Just posting some pictures of the lot surveyed. The hole with the water in it is the well. We were lucky to have hit water at 12 feet. This water will be for construction and irrigation in the dry season. We will also have it for backup incase the local water system fails to keep up with the demand. There are 2 more developments going in up the road, I am not sure about the number of North American type homes but for sure they use more water than a Panamaian home. I fully expect to find an iguana in the bottom of this hole one day. He will have to stay there unless a local wants to rescue him - dinner perhaps?
We discovered with this survey the importance of being here. The first thing I noticed was that the driveway was only 8 feet long instead of 14 feet. It turns out that the architect had centered the house on the lot which put it too close to a clump of trees we are trying to save as well. Now they have to resurvey it and move it over several feet.
We are working on the problem of elevations and have, I hope, solved the problem. The first thing we are doing is to drop the house below grade. By building a flood wall in the front (which will just be a nice fence) we can keep any overflow from the ditches contained to the outside of the wall. The picture of the fence is what the flood wall will look like. That will drop us 18". Then the first break in the house will be at the front foyer where there will be 2 steps down into the living room. This will gain us another foot. The next break will be onto the patio which we are making 4 feet wider. This will be a 3 step drop and will gain another 18". The the garage will then be dropped a meter which will put it at ground level for the driveway. The changes in elevation are not a bad thing and should add some element of interest to the building.
We discovered with this survey the importance of being here. The first thing I noticed was that the driveway was only 8 feet long instead of 14 feet. It turns out that the architect had centered the house on the lot which put it too close to a clump of trees we are trying to save as well. Now they have to resurvey it and move it over several feet.
We are working on the problem of elevations and have, I hope, solved the problem. The first thing we are doing is to drop the house below grade. By building a flood wall in the front (which will just be a nice fence) we can keep any overflow from the ditches contained to the outside of the wall. The picture of the fence is what the flood wall will look like. That will drop us 18". Then the first break in the house will be at the front foyer where there will be 2 steps down into the living room. This will gain us another foot. The next break will be onto the patio which we are making 4 feet wider. This will be a 3 step drop and will gain another 18". The the garage will then be dropped a meter which will put it at ground level for the driveway. The changes in elevation are not a bad thing and should add some element of interest to the building.
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