We Have a Roof!!!!!

We have a roof!! It is such a great feeling.  To celebrate, we had the first, but not the last, barbecue on the balcony.  What a great day Sunday was!!

Macho Man, Pablo, Marvin, Jose, and two others actually started this project on Saturday, but it rained really hard and they didn't get much done.  Sunday morning we woke up to a glorious, bright, sunshiny day and back to work they went.  Here is what it looked like Saturday morning. 





The boards laying across the rafters are what the men are using for scaffolding.  Pablo, my brother-in- law, is the one in the Honduran Safety harness.  It consists of one heavy duty extension cord wrapped around the waist of one person, with another person holding on to the other end.  It works.  Pablo fell and would have hit the ground from about 25' feet up if he hadn't had it on.  OSHA would have shut this down a long time ago, if they had anything to say about it.

Sunday morning was so beautiful that the crew was working in overdrive.

 After the guys were a little over half way through, we fired up the grill and my sister-in-law Chena cooked us a stupendous barbecue.  We had chicken, beef, beans, tortillas, chips, and Pepsi.  My niece, Jeisy and my grand niece Nicole, were there to celebrate with us.

Chena is cooking tortillas on the grill, and heating up the beans   while Jeisy plays with Nicole.  If anyone went away hungry, it was their own fault

Then it was back to work.  The guys got all the lamina  up on the trusses and screwed down in a couple places.  MM, Jose and Marvelous Marvin have been up on the roof yesterday and today putting in more screws. They should  be finished by tomorrow.

We never could have done this job without all the help from MM's family and friends.  It almost felt like an old fashioned  barn raising.  They sure did eat a lot over three days, but it was worth it.  :>D

We are blessed



The Trusses Are Up, the Roof is Next

The trusses, ceiling joists, etc. are up!!!  Hooray!! Hurrah!!!

These are the ceiling joists and trusses before



These are  the ceiling joists and trusses after 









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MM calls this wood San Juan Chin.  It is a very hard, dense wood that termites do not attack.  That is very important here in the tropics.  Termites can destroy a property in a very short time-space.  Once this wood dries you cannot nail it without drilling a hole first.



This is the roof system from the ground

If you are wondering why so many pictures of the trusses, it is because I am so very, very proud of my little Honduran Honey  Bun and Marvin and Jose. These are not prefab, machine-made structural components.   Macho Man is a Master Carpenter, but all his adult experience has been on cruise ships and yachts, not houses.  Marvin and Jose are getting a lot of OJT.  The three of them have constructed the roof support system with a carpenter's square, fishing line, hammers and nails, and a table saw.  Yet, look how precise it is all  put together, how perfectly aligned it is.  It is truly magnificent.  It is a work of art. 



This is my new roof, before.  The after pictures will come next week.  My BIL is going to try to come next week and bring some helpers.  If they come it will certainly speed things up

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These are my door and window frames, and even my doors.  Part of this may even become part of the ceiling.  The wood is Rosita.  It  has a beautiful grain.  It is another dense,  heavy hardwood.  Once you get a nail into it, you can't take it back out.  It is also too hard for termites to chew. 

This house is truly a house built out of love.  To me, not even the Taj Mahal is more beautiful.  The best part is that when it is finished, the house is paid for.  It cannot be foreclosed on.  It cannot be repossessed.  It is ours.  Thank you, Macho Man.

We are blessed.