Aerocretos De Mexico is pleased to announce its expansion, with the addition of our new Partner

 ING. MANUEL BAEZ LARA.

Manuel, adds exceptional depth to the company, with his years of experience in heavy industry construction. Including major infrastructure projects such as pipelines and water treatment plants, as well as an extensive history in general home construction.

Manuel’s professional accreditation is outstanding,

He  is a licensed Chemical and Environmental Engineer CED. PROF.5012092, having graduated from FACULTAD DE QUIMICA DEL INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE AGUASCALIENTES

Manuel holds a diploma from the Mexican Chamber of Construction Industries, as a Supervisor of Works.                                       DIPLOMADO DE SUPERVISION DE OBRA DE LA CAMARA MEXICANA DE LA INDUSTRIA DE LA CONSTRUCCION DE S. L. P.

He has also just received his diploma as a Master  in valuations of Buildings and Industrial Machinery.                                                      MAESTRIA DE VALUACION DE BIENES INMUEBLES, MAQUINARIA INDUSTRIAL. INSTITUTO TECNICO DE LA CONSTRUCCION CAMARA MEXICANA DE LA INDUSTRIA DE LA CONSTRUCCION.

Welcome to the Team Manuel.

We raised the level of this pool, refinished it, added filtration, water feature, Talavera tile and a whole bunch more. But that was a few months ago. Today, the client sent us this picture of the pool, now with all the plants and pots added. WOW! it is even better than before and that was pretty good.

Todays weather forecast show a tropical wave forming just off of Venezuela and tropical waves can form cyclones. Since the strongest ever recorded Hurricane in May (CAT 4) just occured in the pacific, it may serve as a warning or timely reminder.

No one wants to have a hurricane visit their area, but they are a fact of life in the tropics. Traditionally, the North coast of the Yucatan has generally been a safe place to be. Due to the geography of the area, which tends to see storms follow the Yucatan channel or lose strength as they cross land. However, there have been a few notable exceptions such as Glibert and Isadora, that did huge amounts of damage. The one good thing about hurricanes is you can see them coming for days and have lots of time to activate your plans. You do have a plan don’t you?  Here in Mexico, once a storm reaches certain proportions and is predicted to hit this area, on the North Coast of the Yucatan, an evacuation order will be given. Once given, it is mandatory that you leave, it is NOT optional. You need to do your own homework, to find out where the closest evacuation shelters are and make sure you know how to get to them. For people who have pets, the problem becomes much more difficult, as the shelters do not allow pets. If you are a pet owner , you will need an alternate shelter for you and your pets. Now is the time to canvas friends, to see if they will allow you to bring your pets with you, in the event of an emergency. Remember, you may be stuck there for a week or more, under not so nice conditions, so tempers of both you and your pets might get frayed.

When a hurricane strikes it is not just a case of high wind. Hurricanes also bring massive amounts of moisture and humidity levels skyrocket. It could be 35+ degrees and 100% humidity for days on end, with no electricity for fans or A/C. Anything you get wet, will never ever dry, clothes, pills, papers, NOTHING! Plus mold and mildew will run rampant if unchecked. It will not be pleasant, to spend a week or more in a damp environment, exposed to mosquito’s nightly, along with your wet dogs. The only way to keep your sanity is to be absolutely prepared for the worst and make sure you have a way to keep everything as dry as possible. If you have an alternate place to stay inland and you have a generator. Make sure you have extension cords and spare fuel, also fill your cars gas tank and have a syphon hose. A modern car has 45 or so litres of fuel which can power a small generator for 4 or 5 days of reasonable use. So having a syphon hose handy is a good idea.

Below is a list of suggested items to have handy in the event that a hurricane does arrive. But, even if you head to a friends house or shelter and then return home, you will still need to be prepare. You may be with out power for a long period, if transmission lines are down and there is a good chance your beach home and more likely its contents maybe substantially damaged. Remember, no power means , no city water and fuel stations can’t pump gas, stores won’t have cold storage, etc. Like the Boy Scouts say “Be prepared”.

Here are recommendations on what to do before a storm approaches:

– Use hurricane shutters or board up windows and doors with 5/8 inch plywood. Make them now before you need them!

– Bring outside items in if they could be picked up by the wind, place screws in your tinaco lid, as they tend to fly away.

– Turn the refrigerator to its coldest setting in case power goes off. Use a cooler to keep from opening the doors on the freezer or refrigerator.

– Make sure your cisterna and Tinaco are full and you have 5 or more Garafons of water available.

– Make sure your vehicles fuel tanks are full and you have spare fuel for a generator, also have a siphon hose

– Have an evacuation plan.

– Learn the location of the nearest shelter or nearest pet-friendly shelter. This is a big issue for pet owners in the beach areas.

– Store important documents — passports, Social Security cards, birth certificates, deeds — in a watertight container.

– Have a current inventory of household property.

– Leave a note to say where you are going.

– Contact relatives and let then know you maybe out of touch for a week or more.

