So what have we been up to? ROOFING! Yep. The roof to my son’s mini-abode is finally done! Let me tell you, I despaired of it happening at all! Here’s how this construction adventure went.
If you recall, I lost my main source of income in March and spent several months living on a prayer and painstakingly earning just enough money to pay the internet before landing some ho-hum jobs. In August, my cup runneth over with the Chinese company, and I had classes every day. Since I was pretty sure that wouldn’t last (and it didn’t), I decided that the best use of those funds was to go ahead with the roof project.
I still didn’t have quite enough moolah gathered, having not taken the 15% increase on building materials into account, so the materials guy in town agreed to allow us to have the necessary items “fiado” (on credit). I have one large outstanding bill remaining, but I hope to have that paid with my next paycheck.
With the materials taken care of, the next step was to rent the framing wood. My husband went to a few different places. It seemed that their policies had changed since the last time we put on a roof. Now, instead of paying when the month was up, we’d need to pay part upfront. I wasn’t thrilled with that, but it is what it is.
Next up was getting the framing wood in place. Unfortunately, my husband was unable to do this vital part of the project. Because the wood rent was a daily charge, and fees were mounting, so he hired someone to put up the wood. Well, he found someone to do it, and I paid him to do it. It was yet another additional expense, but it got done.
After the wood was up, it was time to hire the colladores (roofing crew). This part actually went pretty smoothly. In fact, it was the easiest roofing day we’ve ever experienced. The crew boss was competent. My son was on hand for any last-minute needs. And I stayed out of the way. Yet again, I didn’t take into account the 6% rise in the cost of labor, but I managed to pay the guys (and buy beer and carnitas).
The next step was to wet the roof daily for the setting period (22 days). Some days, Tlaloc obliged, and it rained. Other days, my son had to haul buckets of water through the hole. Bruce liked to hang out while he did this but was anxious when he disappeared into the sky.
During the setting period, we had a few earthquakes ranging from 7.7 to a measly 3.0. The epicenters were mostly in Michoacan, a hop, skip and jump away, so we did feel the shaking in La Yacata. Fortunately, the roof seemed to have sustained no damage.
The past weekend, it was time to take down the wood. The process took just 2 days. Further construction will need to wait until my finances recover, but pretty much everything else will be less expensive than this roofing endeavor, thank goodness.
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