The Casa PŌNO Studio is Complete!!!

Well, six months after we first broke ground our new rental space is now complete.  Just a few more details to take care of but we will be putting the studio out to rent any day now.  Between the pace of construction in Mexico, Christmas holiday delays, a sick contractor, visiting friends, lack of motivation and an injured wife the project took a couple months longer than we hoped but we really really like it!  We hope you all do as well.  Here are some photos! 

Casa PŌNO Kitchen Upgrade

 We have spent the last few years living with a kitchen and dining area done on the cheap.  Plywood countertops, a folding card table and repurposed green plastic lawn chairs were very functional though not exactly high style.

Ashley had had enough.  It was time for an upgrade and she put something together that would accommodate all the kitchen storage needs and keep things uncluttered and out of sight.  Better yet, it would keep things from getting covered in a fine layer of Sayulita dust that accumulates each day and is even worse when we live in a house that is open to the outside during the dry, dusty winter months. 

Simple counter height parota table, side table and tall pantry.  Chairs coming soon.

With some inspiration from a friend's home in San Pancho and armed with photos from Pinterest we enlisted the help of our carpenter to build what she envisioned.  Lots of adjustable shelves, glass panels and room for close to everything that did not have a daily use in the kitchen.  Those daily items would stay on the existing kitchen shelves and be unseen most of the time.

Dining area looking toward kitchen.  Some color yet to come.

The cabinets would be black and reflect the black metal we already had in the house.  Opaque glass panels would help lighten things up a bit.  Upper cabinets were an unplanned call in the kitchen area but a good one.  A clean place to put food, glassware, dishes etc was something we haven't had for a few years.  The uppers also gave some balance to the kitchen and dining areas. In a matter of a couple hours after installation began we suddenly had a kitchen and dining space that totally transformed our main living area. We will have to add some real color at some point.

Putting the organization plan together for our new look was probably one of Ashley's most favorite activities in a long time.  A plan she had been spinning in her head for months if not years and it worked out great!  Things are put away and it totally transformed a large, white wall that was empty of anything save a refrigerator, vent hood and a stack of some Costco metal storage shelving.  The countertops will stay for a while still.  They have been totally awesome for our needs and if they ain't broke then we won't fix 'em.  The carpenter was also busy in the new apartment space.  Details on that coming.

A New Casa - Casa PŌNO Sayulita - November 2021 Update

 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!  

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!

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Some New Photos of Casa PŌNO Sayulita

 These shots of our house were taken by our friend, Tony, who came to visit recently.  He took the photos with his iPhone 11 and are amazing!!

A New Casa - Casa PŌNO Sayulita - July Update 2020

With Ashley home for several months, the patience to sit and wait to do house projects and repairs has evaporated with the summer heat.  The stay at home orders are still in effect for most of Mexico the sight of undone things around the house has been harder to just ignore so the last couple weeks has been BIG for Casa PŌNO.

Earlier in the summer we completed the rooftop shade structure.  Though still really hot it allows us to enjoy the summer breezes and the view from the top of Sayulita.  Some of the projects we pushed to get done are small and just convenience things and others required a lot of thought and planning to get right.

For a couple things we enlisted the help of the former foreman who was the on site supervisor when the house was built, Antonio.  A super nice guy and has always come through for us.  He was the perfect guy to get back to the house to help us complete some things and repair some items that were causing problems for us.  He knew how the house was put together and it was good to see him again.

Bypassing the roof drain.

 The summer rains have always been a problem for this house.  The amount of rain we get during rainy season overloads the small roof drain that was installed at the back of the house.  It is a smaller diameter pipe and when the pipe cannot keep up with the rain or gets backed up the slow down causes water to pool up and rise enough that it exceeds the curb built to keep rain water out of the house.  When that happens we get a HUGE amount of water in the living room and kitchen one floor below and sometimes two floor below.  We have spent many hours on the roof in the middle of the night with buckets trying to bail water and keep our house from filling up when it is really gushing.  So, we had a secondary pipe installed to kick in if the primary drain is overloaded, becomes clogged etc.  We even redirected a good portion of the water coming off one of the roofs so that it never actually has to go through these drain opening at all.  During the pipe addition we found out that we actually had two leaks in the roof drain pipe in the front of the house and a leak in a water supply line coming from the street.  Small things but it will allow us to sleep at night and be away during the summer rainy months knowing that we will not have an unwanted indoor pool when we return.

Redirecting water to front of house.

