Isabela House (Construction Log 38) Time to Sing
Working under a tarpaulin to protect them from the sun, the deep well team finished its work yesterday. The deep well of Hyner house is now as far down as the Mangligot deep well and seems to be producing good quantities of clean water. Both the Hyner and Mangligot handpumps have been raised to backfill height ready for connection to the electrical pumps that will transfer water into each pressurized water tank.
By afternoon they were attempting to connect the electrical pump to the Hyner deep well but didn’t seem to be having much success. Although the handpump had been gushing water, the electrical pump produced a thin dribble of water. They didn’t seem to be reading any instructions for this pump. After a few minutes it was realise that a second electrical connection was needed to another part of the pump and this was fitted. Still only a very small amount of water was produced. Eventually, with the light beginning to fade, they removed the pump for safekeeping. We have no idea why it wouldn’t work as we know there is plenty of water. Northcon’s boss had told us that the electrical pump will produce a lot more water than the handpump so either the electrical pump is faulty or they are not operating it correctly. They have a second electrical pump for the Mangligot house so maybe they should try that one on Saturday to see if it works any better.
Monday and Tuesday it was only a skeleton crew at the site as everybody else was either queuing to vote in the national elections or celebrating afterwards with the assistance of gin or Red Horse beer. So maybe it was a good thing none of them tried to do any work. Wednesday onwards we have seen a complete workforce beavering away and handing over rooms for our review and defect report. The lifted tiles in some of these photographs are ones that didn’t pass the sound test when tapped (meaning the backing concrete has gaps) so have to be relaid.
The following photos were taken a couple of days back using a fisheye lens so please remember that this distorts the images even though I straighten them out on the PC later using Nikon Capture NX to create an extremely wide angle view. So rooms may look a lot larger and a different shape to reality.
Unfortunately Nelson was burning the candle at both ends. As Northcon’s regular security guy was unavailable Nelson took on the night duty as well as the dayjob.
The perimeter wall is having caps added to the top of each pillar. All pillars have now been smooth cemented. Next week the railings will be installed and electrical work on the lighting will recommence.
In the meantime Justin aspires to being a motorcyclist.
Yesterday afternoon they sent a text messages asking if they could access the rented house to do some repairs. The message then changed to “doing an extension to the house”. We said “No Way!”, as the last thing we want is our security undermined by building work. The new owner then complained saying there should be give and take, to which Gina responded by sending them a text saying that we had the legal right to stay until 30 July and that we were still willing to leave as soon as our new house is ready. That is the give and take as far as we are concerned. We will not tolerate any further harrassment from them and the old owner, who has asked to be kept informed, fully supports us. Indeed the contract gives us various protections in the event of a sale of the property but does not free the owner from the rental obligations or rental period unless we give it up voluntarily.
Footnote
For those interested in the technical side, this blog contains a mixture of photos and video taken with a Nikon Coolpix S700 compact and fisheye photos taken on a Nikon D300, later straighened in Nikon Capture NX to create extreme wide angle pictures with a little less distortion. The interior shots were modified with Nikon Capture NX D-lighting to offset the backlight from the windows against the darker interior of each room. I still have much to learn about taking photographs but it’s funny how sometimes you just see a picture begging to be taken, like those kitchen cabinet doors hanging out to dry.
Great shots of the beautiful interiors, Rich, and I love the picture of the security guard who has to pull extra duty.