Perch View Over Walls

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Closing In

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In the East wall our three french doors are framed in wood forms and you can see what will be the pillars of our gallery, or front porch, now just rusted skeletal reinforcing bar entities, as yet unformed, unpoured but somewhat defined elements.

In the distance, through the opening for the second french door, you can see Christiansted through the haze. The haze on this day is caused from two separate incidents, one happening southeast of here, in Montserrat, in the form of an active volcano, spewing ash into the sky (some 10 to 15, 000 feet altitude); the other about 3,500 miles to the east, in Africa, the winds of the desert are sending the dust skyward as well. On a clear day we can see forty to forty five miles to the horizon and other nearby Islands, with the ash and dust? Two miles, sometimes less.

A study of the dust that is transported from Africa to the Caribbean Basin, with some micron-sized bits carried in the Jet Stream at extremely high altitudes, is ongoing. Once thought to be sterilized by the extreme heat of the desert, they are now discovering that these once innocuous specks may carry disease and carcinogins in the form of microbes, pesticides, crop-enhancing fertilizers and other chemical wastes that may hitchhike along with the finest of the particles. So much for clean Caribbean breezes, is anyplace free of these poisonous pollutants?

There is an upside to the dust and the severity, or not, of the airborne dust storms or particle deposits on our shores. The dust may help protect us from the formation of tropical depressions, storms and Hurricanes, because they adhere to water molecules in the atmosphere that they pass through, slowing the uptake of large amounts of sea water, which normally feed the storms fury themselves as they gather strength coming across the Atlantic Ocean. This, it is believed, is why the most recent of Hurricanes, which caused unprecedented damage in coastal and inland regions of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Missippi and Texas, as was the case last summer and fall, are forming much further to the west thqatn normal.

Edmond & Ellerton

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These two guys, are Edmond, facing the camera, and Ellerton Jeffers. Ellerton is builder Arnold Jeffer's son. Ellerton was drafted by the Florida Marlins Baseball Team and he was called up to "The Bigs" or "The Show" for a week where he faced Major League pitching for the first time! (They throw in the 90's, as in MPH!) When he returned to St. Croix, he was asked to run a baseball camp for young boys, which he does during the spring and summer, in between sprints working for his father.

Upwards & Eastward

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The mason work on the 8" bearing wall that divides the Great Room from the guest bath / laundry "pod" I call them pods for the design method. We have four "Pods"; the Master Bedroom / Bath Suite, the Great Room, the Laundry, Guest Bath, Utility Room and Back Hall, and the Guest Bedroom pod. Each pod is a rectangle, (except for the trapezoidal Master Suite) and each will have it's own individual hip-roof system, supported by the four walls that comprise the rectangle. Therefore, the exterior walls, which support the roof system (as in bearing the load) are of 8" cement block and the interior partitions are of 6" cement block.

The two gentlemen masons are, left to right: a Trinidadian and a St. Lucian. Working acroos the house from west to east, keeping the open to the east feel; what for the sake of the Trade Winds, which blow from the northeast (usually). They close the east wall last for this reason, in this summer season the wind and shade are the only saviors at times to the unrelenting sun.

Toad in Residence

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This guy was inside our master bedroom closet, behind some water soaked cardboard boxes. The boxes turned to mush when it rained, and the contents spilled out when I picked one up. The electrical box was an expected find, the toad, however, was not.

The house is coming along as the masons / carpenters are busy building the walls and the necessary forms for the poured concrete portions of the wall. This method of construction is NOT electrician-friendly. In New England, where the walls of homes are generally constructed of wood frame, sheathing, fiberglass insulation and plaster or sheetrock interior finish, clapboard or shingled exterior. Wood frames are drilled and romex is fed throughout the dwelling, relatively easy stuff.

In the Caribbean the emphasis is on the strength of concrete blocks and concrete, and the inherent resilience to sun, wind, fire and rain; did I mention Hurricane? (note the capital letter).

