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Thursday, December 8, 2016

Ecuadorian Construction Phase Two

You might recall that early this year I posted about our neighbours putting an addition onto their house. (See Ecuadorian Construction, posted way back at the end of January.)


It was all very Peyton Place with the other neighbours shutting down the construction midway through. There were rapid conversations, cell phone photos taken and then...crickets. Nothing happened. The garage was left mostly open to the elements, the lower floor construction stalled and we were left staring at raw cement and re-bar. 
Fast forward (almost a year...can you imagine?) and construction has restarted. The open space over the garage is getting a roof. The production seems more complicated than necessary, as the framing for a space half a metre deep and maybe four metres wide has taken multiple days, using hand tools, no plumb lines or compasses to measure the angles and slipshod wood that might have fallen off the back of a truck.
Three days later, the metal roof is on and the small window has been removed. They seemed to be unconcerned about having a gaping hole in the side of their house, but finally put up a sheet yesterday. (I can't help but wonder if something "snuck" in).
That's a bed nestled up against the opening - cozy!


We're just at over a week and counting and we watch in fascination. I'm not quite sure how long the rest of the construction is going to take, but we wait with baited breath.

2 comments:

  1. Do you think they have permits for renovations or additions, or would that just be for new builds.

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    1. There is a permitting process for renovations, but I think it's often "skipped". Our builder got shut down putting up covers over the lower balconies as they weren't in the plans and the neighbours were upset about the building blocking their view of the park. It was eventually resolved, as was the conflict with the house across the way. There are also a lot of rules regarding "historic" buildings and work often gets shut down on those if the "historic character" isn't being maintained. Cuenca wants to keep it's UNESCO status at all costs.

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