The Wall, Part 1

well...the Wall....
it is a long story.   We have wall history, having all been to the Great Wall of China, as a family yrs ago.   And now we have more wall history.
It started almost when we arrived in mid Dec, as the first thing we wanted to address.
Wanting more security, more privacy, and just 'marking the territory' I suppose...  and thinking down the road, it would morph into something more enclosure like, connecting with other parts...

But, as so many things go here... it became something else, then something else, then something else again...and well, it's still a work in progress, and we are not quite sure where it's going.

We don't know if it will ever connect with other pieces; if we'll keep or sell this property; if we should 'continue' the wall; but surveys are yet to be done, & property lines in question; there were cost overruns (how could a bunch of cement cost so much, and take so long?)  It took my time, as I made lunches every day for the trabajadores...los hombres...
     so, in review....some pics of how the wall began.     Stay tuned for parts 2 and maybe 3,  pronto.

  



 This is why, perhaps, a wall was needed. The street, which is more like what we call the gravel path, is a cross-island road, acutally called
Calle Tortugas. It's very 'un-improved' & it will be a long time before the municipality decides to
improve it by adding even gravel.
So, there are big ruts and outcrops of coral rock, which cause the traffic in the area (the locals, taking shortcuts) to swerve, and veer onto our lawn, coming really close to the house.
See our lot line (above) which now the street has 'absorbed' and traffic is coming closer and closer.









Here they are putting in the 'footing'
which is cement and rocks, to provide the base support.
( I was surprised they needed to do this, as this is not Wisconsin, and there is no frost, heaving, thawing, etc, to worry about...
     but,   who knew?
they still must have to do it to get a sturdy structure, and maybe one that won't blow down in hurricanes..

Four blocks high just didn't seem high enough, although it was okay in the front, where you want a view, but on the side and back, you want privacy.

and I didn't care for the 'stepped' version of how most walls are built in sections, with a slanted piece, ramping them up to the next level, to follow the grade or slope of the land.

So, we opted to keep a straight top line, which means the wall, as it runs along the ground level, will seem and is different heights as it goes from front of lot (lower) to back of lot (higher).    So, in the front of the lot it is only four blocks high, but at the rear, and around the doorway (la entrada) & where the gate will be (el porton), it is seven blocks high

so, a look from the inside vs. the street (or should I say, the gravel path?) side...

From this viewpoint, it does make the yard feel more enclosed & private.
And if & when I have dogs here, it will allow me to let them roam and play in the the year without worry.

(and that goes for grandchildren too!)

so many forms, such a process.

I never thought that just a bunch of cement blocks would require such fine tuning.
guess these guys are very picky
and then at the end, they have to make a top line with another form of just mixed concrete.
It's a very exact science.... I guess....

The posts also seem to be necessary at intervals every so often, also seemingly very determined by wall construction culture.

 




And you'll see,
there is a rainbow at the end
of the story....