Plans

I think that this house is well built for this climate. Like most houses in Mexico, it is kind of along the lines of adobe construction. The walls are thick and built of bricks or cement blocks covered with stucco. Along with the tile floors, they can absorb a lot of heat. We also have high cathedral type ceilings, except in the 2 bathrooms which have the arched bricks. This means that the house does not heat up that much in the day. Even when it goes well above 30 C outside, it is usually in the mid to high 20s inside. It does not cool off that much at night. When it is down to 17-19 outside at sunrise, it usually remains about 22-24 C inside. I also think that it is going to work well in the winter. Because we have a lot of 6 feet high windows facing southwards, we shall have passive solar heating. In the sunny weather in the winter, the sun coming in will warm up the house during the day and the stored heat should keep the house relatively warm during the night, especially if we have the windows closed. I don’t know if we shall really need propane inserts in either of the fireplaces; we’ll see.

We want to get a gazebo built in our courtyard. The umbrella is a bit small, especially if there are more than 2 people. We are thinking of one about 15-16 feet in diameter; that will still leave space from the roof to let in light and sun. We contacted a contractor, who had been recommended by Cathy and Gary (the couple from Three Islands Lake who were introduced to us by Jack and Kate) for the good job he did for them. We just got the quotation. It is more than our budget can stand right now. However, hopefully by late summer or early fall, we’ll be able to go ahead with that project.