– Unplug small appliances and electronics before you leave.

– If possible, turn off the electricity, gas and water for your residence.

Here is a list of handy supplies:

– A seven-day supply of water, a minimum of one gallon per person per day.

– Three days of food, with suggested items including: canned meats, canned or dried fruits, canned vegetables, canned juice, peanut butter, jelly, salt-free crackers, energy/protein bars, trail mix/nuts, dry cereal, cookies or other comfort food.

– A can opener and eating utensils

– Flashlight(s) and candles.

– A battery-powered radio.

– Extra batteries.

– A first aid kit, including latex gloves; sterile dressings; soap/cleaning agent; antibiotic ointment; burn ointment; adhesive bandages in small, medium and large sizes; eye wash; a thermometer; aspirin/pain reliever; anti-diarrhea tablets; antacids; laxatives; small scissors; tweezers; petroleum jelly.

– A seven-day supply of personal medications, in waterproof containers.

– A multipurpose tool, with pliers and a screwdriver.

– Cell phones and chargers, laptops are handy if the Wifi in Merida’s parks is still up and running.

– Contact information for the family.

– A hammock setup, for each person, as a bed is almost useless in high humidity and will never dry.

– Extra cash.

– Mosquito netting or mosquito coils

– A map of the area, as familiar routes my be closed due to downed trees or other debris.

– Pet supplies.

– Wet wipes, showers may not be an option.

– Insect repellent.

– Rain gear.

– Duct tape.

– An extra set of house keys.

– An extra set of car keys.

– Household bleach.

– Toilet paper in zip lock bags or the handy single wrapped Costco rolls.

– Paper cups, plates and paper towels.

– DRY, Charcoal and matches, if you have a portable grill. But only use it outside.

Another nice, bright and refreshing pool with water cascade, just got finished in Merida Centro, complete with storage bodega and new terrace.

There has been lots of discussion lately on expat forums, about the damage that occurs to paint coatings in the Yucatan. This damage can usually be seen in the bottom 1/3 of the walls. Peeling paint, plaster falling off or even fungus or mould growing are all symptoms of the same issue, water in the walls. When talking about mamposteria or block walls, they both have one thing in common, a binding cement that holds the rock or block together. Now there are newer waterproof cements, but almost all of the homes in question were built with older cements that absorb water, like a wick. There are three basic ways water can get in a wall – from the outside on unprotected surfaces, from the top down filtering through cracks or exposed surfaces and from the bottom up. The first two are pretty easy to fix, a good exterior paint on the outside walls and a impermeable coating on the roof and other topside surfaces. The hard part is stopping moisture from wicking up the wall from the ground, after the wall is made. I am sure a method probably exists to waterproof a foundation after the fact, but I do not have any experience with it.

Lets look at the composition of a typical foundation on an older home here in the Yucatan. Most of the Colonial era homes were build on a foundation of limestone rock and a limestone based cement. This is where the issue actually starts, as limestone is porous and can absorb moisture from the ground. Even new homes here are build on a limestone foundation, for the most part. On new buildings it is easy to put a vapour barrier of plastic, damp course, or a tar coating on the concrete top edge of the foundation, to prevent water from wicking. But that was not done on most older homes in the Yucatan. So when the rains come, water starts wicking into the walls at the foundation level. As the moisture gets drawn in to the dryer higher part of the wall, it brings various ground salts with it. And as it rises it also starts to evaporate, but since the inside walls of a house are usually coated with some form of plaster and paint, the water is trapped and eventually causes the coating to fail, this is why the damage is usually restricted to the bottom of walls. The trapping of moisture can also create problems with mould and fungus growth. You may also notice a very fine soft crystalline formation coming out of your paint or wall coating, that is usually Calcium Hydrate being brought to the surface as the moisture (acid) in the walls slowly bleeds it from the limestone and cement. The technical term for this is Efflorescence. Eventually, after many many years, the binding cement may fail, which can be seen on many old neglected structures in Merida, where the cement in the walls just seems to crumble.

The question is how do you stop this from ruining the paint on your walls. The answer is, it is not easy at all.  If you buy an older home, traditionally vapour barriers were not used. You can put sealers on the walls, but you run the risk of trapping the moisture in the walls and maybe make a good breeding ground for mould or the moisture may build to a level where the wall coating fails anyhow. There are also coatings on the market, that open up the pours in the paints to allow the moisture to evaporate quicker, thus saving the paint. I have also heard of people drilling holes into the walls near the ground to let moisture escape, but I have no experience with this process. There is no easy answer other than prevention in new homes.

There are a few things you can do to make life a little easier however. Paint the lower part of the wall a different colour. This means you do not have to paint the entire wall when the time comes. Some people put a pattern on the lower part of the wall, to hide the effects as well. Then of course there is alway wainscotting to hide problems as well. If the exterior of the particular wall is uncoated consider a coating to prevent excess water penetration from the outside to the inside.

Or accept the fact, that it is just part of life in the Yucatan.

