It’s been many days since my last confession, and I have sinned!

My new friend from The Placencia in Maya Beach, bigger than he looks!

OK, I know, I know, I have been away from this desk for a few weeks now, but for good reasons. Everybody needed a break for various reasons, and after all, it takes a while for concrete to really “cure”. That being said, the upright columns are hard as rocks!

An excellent day aboard (and in the water) on Day Tripper. Can you say RUM 🙂

I have actually gotten to play a bit, enjoying the Easter holiday here in Placencia, which is really big time here. Then there was the day sail catamaran sail on the “Day Tripper” with friends.

The guys were working hard laying reinforced rebar in flooring sections before concrete.

But now the crew are back on the job and have been working days preparing the upper level for pouring the concrete floor. Eight inches of the wood frame needed to be perfectly installed all around the perimeter.

My crew finishing wood borders for a concrete pour, and steel reinforcement.

Next, it was time to lay tons of iron rebar crisscrossing each other, which needed to be wired together at each intersection. This will be the support for inside the concrete once its poured, and will make the structure strong as a bull! Or should I just say, stronger than a hurricane!

Starting adding plumbing lines inside flooring.

The next step in the process is to run all the water supply, drain lines, and air vent tubes up through the flooring and secure them in place before pouring the concrete floor. This is very critical because all these must be in perfect placement before pouring, so they will correctly connect to sinks, toilets, and showers in the house.

This is where things get a bit “sticky”, and the “ugly” comes in. As I watch the guys installing the PVC tubes for plumbing and electrical, I realize they are not doing this in the upstairs “laundry room”. I immediately call my then “builder”, and ask him why not, and he responds, “what upstairs laundry room”? “The laundry room in under the house”! I tell him to check the final drawings, and within minutes, he is on-site, and the guys are installing those for the laundry room. It would have been a disaster if these had not been installed before the concrete floor was poured.

Not to self and my readers: Be sure your builder/contractor does site inspections before every major part of your build. As a matter of fact, make sure he visits your building site every day! My first “builder” did not.

Stay tuned because they are supposed to be here tomorrow to pout the concrete flooring for the house and entire deck. This is oh so exciting on so many levels. After the concrete floor is poured, the next step will be raising the walls! OMG, have I been waiting for the day that I actually see walls going up.

Just about finished securing all the rebar steel, and plumbing lines for pouring floor tomorrow.

And then there is the celebration of actually walking on the edge of my deck at the water’s edge! I will finally get to see, as will you, what the view will be for the rest of my life, every day from our master bedroom. Already, my Architects are planning to come over and next weekend for a cocktail from on top of the new deck!

But then, any excuse for RUM when the Pirate is around…

Oliver checking out the two new inhabitants to the Pirates Cabana!

Until the “Big Pour”, Cheers my friends,

Gary…The Pirate