Finally, We Are Painting!

It finally stopped raining and the painting began this week, after a slow start.  Jose and Marvin started on the soffits and are painting the trim and columns that I cannot reach.

 I'm pretty sure OSHA wouldn't approve of this maneuver, either.  That is Jose hanging over the edge of the house painting the soffits.  Marvin is sitting on the roof ridge hanging onto the rope Jose has around his waist..  By about 8:30 we had to flatten a box for him to lay on because the lamina was so hot.



Macho Man and I started on the west side of the house because it is shady and cool in the morning, especially when there is a breeze and there is a breeze most of the time.  The paint is a little darker than we thought we had chosen. ..  It is still a very Caribbean color and I like it.  MM is a little hesitant because it is PINK.  He asked Jose how he liked the colors and the answer was, "Casi me gusto."  (I almost like it).  Very diplomatic, don't you think?

We were able to finish the front of the house and both sides Monday.  You can see where Marvin was cutting in the darker color along the top of the posts.  It, too, is darker than what I expected, but we'll keep it.  These are colors we see in our sunsets almost every evening.

We got this far Wednesday before we ran out of paint.  We can't go any further until we can go to Tocoa and pick up more of this lighter color.  Macho Man says we may need more of the dark coral.

This is the front.  It is easy to see the contrast between the two paint colors up top.  We will paint the bottom arches when we get the rest of the paint.  That will happen next week.

Wednesday I painted the powder room.  Jose really didn't like that color.  No, I'm not adding a picture of the powder room.  You can see it when I finish it.

This is our bedroom.  The boys got to the house early and decided not only to cut in the paint, but to paint halfway down the walls.  That made it easy for me to finish this room today.  I can't believe I didn't picture of the finished product.

My next job is the great room.  I have to pick out the color this weekend so we can get started next week.

The boys' next job is to take this wire and staple it all around the house here.

The screen goes from the top of the wall to the bottom of the lamina all the way around the house.  This is to keep the critters out of the attic space whether they have two, four, six, or eight legs, or slither around on their stomachs.  The power stapler gave out today, so the boys will have to use the hand stapler.

 I don't know how they will staple the wire here, because this is directly over this

But Macho Man says they will use this, with Jose on the ladder and Marvin holding it steady.

We are blessed

The Walls are Plastered, The Water Is In

             

The  walls of the second floor are plastered, inside and out, front and back.  All the columns are plastered.  Macho Man says they are ready for paint, so in the next week or so I plan to be over there with my equipment and the paint and get started. 

                                

If you look closely, you can see the blocks on the first floor have not been plastered.  They will be, but not right now.

                                  

                                            Here you can see how smooth this plaster is.

                                 

The plaster is put right up against the electrical boxes and the window frames.  Jose is so particular about his work that he makes sure that each outlet is perfect and there are few, if any, seams between the window frames and the plaster.

                                 

And here is how they get the plaster so smooth.  The plaster is thrown up against the wall to make it stick in all the little nooks and crannies, and then Jose takes this 1 x 4 with hand holds cut into it and scrapes the plaster over and over until it is perfectly level.  Then it allowed to dry and get ready for paint.

                                

This is the front door, looking into the living room.  The front and back double doors will be made of solid Rosita 2x6s. 

                                 

The window and door frames are all in upstairs and we are getting ready to make the windows.  Last week the glass was installed in the arched portion of the windows.  The windows will be doubles, in the old  Spanish Colonial  style.  The windows will be made from Rosita 2x4’s.  The window niches are 6” deep, but they will be pretty much filled up with windows, screens and wrought iron security bars.

                                  

             This is very close to what the Rosita will look like with a coat of matte varnish.

                     

                                                                                

We have electricity, at least on the portico and in the living room.  We are trying to pick out the wood for the ceiling.  The biggest problem with that is we both like the look of bare wood, but in Honduras, if you don’t want to have the termites literally eat you out of house and home you have to use treated wood.   The treated wood is a sickly green color, which would have to be painted over.  It is also treated with arsenic, which I don’t particularly want to be breathing 24/7.  I wish we could afford to buy Rosita for the ceiling, but it is very expensive.

                                     

We have water in the kitchen and the bathrooms.  So why haven’t we moved in yet?  Because we haven’t installed the plumbing fixtures.  That will probably happen in the next week or so.  By mid-August, si Dios quiere, we will move in and continue working. 

                                  

I'm told this is the faucet for the hose I will be using to water my garden.  Yeah, right.  I have trouble walking on a flat floor.  Guess who won't be hooking up the hose. 

                                  

This is Pancho,  our watchman.  Pancho works 7 nights a week for us, and during the day he comes by if he sees anyone or anything strange on the property.  Sometimes he drops by and helps out with the work.  We have learned to ask Pancho his opinion on many things.   Pancho is about 70 years old, but anyone would be an idiot to mess with him.  He has a really nasty looking sawed off shotgun and a machete, and he knows how to use both.  Yet he is the gentlest teddy bear you could ever want to meet.  Chico likes Pancho, which says something.

We are blessed with the way our house is coming along, and with the friends who are making it possible.  Thank you Jose, Marvin, and Pancho.  Thank you, Ramirez Family.  And the biggest thanks of all goes to my beloved Macho Man, for building my dream house, and doing it so well.

.