Forums > Specific Focus > Home, Garden & Construction in Mexico

Rolly / Moderator

Feb 9, 2003, 2:18 PM

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House Project Update for 08 February 2003

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This was the 52nd week since we began the project. The structure is done, and the top half of the exterior is painted. One year and one million pesos, and the end is still not quite in sight. Enrique and I had our weekly planning session this afternoon. He thinks two more months; I think three. The major time consumer coming up is the laying of the floor, bathroom and kitchen tile. That will take two months. Then we'll do the interior painting and installation of the electrical fixtures.

Coco has finished the windows and painted the ones in Andrea's apartment. The glass guys start on Monday. The cost of the glass, material and installation, will be p$3,000 per apartment -- that's a bit less than US$300 for 12 windows. We are going to try to paint the lower walls with the scaffolding still in place until the glass guys get done on the second floor. Sometimes getting everything to time out correctly is worse than cooking a big meal for a large group.

The guy at the paint store grossly under estimated the amount of paint we will need. We'll have to order more of the Rosa Mexicana. It's a custom mix that takes a week to get. The yellow is in stock, but we have enough of it. Figures.

This week’s website update is a series of views of the project from the surrounding streets -- the neighbors' views.

www.rollybrook.com/02-08.htm

For those of you who will not be joining the pay-to-play plan, you will still be able to read my weekly updates here. If you have questions or comments, you are welcome to e-mail me. I'm always glad to hear from you. If you send me an e-mail please put "Building project" on the subject line, so I'll know it is not junk mail.

Rolly Pirate

sparks

Feb 9, 2003, 2:41 PM

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psychedelic

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I thought with all the subdued colors on the inside that the outside would be similar. Only Mexico!

Uncle Jack

Feb 9, 2003, 2:50 PM

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Nobody's gonna......

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....have any trouble finding their way home with that color combination.

Richard

Feb 10, 2003, 7:40 PM

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Re: [Rolly] Your pulling my leg RIGHT?

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Mexico or not . . . Are those really the colors ? Come on and fess up you doctored the pictures .

Rolly / Moderator

Feb 10, 2003, 7:52 PM

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Re: [Richard] Your pulling my leg RIGHT?

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The yellow in the pictures is fairly true to the paint color. The Rosa Mexicana is too red in all the pictures except the close-up of the curved windows. I noted in the caption that was the closest to the paint color.

You may think the colors unreal, but not only are they real, they are not even original (I hate to admit). I got the idea from two other houses in town with that color combination. I suggested it to the family and they all agreed. It is not the only colorful house in the neighbor, although it is the largest and boldest.

Rolly Pirate

Richard

Feb 10, 2003, 7:57 PM

Post #6 of 23 (3806 views)

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Re: [Rolly] All I can say is WOW !

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Nothing like that here in Cozumel or Home (in and around) Chicago .For that I am thankful. Maybe a Honey colored cream with white trim and a little color added here and there Na I didnt think so .

Well its been fun on these boards most the time but Not willing to pay to have a few insult me and others so Mark me out of here.

YT Richard

Rolly / Moderator

Feb 10, 2003, 8:33 PM

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Re: [Richard] All I can say is WOW !

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Richard, I remember a conversation we had here several months ago in which you said:

"I am really enjoying your project Rolly. If you lived closer to a scuba diving location I would be tempted to sell and move and be your neighbor (teheheheh the last thing you want is a gringo for a neighbor )But I really like the looks of your building it has a statement but it is so subtle I have yet too put my finger on it. But suffice to say It is looking Great!"

I guess the statement is not so subtle any more. Smile

Some of us crazies down here like it.

BTW, Where around Chicago? I once lived up near Wrigley Field and later out in Downers Grove.

