Tag: Maintenance

Casa Bianca is reaching for the sky and striking a stunning silhouette against the Costa Rican sky.

The base coat of primer gives us a glimpse of how this building will look once it gets a final coat of white paint. On the inside of the house the crew is making headway on the walls, windows, and ceiling.

Here you can see Mate Kevin priming the raw concrete on the bathroom wall in Unit #2.

The stairwell on the southside of the building creates a spacial challenge; we have to be spot-on with the measurements to make sure that a Safari Cart will fit under the stairs.

This stair set leaves exactly enough room for a cart and still sits within the property line. Our crew doesn’t rest on its successes, so they got right to work on painting the stairs and the southside of the building.

The next step inside to install the ceiling wood to complete the interior space. If you look closely you can see that joists have been secured to the cement and the electrical sockets have been put in place.

 

The craftsman ship is superb on this finished ceiling:

 

 

Now we have to start laying out the kitchen counters. In order to build these in place, we use an this inverted-framing technique that is effective and doesn’t waste any concrete.

The next big milestone will be laying the tile on the floor. We are excited to see the interior of Casa Bianca take shape.

The crew can’t be stopped, and they are making great progress on Casa Bianca. Follow along as they complete the interior woodwork, finish the concrete on the walls, and build a new set of stairs.

Casa Bianca’s roof is complete and now the team is moving on with the exterior accents of this new house.

We have installed a series of natural tree trunks to create the roof of the upstairs patios.

 

Then we added a layer of hardwood planks.

The final step is to add the metal roof on top of the planks to protect the wood.

Also we are continuing to ‘stucco’ the interior and exterior walls with a layer of wet cement.

From the inside we can see the skylights and roof really coming together. The wood looks fantastic in the full sunlight.

Here is a look back at our wood preparation process:

Now that the concrete pours are all finished and the roof is in place, you’d think that the boys would be looking for a break…not this crew!

After constructing new scaffolding to reach the second floor, work began on the front patios for the two upstairs units.

Take a look at this hole punched into the cement dividing wall between the two patios; this is where a giant single log will go through to both patios.

Once installed, it creates a look of perfection from the front:

The forward posts are all seated on pedestals.

The patio project continues to reach skyward as the crew is running at full speed to get this project finished.

 

What turns four walls into a house? A roof of course! It has taken thirteen weeks of pushing and grinding to get to this point.

Now that it’s time to install the roof, let’s take a look back the the progress of this wood:

It looked great on sawhorses, but truly shines once installed.

The conduits for the overhead lighting in the apartments are neatly tucked away in between the ceiling and roof.

Our crew has pulled off a stunning feat by getting this building out of the elements before the rainy season in September.

Now we are primed to finish the cement work on the interior walls and proceed with painting and furnishings. Super excited to see Casa Bianca to continue to take shape.

Casa Bianca is approaching a major milestone as the roof installation has begun.

It takes all hands and some deft rope-work to get the ceiling joists in place.

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Then the team works in concert to secure each rafter tie.

This labor is not as physically taxing as the concrete work, but it is essential to work in concert to make sure the planks are set perfectly.

A second team below the roof secures the wood from the bottom.

From a distance you can see the striking silhouette of the new house.

A look from inside gives us a glimpse of the finished product. This wood had us salivating when it was sitting on sawhorses, and now that it’s in place we can’t wait to see the final result.

Casa Bianca is looming large…literally, look at how big this house it!

After pouring tons of concrete and taking endless trips up-and-down the ramp, we are nearing the end of the concrete phase. The final step is to pour the lentils over the windows.

The end result will be similar to the existing skylights in Casa Surfeando and Casa Tranquilo:

These pours are very challenging and (much like the guys doing the work) seem to defy gravity.

Take a moment to respect this scaffolding. It takes a lot of guts to work up here, but our guys have plenty of that to spare.

Meanwhile, Yoseph and Alexander are putting the final touches on the refurbishing of the main office.

We are so excited to get open and back to business soon. We really, REALLY miss our guests.

Casa Bianca is now striking a sweet silhouette against the jungle.

Progress accelerated in late-March. Now the second story is nearly complete.

It’s clear that our makeshift crew of boat captains, mates, and office staff has found their stride on this project. It’s an inspiration to see everyone working together on a common task.

Once all the blocks are in place, the final step in this phase is to build the concrete supports that will hold the roof and upper windows.

Here you can see Foreman Dieter showing the young guys the method:

The crew broke for the weekend of Father’s Day, but they are primed to keep pushing on this build. This roof wood is just dying to get installed:

Stay Tuned!