Gringos de Marimán

If I knew a lot more about construction or architecture then this entire casa building process might have been easier, or maybe not. I've been very trusting of Kenny and Andrés because I like the results I've seen and because I have little desire to learn much more about the construction trade. I'm perfectly happy watching the daily progress while digging away in the huerto. Our lack of knowledge and control over the project has bothered Cyn a whole lot more, particularly because we had no idea that some decisions increased the construction time. The installation of our mañio entryway provided a good example of one of these time consuming processes. After seeing a couple of the coihue walls go up relatively quickly we thought the mañio would proceed the same. No such luck. Andrés had decided that the mañio should have the same tongue and groove look in order to match the style of the coihue walls. The maestros had to simulate the tongue and groove look using their carpentry skills.

First step, angle and groove all the chipboard veneered boards.

Next, install a simulated tongue section, cover it with mañio veneer tape, and attach the chipboard with screws from the inside.

Of course, some pieces had to be cut to order to fit around the cocina soffit.

Valdovino glued and taped the angled corners to give us nice smooth seams.

Leo had the enviable task of attaching the boards from inside. Juan promised to help him escape somehow.

By midday I realized that we would be exercising our patience.

Later in the week the crew had worked their way through the upper layer, and the lower ceiling.

At week's end we got to appreciate the finished look. I'm hoping that in a year we'll continue to savor the beauty and perhaps the time that it took to install might seem insignificant. Sorry, my camera (or my photographic skills) doesn't do justice to the great contrast between the different types of woods and the piedra.

Next week, let's get back to the quick installing coihue.

Let's not forget the piedra, which continued both inside and outside the casa. Inside Luis moved into the lavadero.

He finished shortly thereafter, as the gasfiters moved in.

Outside, Juan reached the end of the pasillo.

Only a few more rompecabeza pieces remained on that long pasillo.

Finally only one last piece to place and Juan had the satisfaction that anyone would feel when completing a large portion of a puzzle.

Meanwhile the gasfiters went to work in the baño. They added the valves for the showers - yes, we will have double the pleasure.

And they put the tina in place.

Next they trenched over to the water supply, connected us up, and added a shutoff valve.

The maestros also took a break from the mañio struggle to add step supports and cutout the outer plywood.

Now for a little diversion, I mentioned that we had a busy social calendar last week. We spent part of our time visiting with a number of our neighbors who arrived from out of town. Patricia and her husband Chad, who own parcela 5, also stayed through the end of this week. The four of us joined Tito and Alicia for a day trip across the Argentinian border to San Martin de Los Andes. Snow still covered the upper parts of the gravel road that climbed across the Andes to the border. Volcan Lanin loomed in the distance as we bounced our way towards the pass.

A large grove of Araucaria or monkeypuzzle trees separated the Chilean and Argentinian border stations.

As we headed into Argentina, I remembered Peachy's description of their long boring drive across Argentina.

The change in scenery once you cross the continental divide is quite dramatic, but fortunately we weren't going quite that far. In fact, Lago Lacar resembles many of the Chilean southern lakes.

San Martin de Los Andes surprised us with its beauty and well developed tourist trade. Chile has the edge in natural beauty, but the Argentinians seem to have a better sense for marketing. Anyway, we had a great lunch - Cyn rated the pasta very highly and we even made it back across the border in time. By the way, our neighbors all really liked our house, but the unanimous opinion was that we still had at least a couple of months to go before it's finished. Que sorpresa!, call me the optimist, I guess it's time to head back to the huerto. Hasta la proxima!!!