GAS AND ELECTRIC LINES AT DAWN'S...DONE!

PANORAMIC VIEW OF CASA AZUL. THE COLUMNS AND WALL REINFORCEMENTS ARE ALMOST DONE. I NEEDED TO TEAR DOWN A LITTLE PIECE OF THE RIGHT WALL FOR THE SAME REASON THAN THE OTHERS: IT IS BUILD ON SOFT SOIL (CHECK NEXT PICTURE). IN THE LEFT SIDE IS THE GAS LINE ALREADY CHANGED.

THIS IS THE PLACE THE WALL WAS LOCATED. THE GUYS DUG TO INSERT A CONCRETE REINFORCEMENTS, AND THEY FOUND THE STONE WALL LOOKED LIKE AN OLD COOKIE.

WELL, THE GAS AND ELECTRIC STUFF WITH DAWN IS DONE, THE ONLY THING REMAINING IS HER RANGE'S EXHAUST, BUT SHOULD BE EASY TO PUT A PVC ELBOW AND TAKE IT TO THE TOP.

REFINING THE FOOTINGS

HERE I MARKED THE PASSINGS FOR THE FACILITIES IN THE FOOTING'S CROWN. THE YARD IS IRREGULAR, SOMETIMES WE FOUND THE BASEMENT ALMOST IN THE SURFACE, SOMETIMES WE NEEDED TO DIG AT LEAST 2 METERS, THE TASK IS TO FIND HARD ROCK TO BUILD THE CIMIENTOS.

WELL, WE TOOK BACK THOSE ODD FIGURES TO THE BASEMENT, I ADDED A NOTE IF SOMEONE FIND THEM IN 500 YEARS.

HERE I MARKED THE ELECTRIC OUTLETS AND THE DRAWING OF THE NITCH. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT.

THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT REASON TO MAKE THE NEW WALLS IN THE FIRST FLOOR: THIS IS THE FOOTING OF THE NEW WALL OF THE KITCHEN (NORTH SIDE). IF YOU LOOK AT THE CORNER YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THE OLD STONE WALL WAS SUPPORTED BY...SAND! THERE'S NOT A STONE FOOTING FOR IT, SO IT'S BETTER TO MAKE A NEWER WALL TO HOLD TWO STORIES ABOVE IT.

DEMOLITIONS ARE DONE

WE ARE EXCAVATING THE FOOTINGS AND I FOUND THE WELL, IT IS RIGHT IN THE CROSSING OF TWO OF OUR WALLS, BUT WE CAN PASS THE WALL OVER IT MAKING A CONCRETE BEAM.

HERE JOSÉ IS CHECKING THE DEEP OF THE WELL, IT IS ABOUT 8 MTS. TO THE WATER, AND NOW THE WATER IS ABOUT A METER DEEP OR SO. WE THINK IT IS REUSABLE FOR THE AIR CONDITIONED DRAINAGE, THE DOOR REJILLAS, FOR DISCHARGING THE POOL AND TO TAKE WATER FOR THE GARDEN. THE WATER IT IS NOT CONTAMINED.

THERE WERE SOME OLD "CAÑOS" OR BLACK WATER FACILITIES, IN DESUSE. THE GUYS DUG PRETTY DEEP, TO FIND "LAJA" OR STONE BASEMENT. IN SOME CASES WE FOUND STRONG LAJAS NOT VERY DEEP, AND IN SOME CASES WE NEEDED TO DUG AT LEAST 2 MTS.
A FEW NOTES FROM THE LOGBOOK. WE'LL MAKE SOME NEW WALLS BESIDE THE NEIGHBOR THAT WE DIDN'T CONSIDER AT THE BEGINNING. I'LL LET YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WILL BE THAT (JUST IN THE FIRST FLOOR). YOUR NEIGHBOR LET ME MAKE THE GAS LINE CHANGES NEXT THURSDAY, SO I MUST KNOW IF I CAN DO THEM OR IF CRISTINA'S GUYS WILL. THE SAME CASE WITH THE ELECTRIC CHANGES, SHE ALLOW US TO MAKE THEM ON FEBRUARY THE 27 & 28TH.

