The Dodgy-Wodgy House Across the Street

A while ago, I did a post about Ecuadorian construction, as it relates to home additions. It featured the house across the street, that already had interesting nooks and crannies, the sort of which you'd only see in sprawling estates in Canada. (You know the type, the ones that have wings for family members?)

Crazy angles, no?

Anyhow, we noticed a man up on the roof of said house. He appeared several times this week and we finally determined (thanks to my prior blog) that the family was building another addition. We think it's likely just another room, peeking out from behind the last addition. 

Adding another room

Now, I have a fairly fertile imagination, but try as I might, I can't come close to imagining what the house's interior layout looks like. In my mind's eye, I see a sort of labyrinth like warren of dens, with random stairways and hidey-holes. Based on the roof layout, there can't be any decent sight lines or open spaces, just a interconnected series of tiny rooms - enough for everyone in the family, or so I presume.

But for the small part at the right,
it's all the same roof

Like most things here, necessity is the driving force behind changes, so I'm not really sure if the family has thought things out, or is just wodging  in the needed space where it will fit. Either way, it's an interesting spectacle to behold and maybe, one day, I'll get to peek in the house and can stop imagining the wild and wacky arrangement.

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.