Costs and a New Project & Bernal

 

I’m happy to report that my construction expenses were unusually low this month. Here they are:

Tall ladder	1,271.
Cement	224.
Bricks	860.
Labour for 5 days	2,750.
Total	$6,610.
Or around $500. dollars

This is good as it will leave me enough to start a personal project, that of making my dining room table. I have already bought the materials, wood table legs, plywood for the table base, glue, screws, and ceramic tiles. Roberto, an architect who had to give up architecture because of an accident that cost him one eye and damaged the other, has a shop that sells handmade ceramic objects, tiles, wall sconces, lavabos, etc.

Yvonne knew the shop and we went there a few times. As I browsed the tiles, I fell in love with a French design. Very graciously Roberto lent me a few tiles with which I could “play” deciding on a design. It was fun and I finally was ready to order the tiles. It took quite some time getting them, they’re made by hand.

I took a photo of the tiles arranged in the design that I want for the table top; it is below. It is not complete; there will be an additional narrow border of plain half tiles and an outer border of wood trim. I still have to find the grout in a colour that will match the background of the tiles.

Here’s a portion of what the table top will look like:

The kitchen area of the combined dining/kitchen will include an island that will act as a demarcation between both sides of the large room. I’m thinking of using a similar ceramic border for the island. I find it enjoyable to design and absolutely exhilarating to see a project become reality.

Also, I had planned on having vaulted brick ceilings in all the rooms except the bathroom where the roof will have to be flat to support the water tank. The latter feeds water by gravity. But I changed my mind and will have the bedroom roof also flat and reinforced with re-bars. The roof will eventually serve as a terrace from which I can gaze at the scenery, which includes the Peña de Bernal, some 12 to 15 km from home.

For the curious, the Peña de Bernal is one of the few monoliths in the world that include Gibraltar. It was formed 100 million years ago and has probably shrunk with time. It is solid rock and at its base is a small pueblo San Sebastian Bernal. Here’s a link to it:

http://www.pbase.com/larpman/bernal

 

I may not have much to report until after New Year’s Day, so in the meantime let me wish to all a Merry Christmas and a most enjoyable Holiday Season.

LiveJournal Tags: Mexican ceramic tiles,Construction costs,Bernal