Our garden space at the house is modest but we have never really tackled it and made it look like someone cared.  It was mostly dirt, covered with dead leaves.  The plants were few, random and needed time to grow.  Part of the garden was actually a rooftop area of our storage bodega below that leaked so for many months it stood empty of any kind of fill awaiting repairs.  It all looked like an abandoned lot and needed a solution...and easy and cheap one.  With Antonio here we got a truck load of grey pea gravel delivered and the bucket brigade began moving the gravel up the stairs and into the garden areas as a top dressing.  With the bodega roof area repaired we filled that area with almost 20cm full and placed another 5-10 cm of gravel in the remaining areas.  We all pitched in and  even had some neighborhood kids hauling buckets as well as Antonio and his helper.  What a difference a cheap and effective solution this was and if we don't plant anything for a while the garden will at least look respectable and maintained.

Better than just dirt.

The kitchen we have admittedly done "on the cheap"..."on the really cheap".  The countertops are stained and sealed plywood and have been extremely durable and functional for the $150 USD we spent on them.  A Home Depot DIY special.  The problem was that while we had countertops we didn't really have kitchen storage.  The reason for this is that we never put in shelving dividing up the under counter areas with a middle shelf.  The result being everything being piled up at the bottom of the space under the counters.  Soooo I cut, fit and supported the shelving while Ashley provided the staining and in three days time we had a totally new kitchen area where things we easier to get to and we didn't have to get on our hands and knees to look for things under other things.  Simple, cheap solutions that make a BIG difference.

The big project that took place recently was installing a deck in what we call the "garden" or the clear story area in the house that allows light and airflow..  Really nothing more than a dirt patch in our living room it sat neglected pretty much since construction.  It never had a floor since it, at one time,  was exposed to the summer rain, debris and iguana shit.  We had the polycarbonate roof installed but we never really had the reason to do the deck project until Ashley got sick of looking it.  I stopped really "seeing" it a long time ago so I was indifferent and was more concerned about cost.

Our dirt patch in the living room.

I went shopping for decking and we made the decision to use a tropical hardwood called Cumaru.  It looks similar to parota but better for things like furniture sliding back and forth on it.  Just a little denser and more durable.  Screws were another consideration since we were attaching wood to the metal joists we had installed several months ago.  Having had installed a deck in our house in Park City we knew what we liked and didn't like about it and used that to help guide us with this project.  We knew we wanted no seams and fortunately the Cumaru came in lengths that could accommodate that and minimize waste.  The next consideration was how to attach the boards into metal.  This project was part of our living room and we wanted it to be nicer than "just a deck" and after some fastener research I really wanted a hidden fastener system.  I found a few options online but the screws for these systems were not designed to attache wood to metal.  So, we had to attach pressure treated wood "sleepers" to the metal joists so that a hidden fastener system could be used to attach wood to wood.

Wood "sleepers" attached along side of the metal joists.

We were able to purchase online a very cool tool called a Kreg Deck Jig in addition to some appropriate screws and we were in business.  We have never ordered anything online here.  Though purchases like this are normal now it just wasn't a trusted way to get things for many years and we had yet have confidence to try it.  We couldn't use a USA credit card online with this particular site so we had to submit the order and receive a ticket with a code on it.  We printed the code out and brought it to the local OXXO, a Mexico 7-11 store, had it entered in their system and handed the money to the cashier.  Done!!  4 days later we actually had the jig and screws delivered to our door no problem!!  A new world was discovered!

The super cool Kreg Deck Jig.

I set up my tools and after two days of work plus another to sand and stain we had a deck.  No seams and no visible fasteners.  A beautiful extension of our living space and we are super stoked for our new space.  Lots of Ashley's plants have been placed in the space and the wood, concrete and plant combo is super sharp!

Ashley's books will find a permanent home eventually.

So we have been busy since March.  Some things only convenience for us and some things that are stunning additions to our home.  We love all of them!  I think the biggest things left to do are light fixtures, insulated shades for the west side of the house and some things like mirrors/frames.  Actually putting things on the wall would be an improvement as well since staring at white walls everyday is getting old.  Maybe some color.  We are not exactly worried about more projects just yet.

A New Casa - Casa PŌNO Sayulita - Early Summer Update 2020

The orders to stay at home have not been lifted and it feels like we have been looking at the same walls for far too long.  Unless we want to hang out in the bedrooms we really do not have more than the living room to chill out in or find a quiet place to read, work or have a drink. The rooftop was a place to go to hang out back in March but now when the morning shade is gone the sun and post sunset heat radiating off the roof's concrete slab make the space one to avoid most of the time.  The roof cooking all day long makes the interior spaces warmer and in turn chases us from the effected areas of the house or causes us to crank up the AC which is an expensive solution to the amount of heat dispersing into the house.