BY THE WAY, THE GUYS FOUND BURIED INTO A WALL THESE STRANGE GLASS FIGURES, THEY SEEM LIKE DEVILS OR SOMETHING ALIKE! I'M NOT SURE, BUT MAYBE THEY WERE BURIED TO "PROTECT" THE HOUSE SOMEHOW, WHAT DO THINK ABOUT IT?

LEVELS & DEMOLITIONS

THE DEMOLITIONS STARTED TODAY, THE GUYS TEARED DOWN THE BACK WALLS AND HALF OF THE ROOFS OF THE 2ND. ROW

TO TEAR DOWN THE OLD CONCRETE BEAMS THESE SHOULD BE STICKED UP WITH WOOD TO MAKE THE THING SAFER. I'LL PUT SOME WOOD PLANKS ON THEM TO WALK AND SMASH THE BEAMS BETTER.

THE GUYS LOOK FUN WITH THEIR YELLOW HELMETS, LIKE "BOB THE BUILDER", BUT I DON'T CARE, I TOLD THEM THEY MUST WEAR THEM!

JOSE: I MUST ASK YOU A VERY IMPORTANT THING: HOW MANY STEPS WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO DOWN FROM THE LOWER TERRACE TO THE GARDEN? 1? 2? BECAUSE THE FLOOR LEVELS DOESN'T SEEM TO BE VERY GOOD FOR US. THE GUYS RAN AWAY A LEVEL LINE FROM THE STREET AND IT RESULTS THAT THE CONCRETE GARDEN FLOOR IS...17 CM. UP THE SALA LEVEL! IT'S A LOT, AND IF WE THOUGHT TO RAISE A STEP FROM THE TERRACE THAT MEANS WE'LL NEED TO "RE-STUFF" THE SALA WITH ALMOST 34 CM. THICK. (SEE NEXT PICTURE)
NUMBER 1 INDICATES THE LEVEL OF THE GARDEN (IF WE DIG A LITLLE BIT BACK THERE, WE CAN EARN SOME CM. THOUGHT). NUMBER 2 SHOWS THE HIGHT OF 1 STEP AND NUMBER 3 SHOWS A SECOND STEP.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT DO WE CAN DO WITH THIS, MAYBE A SINGLE GOOD STEP COULD BE ENOUGH.

IDEA FOR THE SWIMMING POOL

HERE IS ANOTHER ONE, INSPIRED ON THE ROMAN FOUNTAIN WE MET
I LIKED IT MORE, IT HAS A MORE COLONIAL FEELING, IF IT LIKES YOU, I'LL WORK ON THIS IDEA

GOOD NEWS: HERE IS THE AYUNTAMIENTO LICENSE

WELL, VERY ON TIME WE GOT THE AYUNTAMIENTO PERMIT, NOW WE WILL UPDATE THE OBRA AT THE SEGURO SOCIAL SO THE GUYS ARE SECURED.

I'LL DROP YOUR ORIGINAL COPIES OF THIS AND THE PERMIT PLAN WITH CRISTINA. HER MOM CHANGED THE LOCK THIS MORNING.

WE'LL START TOMORROW, CAN'T WAIT FOR BEGIN!

Start of the building

Dear José & John:

Hope this logbook, along with the written one kept in the house, should be helpful for our communication in the process of restoration.

Tomorrow: Monday, February the 11th, 2008, starting of building process.
I was there yesterday organizing some stuff and suddenly a guy opened the door and said: "I'm going to the bathroom", and I asked him where does he comes from, he said he's a Dn. Jorge's people, so I inmediatly ask Cristina for the lock changing. She promised it'll be ready on Monday morning.

I introduced myself to the neighbors, ADM owner said she'll provide me a shedule of her guests, so we don't bother them with the noise of the demolitions, in fact she'll only be full house until March or so, and their guests usually run away for touring, so we coincide they'll be no problem with that.

I bought some tool and materials to start. My guys will come on tuesday morning.

Feel free to write down here all your comments

Regards