’t bang our heads against the stones.
The room is deliciously cool, no need for AC so far, the stones and earth around the walls do a great job at keeping it fresh during the day.
The walk in closet is now full of stuff too!
Before
after
Since we aren’t living in the house anymore, we bathed the thatched roof in poison to get rid of all roaches and scorpions, painted our old room fresh for our Easter guests, re-arranged the beds, deep cleaned the kitchen… it all looks very nice 
.
Room 1
Room 2
We have also taken the boat on a few rides, after having motor problems since the boat was too high for the helices of the motor to reach the water. We found a guy who had a bigger motor, older but it does the job, and traded it with him. BF brought some metal frames to fit a roof on the boat so we even have shade… and a sail! The last time we went out we lowered the roof’s cloth toward the prow of the boat, the wind came in and sailed us a couple of miles along the shore! It was lovely without the motor noise. And BF bought a fishing cane and tried his luck, but no luck. He has since been on a couple of trips with the workers at sunset but hasn’t caught a thing! The workers got a couple of fish, but they are bottom feeders so we avoid eating those kinds.
If I lived that close to the water and had a boat there would be no work getting done as I would be fishing daily.
fishing hours are early morning and late at night, the rest of the time the fish is hiding below rocks, it is too hot!
This is insanely awesome. That’s all I can say.
thanks!
I have to agree with Glen, if we lived that close to water (even without a boat) we’d get absolutely nothing done at all. Actually, I think my wife and kids would get less done than me. 🙂 That said, it looks as if things are coming along well even if some like to watch the paint dry. 😉
it is hard to get much done but the pace is slower so we take it easy..
I LOVE your house. I don’t think I’ve said it enough yet 🙂 I will have to visit you someday haha
thanks! Guatemala is a popular honeymoon destination 🙂
The wood storage unit at the end of the bed is a perfect solution to the problem. Well done! Shame about the possibly (most likely) dishonest workers. Of course you will get there pretty much anywhere in the world. Oh well, at least you can wake up everyone more and look out over the water and lets your stresses just melt away!
If you had an underwater camera you may have spotted taking a dive into the water, then kicking and screaming under water, it does relieve the frustration!
I love your house updates! It makes me want to build my own house too!
I am sorry to hear about troubles with the workers though! But I had to laugh when you mentioned that worker who put the stones together. I`m sure they`ll live a long and prosperous life as a wall! :-p
last time my BF asked him if he was talking to the grass when sowing it, the guy said no, we still have doubts…
Looking good, Pauline! I want to come visit!!!
thanks Holly! you can start planning your next winter getaway 🙂
That’s the secret to long lasting construction! You have to talk to it while the paint is drying. Your Handyman has it all figure out.
Exactly. And there I was thinking the guy was retarded.
The house is looking amazing Pauline!
I like what you did with the wood slab at the end of the bed. It fills it in nicely! Sorry to hear about the workers and the problems they caused. Some of them sound really sketchy!
thanks! and now we can sit at the end of the bed to put on shoes too. And look like a fancy hotel haha.
I would not mind having my own smoke room. That is really awesome. Now you just need a refrigerator where you can age meat.
age meat! will have to look into that. We have built a smoke oven at the ranch and always eaten the meat quite quickly, I would love to be able to keep it for months at a time.
Your picture of your bedroom makes ME want to stay in bed all day too 😛
right? I am glad it’s not just me!
Great idea to make a chest at the foot of the bed with the extra space and extra bedframe. It looks really nice!
thanks! that wood is really beautiful.
Your house is really coming together, Pauline! I’m sure all these frustrations will soon be forgotten once your home is completed, although your story of the worker talking to each rock he placed made me laugh! 🙂 It’s sad that you have to be so vigilant, but I guess when I think of our remodeling projects -we had to a keep a close eye on everything too. We didn’t have to worry about them stealing concrete bags, but just making sure they were doing it the way we wanted.
it is so easy for workers because you have no idea how much of each thing you buy was used. Construction, renovation, whatever it is, you have to watch closely.
Looks amazing! Glad to hear you were able to withhold payment until things were corrected. Once again, your sink is so amazing! I hope you’ve had time to enjoy a lovely long morning in your gorgeous bed 🙂
mmm.. not yet! we need curtains, the sun bathes the room in the morning, making it hard to sleep past 7am. this weekend hopefully, no workers for four days, yay!
Pauline, please don’t stop these posts. I find them a great read. Especially your handyman assuring each stone that it will lead a happy little stone life, and watching the paint dry? You have me in stitches! Maybe he is a mystic and is empowering your house paint and stones with mystical powers?
I hope he is a shaman of some sorts and will at least leave good vibes around!
I get so envious when I see these posts Pauline. I just want to go sit at your house and drink a few beers and enjoy myself. Keep up the great update posts and crack down on those slackers that are working for you.
haha beer drinking session at the end of the week! we have a 4 days weekend with ZERO WORKERS… can’t wait.
Looks like fantastic work, Pauline! Good luck.
I love the bedroom. It seems like the oversized concrete frame ended up nicely. Its a shame that they put so much concrete in your laundry room though. Good luck with the rest of the projects and I hope that your Easter guests enjoy the view.
Thank you Justin, yes we may not have taken the quickest way to do things but it ended up fine thank goodness.
The bed looks great – and love the storage at the foot. We have one like that and we call it a “hope chest”. I think the idea used to be that girls would fill it with all of their hopes and dreams (knittings and dresses and handmade lace, etc) and then it would go with them when they got married off. Ours came down through Mr. PoP’s family. He doesn’t have any sisters =)
How romantic!
It does look very nice!!!
This level of commitment is rare. It makes me practice harder and write better the next day after reading such a post. It is valuable to have your words out there, Pauline.
Do they think you are fools or do they know you know they steal materials and sell them just like they try to sell you stolen goods. Amazing what people will do in order to make money to survive even if it means stealing from others and still keeping a straight face. Well it’s good to hear the work is almost done and you can go on with your life as usual.
I don’t think they know we know, they probably think we are stupid or that it is hard to guess. Even if you are a pro at a recipe if I tell you I put 4 cups of flour and I really put 3 and went home with 1 cup it is unlikely you would notice. They get a fair wage, each worker asked for a daily salary and we didn’t negotiate, they named their price, so I wouldn’t imagine they’d have to steal to survive, it is just too tempting.
Aren’t contractors fun? We were lucky when we moved into out condo that we didn’t have to do any work. Someday I’d like to build a home from the bottom up, but we’d have to move to the country first since we could never afford land here (well and wouldn’t want to). Side note, scorpions don’t sound fun, but everything looks great!
thanks KK! yes critters are the main drawback so far, but there are fewer and fewer. Building a house is great to do exactly what you want, you do have to know precisely though, or workers will improvise for you.
I can only imagine how your skin must crawl when they smile to your face and steal behind your back. That’s a tough pill to swallow. But on the other hand that view is INCREDIBLE!!!!
the view is priceless, and even with the disappearing items the construction is pretty cheap so I clentch my teeth… for now.
I can imagine the construction is cheap, but I’m sure you’re like me and you’d rather pay more without the stealing 😉