So, the process for me, viewed strictly as an electrical contractor, is thus: dimly lit. In other words, there has to be a better way than this to construct concrete block homes! I've shown you photos of the work in the slab, before the concrete was poured over it, creating the (almost finish) floor for the first level of our home. I am told that the electricians hereabout don't often do elaborate electrical stystems installations, such as I have in my own dwelling. I admit that I may have gone overboard in some areas of the installation, with stereo speaker conduits, telephone, coaxial television and Category 5e data lines; a low voltage lighting installation that is high tech and different, but really............

From what I have observed, and experienced first hand, getting conduits to conform to your blow torch's heat, breaking away more concrete and mortar mix than I ever want to see again, (you should see my knuckles, scarred and torn from the harsh surfaces) ..and basically following along closely with the masons and get your stuff where you have to have it! Lights fixtures, properly centered in a space, how is that possible in this world of gray matter and aggregate? Aggregate?, I'll tell you who's aggregated!

It is not. Possible that is, possible to properly locate a wall sconce, and do it in increments of eight, eight and sixteen (= inches in a single concrete block).

I had conduits sticking up out of the floor in various places (see photo)

before the floor was poured. The measurements used for locating the various partitions and bearing walls were derived from the foundation as it was constructed, as opposed to as was written in the house plans themselves. The original contractor told me I couldn't see a 1/2 inch error in a 24 foot expanse of wall being square or out of square with another wall.

He was likely correct in his assessment. Funny thing? He didn't ask me if I could tell if there was a variation of three inches in that same 24' expanse of wall! Our Master Bedroom Suite (Bed & Bath) now has the following dimensions: 24'-1" on the South wall, the West wall is 16' 3-1/2", the North wall, which adjoins the Great Room, is 23'-2", the East wall is 15' 11-1/2"! My son James asked me if I had purposely designed a trapezoid, or was that unintentional? The latter is true. Did I mention that the whole wing is shifted to the East 5", yes, it is so. The old joke is that somebody rubbed the little marks off their ruler, ya think?

Anyway, measuring off an already unsquare building is kind of hit or miss, in this case (especially mine) the walls were shifted to and fro so as to throw my conduits in a hallway, instead of the bedroom partition, under a steel rebar, inaccessible, useless or damn near it.

I was after these guys at every turn, almost it seemed, that they would much rather have me off-site at times, instead of right there watching there every move, trying to keep from getting buried (literally and figuratively) in concrete dust, blood, tears and perspiration. Which reminds me, don't stand down-wind of a mason as he dumps shovelful after shovelful of cement into the screen, especially with a sweaty body. Water, salt brine, epedermis = closed skin pores and trouble for the person peppered (or seasoned) in this manner.

As a result of this method, and in order to keep the peace, (I guess) the electrician is forced to accept the building method as it was presented to him, and (usually)didn't go the extra (expensive) mile to ensure code compliance. The inspectors (note the lack of capitalization) are usually no-shows at inspection time, allowing the builders to continue along concrete block after concrete block, to the level of the bond beam; often way out in front of the plumbers and electricians. They cope, I do not. My house is my home and I want it wired properly and that is that, deal with it!

One of the guys said he thought I was wiring a radio station, instead of a home; laughingly I told him it was a television studio, the anttenna would go up next! He laughed.

Photo Enhancement

As is always the case with the photos I display on this blog, they are fully enlargable for easier viewing and to optimize detail recognition. To enlarge any image on this site, hover over the photo with your mouse pointer until a hand appears in the place of the pointer. This hand is like a magic wand that will, when clicked, enlarge the photo you are viewing.

Once the photo is enlarged on your PC, you will notice a popup display in the upper right of the photo - ignore it, and, if you hover the pointer over the enlarged photo, an icon appears in the lower right of the photo that resembles a cheesburger with arrows pointing in four different directions. Don't ask me what the icon is supposed to signify, or resemble, just clik on it, and bingo - (presto?) the photo will enlarge to the largest scale, in most cases covering your screen. Use it as a desktop background, or just to get a closer look, whatever. JUST DO IT!

Estate Clairmont Overlook

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This view, taken from a neighbor's house, is how the house looks from above in this shot; looking Northeast. You can see the progress better from this angle, the interior walls are being built, as are the corner casting forms, which I will illustrate better after Debbie and I get back from the beach at Cane Bay, where we will have breakfast.... so, check back in the morning (sunday) for more on the progress of our new home.

Buffin' Up