Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Everything Will Be Here....After Easter

I've spent the last couple of days clearing up some loose ends and moving the building process forward. I finalized the drawings with Dan, the architect, so he can get them to Belize City for comments and corrections. Hopefully, there will only be a few of both, but I'm not overly optimistic.

George Greenwood , of Taribo Industries, found some wonderful black dirt and I was able to get 30 cubic yards of the stuff. Just in time for us to plant the lawn on the upper portion of the retaining wall. We installed the sprinkler system last week, so that once the dirt get put down, we will need some "carpet Grass" plugs to start the lawn. Sprinkler systems are almost non-existent in Belize, so you better have all the parts, cause there ain't no more.








No going down to the local Home Depot to pick up a few more sprinkler heads, or maybe some cut-offs. Not here. I told the job foreman of my plans for the sprinkler system and here just got this glazed over look. He had no idea of what I was talking about. Add to that the timers and electronic valves and you really get a confused look. Even my contractor had to look twice at the electronic sprinkler valves. Not much use for them in England, where he was from.

Then it was on to the water supply for the sprinklers. We are using the local water supply only for the lawns, but the pressure is so low, that you need to boost the water pressure using a shallow well pressure pump. So we bought a 160 gallon RotoPlas for the water storage system, and it comes with a float valve to shut the water off when it's full.






Another plus is that the RotoPlas will have it's own room, including the pressure pump, and the ceiling above it will now form a table for a B-B-Que and a sink. Since we'll have pressurized water at the pool equipment room, we're going to add a sink and an outside shower. I'm even going to have room for a small refrigerator. I'd hate to have to go to the refrigerator in the kitchen, every time I needed a beer. Especially when the standard Belikin is just over 9 oz, and they go fast on a hot day.

Today, I went out to Orange Walk to look at some tile for the bathrooms. The first place we went to had not only the tiles, and in the quantities we needed, it also had the border tiles. The tiling is now complete for the entire home. The main tiling for the living room, kitchen and both bedrooms, will arrive from Mexico sometime next week. Also arriving next week will be the container that has all of our windows, counters, sinks and more. And to top it all off, the stucco is in and it will be applied on Saturday. And just when you think it can't get any better, I went over to see our cabinet maker, Ravey Gongora, to finalize the design for the front door and he was able to show me the interior doors, almost finished. They are just what I wanted, all in hard wood. No plywood here.





These are other jobs Ravey is working on.





With everything coming in next week after Easter, I think I'm going to have to postpone my return trip, just so I can see everything go in.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

With all due respect...a sprinkler system?...this is why one should live in BZ for a while before doing anything...you'll see.

Perry and Mischelle said...

Hey John,
After looking at our golf course and some of our neighbors lawns, the small investment for year round, soft green grass and the availablity of a large, cheap water supply, why not? It makes for a good bocce ball court. It also allowed me to have an outisde shower and a sink for the outdoor kitchen. I guess the same could be said for building a pool next to the ocean. We'll see.

oldretiredguy said...

Perry,

Lush green lawn all year makes sense to me, but what really makes sense is the outdoor fridge. Just think of all of the steps and energy saved.

Ken

Alan said...

Hi Perry,

I put in an 8 zone sprinkler system in 2001 to water the plants while I was not here. Come and see me and I will explain all the pitfalls of using "Wildman" water in a sprinkler system!!

Alan