Youngs in Spain

For the last week we have had two Spaniards in our home doing some construction, working to finish in half of the garage to make a new spare room. Since there is very little wood available here, construction practices are quite different in Spain. Most houses are made entirely of brick and concrete, including the walls and roofs. David has enjoyed watching them and seeing a very different way of doing things than he is used to.


The workers began by knocking a hole in the exterior brick wall of the garage where they put in a new window. They also knocked out the concrete around a metal, exterior entry door into the house from the garage so the door could be removed. It will be replaced with a wooden interior door. Next they constructed a wall down the middle of the garage using brick and mortar. This wall is about two inches thick, and is covered with a thin layer of concrete which is applied with an incredibly smooth finish.

They ran plastic tubing from an existing electrical box in one wall, across the floor, and up into the other walls for outlets and lights. They will pull wires through these plastic tubes later on.

To lay the floor, they first filled in the garage floor with crumbled brick from their demolition work. Next, they mixed concrete on the road in front of our house and dumped it in small piles on the floor about 4 inches thick. Into this they pressed the tile (travertine?) flooring, tapping it in until it was level.

Here are some of the tools of the trade. The straw looking stuff on top is mixed with fast-drying cement and used to anchor the door frames into the concrete walls.

It has been very noisy and very dusty, but we are excited about having the extra space. Another great thing about it is that we have had to use our Spanish and Keri, especially, is finding that it is coming back to her. We will post more pictures this week and once it is finished.