Rolly Pirate

Richard

Feb 11, 2003, 2:50 PM

Post #8 of 23 (3780 views)

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Re: [Rolly] I didnt mean it as an insult to you +

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So I re-reading it and I must admit it sounded very negative. SORRY : ) Though I would have never picked out those Colors myself . I am impressed with the building and design for how much you built and how usable it is and the quality of the finished product for the money you have in it !!! But I MUST say. . . I thought it would have been painted a more Colonial /Historic Looking /Classic Color scheme. Of coarse the Beauty of color is in the eye of the beholder . I was just totally surprised with the colors, overwhelmed in fact. On a Much Smaller Building it would have look gay/happy /festive . Lets think about San.Fran. here, with all the Painted ladies/Victorians #1 each is painted to a totally different scheme It gives a different effect all together.#2 there are block upon block of them all together not one among 50 classic Brownstones. Case In Point : In fact a mistake we made with this house we live in now . Its 5000 sq.ft 3 1/2 story Vicky. We saw another BIG Old House on the other side of town and copied their primarily, Pale yellow, white and frost green colors . On theirs is looked great!!!! On ours it look like the Biggest Canary in the world ! Wearing Green Ribbons it just didn't work ! Too Big Too Much Of one (rather captivating ) shade of Yellow. We don't have near the number of angles and turns and brick-a-brack etc etc Fifty + (50+) gallons of paint WASTED PLUS THE TIME! 2 years later we painted it again this time with a base color a k Khaki with the Doors and all the fish scale gables, Teal Green. . . All the trim and brick-brack is a deep Ivory . The gutters and 42 storm windows are white as are the 4 Vinyl clad wooden storm doors. I had to think back to my art classes and Architectural classes to remember what the said would work . . . . .Look at nature! Small things often have a LOT of Color . . . . Big things seldom do . Hummingbird's versus Elephant's Numerous instructors same metaphor Hummingbirds and Elephants ! IMHO if you would now begin to divide the colors with neutral boarders and painted frames around the windows and doors etc etc etc it could make a big difference. But what will you do with the expansive walls that are just that unbroken huge vertical planes with very bright over powering colors . I must add I would still love to come down and work with you some time on a project such as this has been . I believe I could learn a LOT from you ! IMHO you created a beautiful functional appeasing building for very little money . But it looks like my grandson picked out the colors and he's only 5 years old and for now wants to be a clown in the circus when he grows up. This was all meant to be constructive NOT an insult or destructive in anyway. YT Richard

Richard

Feb 11, 2003, 2:58 PM

Post #9 of 23 (3772 views)

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Re: [Richard] I didnt mean it as an insult to you +

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More like the neighbors house in the 2nd picture down on the right at your photo site.

His window trim shows up better and the muted colors work great for a Colonial Look. : ) Just IMHO

Rolly / Moderator

Feb 11, 2003, 7:37 PM

Post #10 of 23 (3762 views)

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Re: [Richard] I didnt mean it as an insult to you +

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Many people have gasped at the house -- which was part of our intent. "I'm big, I'm bold, and this neighborhood is mine!"

This is the industrial north of Mexico; it bears little resemblance to the colonial central part of the country. Although Lerdo is over 200 years old, it has no colonial architecture. The oldest things in town are 4 old, badly faded large Victorian homes. Most of the city is fairly new. You can see that on the Homes page of my website http://Rollybrook.com/Homes.htm. You'll also see the house that inspired the colors we used.

You'll probably like the interior colors the ladies have chosen. They are pretty tame.

Rolly Pirate

arbon

Feb 11, 2003, 8:37 PM

Post #11 of 23 (3758 views)

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Re: [Rolly] I didnt mean it as an insult to you +

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"The oldest things in town are 4 old, badly faded large Victorian homes."

I would like to see what "Victorian" looks like. (Google image link will do)

(This post was edited by arbon on Feb 11, 2003, 8:53 PM)

sparks

Feb 12, 2003, 6:26 AM

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arbon

Feb 12, 2003, 9:30 AM

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arbon

Feb 12, 2003, 10:37 AM

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sparks

Feb 12, 2003, 11:05 AM

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Re: [arbon] I didnt mean it as an insult to you +

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I've seen houses in Belize and Costa Rica that could almost be classified Victorian. Usually they have tin roofs and a bit of tropical gingerbread. New construction in those countries is mostly the same as Mexico ... but at one time wood was the prefered material. There must be areas of Mexico that have wooden houses that are nearly 100 years old. Only wooden ones I've seen are shacks.

arbon

Feb 12, 2003, 11:50 AM

Post #16 of 23 (3724 views)

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Re: [sparks] I didnt mean it as an insult to you +

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"There must be areas of Mexico that have wooden houses that are nearly 100 years old. Only wooden ones I've seen are shacks".

