We're Going to Build a Wall!

     I was minding my own business enjoying lunch at a bay side bar I frequent.  Out of the blue this U.S. guy shouts out to the Belizian, working behind the bar, "We're going to build a wall!".  At first I thought the guy had to be joking around proclaiming such a thing to a person of another nationality.  The look on my face must have betrayed my incredulous thoughts.  The guy then asked me if I was a democrat and I nodded a stunned affirmative.  He then said to me "You suck!".  I only looked at him sideways under a raised eyebrow while his wife issued a sound dressing down.  The validity of the Hillary's basket of deplorables remark gained much credence with me.  What has the Deplorable Cheato unleashed?
     I came to Belize with the idea that I would have the Mennonites build an inexpensive house for me.  These prefabricated houses are transported to the site by roads.  This limits the house width to 20 feet.  After playing around with this idea for a while, I decided the width limitation did not result in a comfortable living space and did not suit my shop space needs.  I revised my plans for a two story house with an additional 100 square feet of space on each floor.  The result looked very much like Belizian colonial houses that can be found everywhere.

     The elevated colonial houses typically have a porch and a small overhang hip roof supported by a porch perimeter beam.  Frilly column ornamentation is a common feature I don't intend to incorporate.  The house I'm having built will be of cement block construction on the ground floor and wood frame construction on the upper floor.  The termite proof ground floor will be shop and garage space, the upper living space will feature two bedrooms, a screened 12' deep front deck and an 8', full house width, rear deck.  A single hip roof will cover the living space and both decks.  The bedrooms will be without ceilings to promote cooling air flow from the prevailing bay breeze.  The roof will feature louvered dormers or gablets (to be determined) to further promote air flow.  But first ....... :

Foundation excavations must be made .....

Reinforcement bars must be assembled .....

Reinforcements are wired in place .....

Footings are poured .....

Blocks, later filled, extend the foundation to ground elevation .....

The backhoe returns to back fill the foundation and level the yard as floor pour preparations are made ......

The floor pour proceeds at a furious pace ......

Bing bang boom, instant floor .......

Blocks are staged for next day's wall construction .....

It is the Belizians who build a wall!  Wall constriction is halted at this elevation to install electrical outlets above the counter elevation, and to cast window sills.  The wall openings are for a door way and the garage door.  The area forward of the wall is under a future porch and will receive a concrete pad as well as covered stair flights to provide access to the upper living space.  The hard working crew will have a rare two days off in a row with Monday's Columbus day holiday.  This is the first week of construction and I expect to report great progress at the end of the next shortened work week!