Juan has been working hard to finish his rock work before fishing season starts. It's looking real good but taking forever. they will not only be nice
and cool with a great view of the blowhole...but earthquake proof too! check out the nice kelp bed growing in front...great for kayak calico fishing.
note the little cooler close by...it's heating up here...gotta have a few cold tecates on hand. the laja rock in the foreground will be the patio
floor..under the arches.Curt63 - 7-9-2009 at 11:51 AM
Looks great so far....
Location, location, location!gnukid - 7-9-2009 at 11:54 AM
Really nice Shari, I think these will be terrific. Juan is doing a great job! Cool.
If I may ask, how does Juan reinforce the stone for tremblos or is that not needed?
The Laja flat rocks for the floor-where is that from and what is it?
What will the roof be made of-palapa?noproblemo2 - 7-9-2009 at 12:10 PM
Really looks very nice, Juans work is that of a perfectionist, rare these days, he's a keeper!!!woody with a view - 7-9-2009 at 12:18 PM
the odd shapes of each rock create a very strong "lock" onto each other. the only question is if you use enough mud to give it strength......
looks really nice!gnukid - 7-9-2009 at 12:43 PM
Do you simply choose rocks that are a good shape? Or are they also broken to fit better?
Stone is very nice material.woody with a view - 7-9-2009 at 12:53 PM
they generally need a flat face for the exterior side. place to fit...Cypress - 7-9-2009 at 01:42 PM
Reminds me of the casa on the north side of the Rio Mulege where I spent the winter of '07. Looks like some solid construction.
It's being built to last.fishbuck - 7-9-2009 at 04:05 PM
So are you taking reservations for this summers yellowtail/tuna season yet?shari - 7-9-2009 at 04:45 PM
juan insists on going and choosing the rock himself so he gets nice flat "faces" and different colours too...sometimes he smashes them with a maul too
to get a dark color or to fit. The talent comes in the patience of choosing the rocks and fitting them together well according to size and colour. You
can only do so much in a day and have to let it dry....they have rebar corners...and are bound with cement. Wait till you see what it looks like with
the grout done and varnished inside.
While our house cracked up alot during the earthquakes, all our rock walls were fine.
Palapa roof doesnt do well here in all the salt spray from the Blowhole..they mould...i think we will just put plywood, and corrugated tin which holds
up best in these parts. We want to get wood windows too so they look nice with the rock.
Laja rock is like flastone..a butterscotch colour flat rock from a mountain here...our floor in our patio is laja too. Juan plans arches over a patio
on both sides of the building for hangin outside in the shade.
Now...about fishing season. We just heard that a sailboat reported tons of tuna only 2 miles off the island...so much for him working every day on the
rock...he's stoked to get out there and see if there is tuna...i sure am craving sashimi.fishbuck - 7-9-2009 at 04:58 PM
Well if he doesn't get the roof on I understand. Guess I'll just have to stay in the beach house again.
Ya, it's rough but I can take it.rocmoc - 7-9-2009 at 07:04 PM
Looks great Shari. We are looking forward to seeing it this winter.
rocmoc n AZ/Mexico/WyomingBajagypsy - 7-10-2009 at 05:41 AM
shari, Juan is a master at building with rock, he has done tons since we have been there! Looks great.BajaBros - 7-25-2009 at 04:37 PM
shari,
How long do you guess two buildings of your size would take to construct?
6 months? A year? I love the quality of the work. It's gorgeous, my ideal.BajaWarrior - 7-25-2009 at 06:24 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by KAT54
I do not think it is earthquake proof.
In fact, I would not want to be near the walls in an earthquake.
Why don't you think it is not a solid structure?shari - 7-25-2009 at 06:29 PM
when we were rockin and rollin with 3 months of nasty quakes...up to 30-40 a day...our house and most cinder block houses all have cracks
everywhere...the corners are all cracked...but NONE of our rock walls had even a teeny crack which is exactly WHY we built this unit out of
rock...apart from the aesthetic beauty....we will sleep out there if the quakes come back. Everyone slept outside when it was shaking and it was
during winter and pretty chilly.BajaBruno - 7-26-2009 at 11:17 AM
The seismic resistance of most Mexican block houses I have seen built is appalling. Even if the posts and beams are properly reinforced, which is
rare, the block walls are almost never tied to the support structure with anything stronger than bailing wire. This is why the walls crack in small
tremors and often cave in during large ones.
Juan’s stone walls are almost surely stronger than the typical Mexican block walls, assuming brawny mortar and stone; and if the walls are tied
to the concrete floor, posts and beams, all the better. The World Housing Encyclopedia staff has done extensive research on masonry after earthquakes
and despite the poor record of unreinforced stone masonry, it is probably better than typical Third World block construction.
I would spend a few nights in Juan’s new house.Von - 7-26-2009 at 11:37 AM
That is very beautiful Shari, i would love to build something like that at my place....Von - 7-26-2009 at 11:45 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by BajaBros
shari,
How long do you guess two buildings of your size would take to construct?
6 months? A year? I love the quality of the work. It's gorgeous, my ideal.
I was wondering this question too Shari how long does it take Juan, is he building it byhimself? Thank you...shari - 7-26-2009 at 12:07 PM
It seems to have taken forever but Juan can only work on it in his spare time when he's not fishing. Also one can only put up a bit of rock each
day...around 4-5 hours worth then you have to let it set before adding more rock, plus the time it takes to choose each rock according to colour and
shape...then sometimes he has to smash off bits with the maul before placing it...so it's very slow going...would cost a small fortune to get a house
built.
We used 3/8 rebar on the corners, bottom cement beam and top cement beam too so it should be strong enough...we filled in the floors with good fill
yesterday to prepare to pour the floors.bajajurel - 7-26-2009 at 01:25 PM
Nice job Juan!
Shari - can you post a picture of the different places you have for rent?grmpb - 7-26-2009 at 01:52 PM
she has them on her web sight. the link is with any one of her postsbajajurel - 7-26-2009 at 02:32 PM
got it - thanks
back to fishing
BajaDanD - 7-26-2009 at 08:24 PM
so when does fishing season start and end in Asuncion
I plan on being there end of Octgrmpb - 7-27-2009 at 06:51 AM
usually the end of aug. begining of sep. oct. should be great!shari - 7-27-2009 at 06:53 AM
correcto...but the end of Oct. are when the big tuna really kick in and the weather is perfect...see ya then...look forward to yet another refreshing
silly trip report Dandy!Bob H - 7-27-2009 at 12:24 PM
Shari, the rock houses are looking fantastic. There was barely a wall foundation of those rocks when we were there back in October 2007. Juan really
knows what he's doing, that's for sure.
Bob H
Looks like some solid construction.
It's being built to last.