There are large wooden houses up in Michoácan,near Paracho-Angahuan.(Outside of towns)?

jennifer rose

Feb 13, 2003, 11:06 AM

Post #17 of 23 (3697 views)

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Re: [sparks] I didnt mean it as an insult to you +

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You'd better be careful referring to our trojes of Michoacan's Meseta Purepecha as "shacks." Part of our cultural heritage, those wooden structures feature a front porch, are set up off the ground, and can be moved and re-assembled within a single day.

In Morelia are some wonderful old houses in the style of Gothic Revival. And even a few new ones, made of concrete designed to look like wooden salt boxes, painted white.

jennifer rose

Feb 13, 2003, 11:17 AM

Post #18 of 23 (3689 views)

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Re: [Rolly] Your pulling my leg RIGHT?

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I happen to think that's a great color combination! And yes, I painted my own house Rosa Mexicana (although the paint color was named "Candy Stripe") Every single time I drive into the driveway I'm happily greeted by those Pepto-Bismol hues.

Richard

Feb 13, 2003, 2:37 PM

Post #19 of 23 (3674 views)

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Re: One of my rental Units is a

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Salt Box From the 1880's . I can see where it would work well in Mexico too . Salt Boxes worked well on Long Narrow Lots. Mine is a 3 story with a Limestone basement. I call the Basements in My Vicky/QueenAnne and the Salt Box a cellar as it was customary for them to only have about 6 feet of height /headroom. No Mortar was used for the foundation on either of these buildings . They just stacked Limestone blocks of about 12 to 16 inches in width and 8 to 12 inch height and 2 to 4 foot in length. NOT rain tight after a hundred plus years But not all that bad either all things considered.

They used 12"x16" OAK for the mudsills I've only had to replace one piece about 6 or 7 feet long do to poor workmanship by a previous owner. Geeeer if you don't TRULY know what your doing have it done by someone who does.

Rolly / Moderator

Feb 13, 2003, 6:11 PM

Post #20 of 23 (3669 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Your pulling my leg RIGHT?

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Pepto-Bismal hues! Ugh! Oh, JR, I wish you hadn't said that. Now I'll never get that image out of my mind. Smile

But I am glad to learn that you have good taste in house paint.

Rolly Pirate

sparks

Feb 13, 2003, 6:57 PM

Post #21 of 23 (3663 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] shacks

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Remember I'm looking down from far up north - but I'm sure they are not shacks to those who live in them. As hippies we lived in teepees, visited rooftop "shacks" in Hong Kong for tattoos and within two blocks of me are carboard shacks that are very moble but often too wet to bother with.

Looks like everything in Mexico is brick/cement. Forgot they could look so good.

sparks

Feb 14, 2003, 6:35 AM

Post #22 of 23 (3646 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] I didnt mean it as an insult to you +

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On the shore lies the village of Zirahuen, known for its rustic wooden "trojes" - structures traditionally used for grain storage.

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Above is from surf-mexico site ... but it does not translate on Babble Fish, maybe not spanish. Will be interesting to see and maybe that wooden one Arbon mentioned.

jennifer rose

Feb 14, 2003, 6:46 AM

Post #23 of 23 (3651 views)

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Re: [sparks] I didnt mean it as an insult to you +

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Grain storage is one function of the trojes, along with providing living quarters. Some are fancier than others, with carved posts and a rustic version of gingerbread design. When you're in Patzcuaro, go to the Museum of Popular Arts up by the Basilica, and then go outside beyond the room for masks, where there is one on display.