All these years I resisted building a compound wall around the house. But the villagers would pass by and randomly drop plastic bags and wrappers. Then I had motor bikes pass by using this access as a short cut. Many people suggested I build a wall and so it is now a Work In Progress. While it will be around
the house it does not enclose the entire extent of the property which
would be impractical. The property includes the land beyond the wall to the
ocean to the West as well as the land to the North where you see coconut
trees and the irrigation pump house.
Work commence on Jan 18th. Based on the pace it will take all of March.
You can see the island behind the truck as it passes by. Some years ago the sea came in an washed of the road. The truck is actually passing over a dirt road that passes through the property. If and when a proper road is built I will have to reclaim that portion.
The stones of the Wall are individually placed and cemented by a mason and his helper. They typically lay 120 to 130 stones a day. More than 3000 stones were used to form the wall up to the point of getting ready for the gates.
Gap for the West - Sea Side gate.
The fellow who constructed the Gates said he would have them ready by April 17th 2016. Instead he had them ready on June 15th! Meanwhile we got started on site prep.
June 10th, Day 1 - The trenches for the posts/columns were dug and Concrete poured to form the base of the Footing and the Gate Columns.
June 30th, - Day 2, Even though the Gates were delivered on June 15th, he person installing the gate was busy. The rebar for the footing is placed along with the reinforcement rebar for the columns.
Concrete is poured to form the the footing.
The West Gate which is double wide needed a footing and a base.
Concrete is poured to form the columns.
Jul 2nd Day 4: The column formers are removed. Now the gaps have to be filled with stones and the space between prepped.
It is July 15th 2016 as I write this and now that the monsoons are in full swing it will probably be September when work will commence to finish the Wall.
Besides delay in getting the gates, more stones are needed and the Quarry is not delivering.
In getting the gates installed I am convinced of the Power of the Universe. The person who installed the gates was building his house near by and so had all the stuff available to do the job. During the installation, we ran out of grit/aggregate. It just so happened that my neighbour had some remaining from building his house. Normally people don't have grit lying around. We also needed half a bag of cement. The person doing the installation was able to provide that. The installation was completed without a hitch.
Link to Gate Update
Work commence on Jan 18th. Based on the pace it will take all of March.
You can see the island behind the truck as it passes by. Some years ago the sea came in an washed of the road. The truck is actually passing over a dirt road that passes through the property. If and when a proper road is built I will have to reclaim that portion.
Gap left for the East Gate along with a barricade to prevent Cows from entering.
June 10th, Day 1 - The trenches for the posts/columns were dug and Concrete poured to form the base of the Footing and the Gate Columns.
July 1st - Day 3. The gate sections are placed.
Besides delay in getting the gates, more stones are needed and the Quarry is not delivering.
In getting the gates installed I am convinced of the Power of the Universe. The person who installed the gates was building his house near by and so had all the stuff available to do the job. During the installation, we ran out of grit/aggregate. It just so happened that my neighbour had some remaining from building his house. Normally people don't have grit lying around. We also needed half a bag of cement. The person doing the installation was able to provide that. The installation was completed without a hitch.
Link to Gate Update
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