Gringos de Marimán

As usual I'm delayed in posting, however this time because we've had perfect gardening weather. Now I find that I start getting depressed on sunny days when we have other activities that keep me away from the huerto and the great outdoors. Life is tough here in el campo.

Ok, the crew turned their main focus to the piso this week, but first they took care of a few remaining tasks from last week. On Monday the hojalateros climbed atop the garaje and finished the soldering of the center caps.

In the meantime, our equipo had a painting fiesta. First, they coated a stack of thin madera pieces with carbolineum, a water protective sealant. Next, they painted the remaining siding which had arrived on an early morning flete.

We also received a pile of pulverized rock, a good indication that we have some concrete plans for the future. When she spotted this pile, Cyndy decided that we should investigate using this material in place of kitty litter. Any cat lovers that are thinking of moving to Chile should be aware that kitty litter costs nearly $10 for a 20 lb. bag.

Tuesday everyone moved inside to prep the piso. As you can see, the black wood pieces fit overtop of the water tubes that had been laid out last week. The maestros laid out the wood, marked the intersections of the tubes and then notched the wood as required. They then fastened each of the prepared pieces by drilling screws into the bottom concrete layer. Yes, this work consumed a bit of time.

These wood pieces mark the level of the concrete. We're installing 2 different surfaces, madera and piedra pizarra. The sections of the floor with the finished wood surface require a lower level than the piedra sections.

During the piso prep, the Madmass crew also paid another visit to the casa to add a little more silicon sealant to the ventanas. Our maestros had found a few leaks around the windows as a result of the heavy winds during the previous week's storm.

By Friday the crew had everything ready for the next layer of concrete. Time to start rollin' and tumblin'.

Leo, Jorge, and Juan mixed the concreto and delivered the loaded cartillas while Valdovino and Juan smoothed the surfaces.

It's only appropriate that the master baño would be finished first.

From that point the crew worked across the floor back towards the entryway. By the end of the day the maestros had completed the piso (round 2).

Here you can see the drying surface and it's clear where the finished wood section will be towards the far corner of the room.

Note that the edges where the wood marked the level still show a little moisture (in this case, looking through the garaje door towards the lavadero).

The piedra pizarra will also cover the lower terazza and the pasillo. For now, the new concrete layer stopped just outside the garaje door.

Here's a glimpse of the future, a flete delivered a stack of dry drywall ready for next week's work.

One last concrete detail: Juan laid a thin layer along the driveway curve. Next week he'll continue the pirca wall around the curve and up the hill. Hopefully, the rain will hold off long enough to give him a chance to finish. For now the sun's shining and the huerto's calling me. Hasta la proxima.