Windows

I am starting this entry on my blog on Sunday and will likely finish it on Monday or Tuesday.  We have had great progress at the site - we are working on the first floor doing the finishing including repairing any damage to block walls that was caused by the earthquake.  It is moving ahead very nicely.  I will issue a little more comprehensive update or progress report on my website, but not likely until the end of March.  We have a team coming mid-March and they will complete a couple of significant components that I would like to be able to report on as well. 


We have a team here and yesterday we did a little tour of PAP with the team.  We drove down into the main part of the old city of PAP - we actually live here in a suburb of PAP - the city of Delmas.

The old city received heavy damage during the earthquake as did the palace.  I am armed with lots of pictures - but I am sure that you have already seen many pictures of the palace and the devastation in that area - so I may post just a few in another blog entry.

I have seen this area many times before the earthquake - it is crowded with people - markets on every street and very very busy.  Some of the streets were still like that when we were there yesterday, but many others were almost empty.  When you look at the damage and the rubble, I cannot imagine the number of people that would have been seriously injured and killed by falling debris during the earthquake.

So, I am a little off topic here, but just wanted to share that with you.

This past week at the worksite, we started installing the decorator block that we are using for windows on the main floor. Using block as windows is a common building style here in Haiti.  We choose a block that we felt had a nice pattern to it and that was also fairly open to allow air to pass through.

The process started slow - very slow.  Essentially when we lay a block wall, there is not too much attention paid to where the block goes - you just cut the last one in the row, or adjust accordingly at the top.  1/2 blocks or 1/2 rows are no problem with regular block - its all covered anyway with crepisage.

Of course I had a plan for the decorator block and I changed the rules - side to side mattered and top to bottom mattered.  I wanted each row and each block precisely placed to achieve the overall effect.  I did my calculations ahead of time and cut measuring sticks for each block and for the overall height.  Put the sticks into effect.  Initially the mason didn't want to use them - just lay the blocks like any other wall. When I got him to use them - then accuracy became a challenge.  The mortar joints were at least as wide as - but not precisely as wide as.  The row heights met the same challenge.  The mason insisted that the mortar joint was the right size when it was close - out by say up to 1/2 cm - but each little bit extra added to the overall problem and I saw our spacing at the top row deteriorating rapidly.  Of course my command of the language added to the challenge.  By the end of day 1, I was pulling out my hair.  Luckily I had just cut it -so it was too short to have much of an impact.  Day 2 improved and by day 3 (Friday) we seemed to be more or less on track.  Looking forward to getting back at it tomorrow.

You actually got the shorter version of the story.  I didn't go into how my new "rules"constantly came back to bite me nor how the blocks were bigger than their stated sizes.

Now for a couple of pics. 

You will note the tin roof of our neighbour just outside the window.  It's a bakery and you often get the smell of fresh bread wafting into the building.  You sometimes get the urge to buy some bread until you look down through their window into the bakery.  It would definitely fail a health inspection in Canada.

At the bottom middle of the picture you will see the metal lath that we put into the mortar joint between the rows of blocks.  It helps to strengthen the window.

In the picture the mason is on the right hand side and his helper on the left.  We've finally got the first two rows placed (day 1)  and starting to go up.

In the second picture the pattern of the window block is starting to emerge.  The masons and the helper that you see at the bottom of the picture are apply crepisage to the block wall below the window.    This window will surround the full floor - approximately 21m x 24m (irreg).  The pattern allows lots of light and air to enter the building.  

Like in an ink blob test - can you tell me the pattern that you see - think deeper than simple circles and lines/triangles.

Early in the week, I'll update with a picture of the completed window - ready for final finishing (petit crepisage) along with the answer to the ink blob test.