So, we decided to do something about it now that it appears being home is most certainly going to be the recommended routine for the months to come.  We would delay any other plans for finishing other punch list items for the time being and we have always wanted to finish the rooftop.  The view is hard to beat and a big reason we bought the lot back in 2007.  We considered buying a bunch of plants but the transporting that amount of soil, mature plants and large pots just sounded like a lot of work.  We considered rigging up some shade sails but we really didn't have good anchoring potential to keep the sails in place during the summer storms and high enough to be able to walk under them.  We even threw an old area rug down to keep the heat off the roof above the master bedroom.  None of the solutions really worked very well so we decided to get a proposal from our metal contractor who previously installed the metal/polycarbonate roof.

The goal was to provide shade for a seating area similar to our living room, a dining table area with chairs and the wet bar area which was already covered but was unfinished.  About 30-40% of the rooftop would be left uncovered so anyone looking to sit in the sun someday could do that.  We would also choose a polycarbonate that has a tint to it to help with the shade effort where we had chosen clear for areas allowing light into the house.  We would also be able to use the area during the summer rains and stay mostly dry.

Some before and after photos.

The improved space has already been given a "thumbs up" by everyone including the crew who assembled it.  The wide open space now has proportions that didn't exist before and feels much more comfortable to be in.  We will see what happens when we get more direct sun and how the tinted polycarbonate works and we know we may need some additional work to keep the radiating heat away from the new space.  Over time we will create a living area and build a bar/kitchenette area but that will be down the road.  Our collection of old beach chairs will be the furnishing for a while.  For now we are pretty excited to have a new place to be able to sit and enjoy and find a quiet spot if needed.

Casa PŌNO Gets It's Sign

Sometimes it is the little things that make a difference.  I think this one makes a BIG difference.  We were finally able to find a CNC metal cutter in Puerto Vallarta.  Who the outfit is exactly is still a mystery but our welder let us know he could get our house sign done.  It's a modest sign.  Clean and and modern it keeps with the design style of the house and shows off our house logo.  I had a quote from a US outfit for the same sign for about $600 USD.  Price in Mexico?  About $100 USD. At some point it will be back lit but for now it is a huge improvement from the outlet box with wires sticking out of it that greeted people walking by and renters arriving to stay at the PŌNO Suite.  The little things.

A New Casa - Casa Pono Sayulita - Mid Winter Update 2020

Though the rental unit in the house, The PŌNO Suite, is in pretty good shape there are areas of the upper house where we live that have been ignored.  Ignored not because we didn't care it is just a budget issue.  Piece by piece, door by door we have been finishing parts of the house and prioritizing the finish of other parts of the house.

One of these areas is part of the upstairs living area.  While the kitchen and living spaces are comfortable and functional, the dining room just needs a table.  The last part of this area is under the polycarbonate roof that allows light into this space at the back of the house.  We had stairs put in over a year ago but the floor has remained just dirt.  Ashley has tried to make it look better with plants and even placing a carpet over the space to make it look less "dirt" like but it was still just dirt.  Even one of Ashley's friends who came for a visit remarked that she wasn't sure if she could live with just "dirt" as part of her living room.  Essentially a full quarter of our family living area has been just a dirt patch and it was time to begin to change it.

Though several ideas were considered we decided to make this area an interior deck space.  When the jungle rains get in the materials would be able to handle getting wet plus the wood deck would break up the mostly concrete and metal finishes we currently have in the house.  It would soften the look of the living area as well as create a bit of separate space within the space to do fun things with at some point.

To do this decking we needed to install metal deck supports and so we got our metal guy to come back with his crew to install metal joists.  Set at a height that would allow the wood to be at a finish height equal to the concrete floor, it will eventually create one large continuous space with no step ups or downs.

The other thing we had done was have a hand rail installed on the stairs in the same space.  Too many visitors got freaked out and we always had fears of someone walking off the upper landing in the dark not realizing that there was a 3 meter drop.  So, we had a partial handrail installed as well.  Enough for safety but still allowing for Ashley's plant shelf to remain as is or be added to in the future.

The finish decking will be done in a tropical hardwood called "Cumaru".  Insect resistant and a good choice for this climate.  Because the deck is protected from sun and water we hope we will rarely have to maintain it.  Installation of the actual decking is coming but the metal work was a big step in the right direction.

We had a new house sign made as well with a CNC plasma cutter.  Pretty cool!