Category Archives: Challenges

Cabin Walls and Pozo

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We are at the phase of the cabin project where we can really see the shape that the house is taking. This week we began framing the walls and digging the “pozo.” Pozo means well, but in this case, it is the word they use for septic tank. This hole has to be at least 6 feet in the ground, 6 feet wide and 6 feet in length. Below about 2 feet, it is rock hard soil. And they are digging by hand. In the full sun. Yah. There are some worn out guys by the end of the day.

Digging the septic hole
Britton and the guys take turns digging and removing the dirt for the septic

Before we even started these tasks, Britton installed all the hurricane clips beneath the house as well as brought over and powerwashed nearly all of the 2x4s. Between him and me, I think we probably washed about 200 pieces of wood, and some of them really needed it.

Powewashing boards in the quebrada
Britton pauses during powerwashing (sorry it’s a little blurry)

This is such a major project it quickly becomes exhausting. The guys often work straight through in the hot, blazing sun. Since we had to clear the area before we could build, it is just roasting without shade. The good thing is that we think it is going to be an excellent candidate for solar power.

Framing
Framing the first wall

Every single thing that you see in these pictures was brought over by hand through the jungle up and down slick slopes under and over trees and vines. I don’t think anyone would deny that we really are a team of go-getters with can-do attitudes (but they may say we are a little crazy too  🙂 )!

Walls up
Two walls up

We are still deciding on a few things like siding (there is really only one choice at any ferreteria: T-111 siding -but we would prefer something else, windows -Miami shutters (Air Masters) must make up 90% of the market here so again not much choice in the matter unfortunately, and we can’t find any rolls of insulation anywhere. Not that we really need insulation for temperature reasons (there will be no heating or air conditioning inside) but we would like it in order to fill the cavities so that bees or bats won’t want to once again take up residence inside. These are fairly minor issues, they just make our days “off” seem like endless scavenger hunts with promising leads, but all trails point to the same limited choices (anyone with any suggestions?). Cést la vie in Island Construction.

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Cabin Subflooring

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This week the work on the cabin started with lifting the huge girders into place. With just three guys, it was quite the challenge filled with lots of exertion and grunting, but they did it!

Girders
Sliding a girder into place

When all three were up, they began bringing over the 2x8s and installing them. At this point we could really see the footprint that the house will take.

Floor boards
Floor joists installed

Boards are placed
Looks out and in toward the jungle

Side profile
Side profile

All of the wood so far has come from the deconstructed wooden house, so it has been relatively inexpensive. Britton and I were unsure if we should use the underlayment panels so we checked them all out and found that a large majority were in great shape as far as integrity of the wood, but pretty dirty. We sorted out the best pieces and then I powerwashed and painted/sealed them with Kilz.

Panels
Sorting out the old underfloor panels (or building a dance floor?)

Kilz the panels
Painting/sealing them after powerwashing

We did have to buy a couple of panels but just doing this cleaning and recycling of most probably saved $1000 as compared to new.

And the very next day, they began installing them!

Cabin through the trees
Subflooring being installed

We have had a few challenges that we’ve had to work through during this process, but overall it has been remarkably smooth. It has been a change in pace, especially for Britton, to work every day at 7am again, but it seems a little different when it is for a project of our choosing. It is also a little different to be a manager of this project and work with a crew. We must constantly be aware of people’s (including our own) strengths and weaknesses, desires and dreads. Overall, we are learning, growing and of course building a little more every day throughout this project.

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Broody Birds

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Spring is in the air, even here in the tropics. And what does spring mean? Renewal! New life! Babies!

Little nest
We saw this little wild bird nest. The mama bird flies off every time we come near, so we try not to disturb her too much

We have 4 out of 6 female turkeys out in the jungle, we presume, sitting on nests. At first we thought something had happened to them, but then we would see them occasionally come out of the forest and get a bite to eat and evacuate their bowels in a HUGE way (yes, they hold it for hours and hours!). They preen their feathers and roll around in a dirt bath and then head back to the nest. We have tried to watch where they go so that we can check on them and the eggs, but they are smart. They wait until we are not watching and then just disappear back where they came.

Garden tropics
One minute they are there, the next they disappear back into the jungle

Then just a little over a week ago we noticed one of the chickens wouldn’t get out of one of the nesting boxes in the chicken coop. I didn’t really think anything of it because it was a Leghorn and they are known as the least broody type of bird. But lo and behold, she stayed put! And she stands her ground when other chickens try to get her to leave the box. This is actually the second time we’ve had a Leghorn go broody, though in Greeley she was sitting on unfertilized eggs.

Broody leghorn
The mother Leghorn on her nest

Going broody is a huge commitment for the birds. They must sit and incubate the eggs for 23 1/2 hours a day rain or shine (and we’ve had a lot of rain lately!) with just a few minutes of break to get a bite to eat, drink and do their business. They also must rotate the eggs and remove any broken or rotten ones from the bunch. It is pretty incredible this innate knowledge and the willingness of the mother to do this for the future generation. Upon discussing broody birds, a mother of a couple of children asked why would any bird sign up for that job? I just smiled and said, “Why would any human?” For some, the sacrifice is more than worth it. It is how nature works, perpetually giving for the next generation as their mother (and father) did for them.

The turkey eggs take 28 days to incubate before they will start pipping (breaking out of the shells) and chickens only take 21. We are anticipating a bunch of little baby birds in approximately one week or so. We are still not sure how hands-on we will be in the raising of this 2nd generation since we know how vulnerable the babies are to hawks and rats. I am curious to see how well the mothers and fathers do in protecting them. The roosters and turkey toms will get to show their fatherhood skills once these little peeps pop out. To me, it is so fun and interesting to be both an observer and a participant in the life stories of these creatures.

Royal Palm Poult

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Column Construction: Rebar, Footers and Concrete

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The guys are making some great progress on the cabin foundation. The concrete stuff is all new to us, so it has been quite the learning experience. Since we can’t actually drive to the cabin site, we opened up the fence in order to be able to drive the truck halfway there. This saved a lot of time, labor and heavy breathing going up and down and up and down with just buckets and a wheelbarrow. Though there was still some of that too.

Loading the rebar
Driving through the formerly fenced area

They worked a few days on the rebar for the columns, then they loaded them onto the truck as far as they could go and then carried them to the site.

Cutting rebar Stair work benchBending and cutting rebar for the column skeletons

Then they set and measured them to make sure everything was level again.

Rebar columns
Rebar columns

Truck down below
Unloading the truck and taking the sand two buckets at a time

Truck loaded up
Good thing we have a truck! It was super filled with sand, boards, and concrete

Finally, they had unloaded everything to the flattest part of the quebrada under the canopy and by a pretty mango tree. Here they built a mixing platform and began to hand mix the concrete. Luckily the three hoses reached because we had hooked up water to the turkey coop!

Mixing concrete
Mixing in the shade


Sounds like the start of a good joke: Four guys and four turkeys make concrete in the jungle…

And then they were able to load up the buckets once again and haul them up the hill to the site where they dumped them into the holes to make the footers.

Footers
Zapatones/Footers

We had a huge rainstorm that caused a bit of a delay, but they were able to finish all the footers in one day. Next in line will be the column molds and repeating the hauling and mixing process for them as well.

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