Greetings Friends!

Hey, how's it going? Very well I hope! Here in the Riveria Maya, July is the beginning of the hot season. Right on schedule, June brought us some much needed rain, a lot more greenery, flowers, and mosquitos. This was a welcome change from the dry and dusty April and May.

All has been going well with the building project and I couldn't have asked for a better crew of builders. We're setting up a process and talking to prospective clients about replicating versions of this design locally.

In this episode we begin by building columns made of rebar (steel rods), then insert the vertical water pipes and electrical conduit, surround them with wooden forms, and pour in a protective layer of cement.

Next we set up metal support structures covered by a plywood form to begin building the second floor.

Next we build the beams with rebar and connect them to the columns below.

We fill the non-structural space between beams with foam blocks for insulation and weight reduction. Then we insert the horizontal water pipes and electrical conduit.

Now, reasonably sure everything is in the right place, we cover the second floor with cement.

Then we do it again . . . twenty more columns and prepare for the third floor.

Here is a view from the garden. So far, so good, and it is pretty cool to see the design move from paper into 3D reality.

In the next update I hope to be able to show you the fourth floor/rooftop terrace and some more garden activity, now that Marta, my gardener, has returned from a three month visit with family and friends in Chiapas. Last year my retirement money was in real estate investment trust funds. Now it is in something I think will be a little more solid and reliable. Time will tell, no?

Hasta la proxima,
Bill Barton