What? Another update? Isn't the house done yet? What could possibly be happening now? I think we kind of feel the same way but this will hopefully be a short project with a look to the future. We have been renting the PŌNO Suite, our one bedroom apartment, for mostly long term stays since COVID turned the world upside down. There are certainly pros and cons for that kind of occupancy arrangement. There is always someone living in your house to consider when doing anything disruptive, we cannot use that space to accommodate friends and family and the overall monthly income is probably a good bit lower than if we rented it nightly. Fortunately we have liked our long term renters and have undoubtedly enjoyed any extra income it generates. Plus, there are fewer hassles with check-ins, check outs etc. That rental income pretty much goes right back into the kid's monthly school tuition. Such a benefit to help cover those expenses!
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| The backhoe arrives to dig out all the extra soil that filled the lower 2 tiers. |
But could we do better renting using what we already have? Well, we knew we wanted to reduce Ashley's flying time but how are we supposed to do that when college is looming in the very near future? What could we do now that would help? I began scheming and coming up with ideas. In our family, I am the one who comes up with a plan(aka a "scheme"), Ashley poo poos it for a time and then she eventually sees the light and provides the capital for the project. Then it is my job to get it done. To be honest, it is sometimes her scheme and then again, it is my job to get it done. I have to say it has worked for us pretty well to this point.
The front yard of our property provided an opportunity for and additional rental unit. The original plan for the yard space was for a grey water treatment system. That whole idea got scrapped during construction and it had become a kind of 3 tiered minimalist garden space. What I could see was that the middle tier was about the size of a hotel room. The walls were already in place and tall to allow for a high ceiling. The lower tier could accommodate a small outdoor seating area and we could steal some space from the existing bodega in the upper tier for a bathroom. Genius!! Well, Ashley didn't quite think so at first but after a few months, some number crunching and the scary reality of college tuition looming she came around to the idea and said "let's do it"! Get it done!
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| My official napkin drawing the contractor is working from. |
The vision was a large room with kitchenette, closet, king size bed, decent size bathroom and a private outdoor seating area. One side of the room would be all windows and there would be a skylight providing some additional light to the space. All the utilities were right there and the bathroom location provided easy access to the sewer line that ran from the house. The space resembled our master bedroom so it was easy to measure up and walk the contractor, Antonio, through the plan. Antonio was also the foreman on the original house construction and has been our "go to" guy for everything the last several years. He knows pretty much every part of this house so there would be few surprises.
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| The front yard with most of the extra fill and debris removed. |
We also saw an opportunity for additional water storage. Water will continue to be an ongoing issue in Sayulita since the town has yet to grasp the relationship between the amount of construction, visitation and resources available. So, buried under the adjoining patio we would be adding a 5000 liter plastic cistern. This would help to bridge the every increasing times without water pumped to the homes in town. No water days are usually due to water department pump problems, line repairs or lack of supply in the late spring and early summer. Sometimes the only way our neighbors get water is to get 10,000 liter water trucks to deliver water every week or so. Water trucks are a booming business here. This cistern addition would bring our on property water storage capacity to over 12,000 liters. A smart and easy add-on with a machine on site and space big enough to hide it.
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| The cistern pit partially covered by planking. |
After about 3 weeks of demolition, debris removal etc the crew formed up the roof and a pump truck was hired to make the job quick. I must admit that sometimes it's frustrating when local construction blocks the narrow streets in town but it is super AWESOME when it's our construction!! With the roof poured in less than hour it was on to cleaning up extra debris to make way for a final level for the floor and some roughing of electrical in the walls.
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| Pump truck making quick work of the roof. |
Virtually the next day Antonio began building a perimeter short wall around the roof. About 3 courses of block. This will contain the material that will be put back on top of the structure. The idea is to make things look like they were before the project began with the only difference being that there will be living space below. A garden on the roof essentially. We also raised the wall bordering our neighbor for a bit more separation. The rectangle in the photo is a long, think sky light that will help bring some additional natural light into the space.
Roof with skylight.
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| Additional debris gone, bed base and door to new bathroom at the back. |
The thing that was the most labor intensive was opening the new space into the existing bodega. So much cutting and smashing and hammering the sturdy wall that separated the original garden and the bodega. A door opening was needed at the back of the new room to connect the two spaces.
Once the roof was on we could really begin to see how the space would be entered and how the overhang would effect the outdoor sitting area. We wanted the renter to be able to sit either with open sky or under a protected overhang if it was raining. A bit tight but it will work pretty well I think.
The rough opening into the patio space and overhang.
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| Inside looking out. |
So I think that is a wrap on the progress after 5 weeks so far. The next couple weeks are going to be finishing things with lots of coats of concrete and the installation of the cistern and covering that up. Lots of details coming up and making sure I order items so the plumber/electrician has the right things in his hands to keep moving with. More updates coming. We hope to be working on finishes in early December since getting anything done around the holidays is pretty much impossible. Crunch time.
