We finally finished the 15000 gallon water tank for fire suppression that was required by the county. It is the only one in the area, so many of the neighbors ask what it is for. It is of block, with vertical as well as horizontal rebar reinforcement, and covered with a coat of mortar inside and out, with a slurry of pure cement having been "painted" on to the green mortar to seal it, as is done in Mexico for water tanks. It is about 15ft in diameter and some 44in. high.
The following photo shows the changes that we made on the upper terrace. After the very wet winter and spring that we experienced, we concluded that the terrace was not going to be very usable as it was originally conceived. Therefore we decided that we should cover the thing, even though it would somewhat change the overall look of the structure. At the same time I (Fred) also decided that it would be better in
the long run to protect the entry porch and the front wall and big window from so much rain. Hence you will also see some small roof extensions. All of this seems to work well in terms of overall protection for the structural elements of the house.
the long run to protect the entry porch and the front wall and big window from so much rain. Hence you will also see some small roof extensions. All of this seems to work well in terms of overall protection for the structural elements of the house.
In this photo you can see that we finally got started painting some of the unfinished container walls. We decided to leave some of the written symbols on view too, in the name of art.
Finally, I am going to include a couple of photos of a ceiling that we built in what will be a stairway in our house in Portland (another project). This type of decorative wooden ceiling was used in Spain in many old buildings such as libraries, palaces, churches , and old mudejar houses. They are not much used today because of the prohibitive cost of labor involved, but they sure do look nice.