When Jill and Martin, owners of  El Bullpen in Chelem, decided it was time for a new pool at their hotel/restaurant, they knew there was really only one choice for professional work. Naturally they called us, Aerocretos de Mexico, for quality, service and price. Now for that new terrace!

It is the beginning of a pool, terrace and new Baño for our customer.

Once in a lifetime, you come across talent, that cannot be ignored. That is the case with Joel Rios. I have personally been buying Joel’s art for more than 2 years. Both of my homes are decorated with his talent. But he keeps creating fantastic paintings and charcoal works of art. I just grabbed his latest work, The terracotta painting, as it spoke to me. He is a fantastic artist that deserves more exposure, so this is the sole reason, for this post. He is an artist of exceptional talent. To review some of his wonderful work visit him at https://www.facebook.com/artstudiojoelrios His works are fantastic and deserve recognition.

Simply night and day

Our partner, Manuel Baez Lara, has now received his State Certificate to conduct evaluations of properties and machinery, for banking and other legal requirements. This Certificate is issued only after completing 2 years of Studies and numerous exams at ITC Instituto Technologico de la Construccion and is very difficult to receive, If you need a legally accepted assessment give us a call.

Quite often we are asked for suggestions on a particular project. While we have always got some great ideas, we also need to know your budget for the project. There is no point in any contractor coming up with a design plan, only to be told it is too expensive. It is much better to give your contractor a budget and see what your money can get you. People seem to be hesitant about setting a budget and or sharing it. But realistically, that is the only way you can get a proposal that meets what you expect to spend.

I received a call the other day from some good clients of ours. They have guests arriving and when they went to turn on the water heater, for that part of the house, it lit once and went out and would not relight. They needed to fix or replace it ASAP or the guests would be taking cold showers. The way almost all water heaters work, is pretty simple. They have a control box that looks something like this.

The dial on the face controls the temperature setting and the red button on top is held down as part of the pilot lighting procedure. The little bronze screw at the 10 o’clock position controls the pilot lights gas flow and is used to adjust the strength of the flame of the pilot light. A windy area may need a stronger flame (counter clockwise is more flame)

Under normal conditions, to start up a unit that has been shut off or blown out, you turn the control knob, on the face, to off and then to pilot. You open the trap door at the front of the unit and locate the pilot light which looks something like this when lit. The pilot light has a thermocouple, when hot it supplies a small electical charge to the control box, allowing the flow of gas. If the pilot goes out, all gas gets shut off at the control box. Once you locate the pilot you need a method to light it. Some heaters have a Piezo starter, but in my experience, they never work when needed. A good stand by, is a long match or BBQ lighter. Ok back to starting, main dial to pilot, light match or lighter and put near the top of the Thermocouple pilot assembly and press and hold down the red button. The pilot should light and after 20 or so seconds, you should be able to release the red button and the pilot should remain lit. Now all you need to do, is turn the dial to the temp setting you want and all should be good. But what if it won’t light or stay lit? It is usually 1 of 2 problems.

Problem 1  The gas line that feeds the pilot is very small and is easily corroded, if you are in an area near saltwater. It is also the perfect spot for small bugs to make a nest. Either one can block it while it was not being used.

Problem 2 The Thermocouple has failed and is no longer sending a signal when hot.

The solution to both problems, is to replace the thermocouple pilot light assembly, which as of Yesterday was a 50 peso part and should take about 20 minutes the first time you do it.

The thermocouple pilot light assembly looks like this when the flame is out. It is at the end of the 2 smaller tubes leaving the control box, and consists of a small metal cylinder (thermocouple) and a metal shape that looks like a Cobras hood (pilot light). To see the pliot light assembly you first have to open the trap door and most likely use a flashlight.  The assembly is held in place usually by 2 small screws that hold it to a bracket, so that its flame is close enough to ignite a main burner.

So So step 1 is to turn the control dial to off. Open the trap door, identify the pilot/thermocouple assembly and remove the 2 screws.

Step 2 is to go to the control box and see where the tubes enter the bottom, usually there is a protective thin metal shield, protecting the tubing just below the box and it is held on in most cases by 2 small screws. Now just unscrew the screws and remove the shield. You will see something like this.

This still has the shield on but shows the connections.

Step 3 You simply need to undo the 2 smaller tubes using a 3/8 and a 7/16 wrench or a small adjustable crescent will also work. The wrench goes on the little nut closest to the pipes they are on.

Step 4 once free remove the assembly, by feeding the small pipes back into the large hole in the heater body, as you remove the pilot assembly out the trap door

That is it. Now take that assembly to any plumbing and electric store and ask for a replacement, but make sure the one you get is at least as long as the original.

Step 5 Once you have the new part, just feed the tubing back out the hole in the heater body, so the pilots bracket will line up the existing bracket on the heater. You may need to bend the pipes as required, to get it in place. The pipes are flexible but do not kink them.

Step 6 Screw the pilot assembly back onto the mounting bracket and make sure it is more less in the same proximity to the burner. Bend the fixed mounting bracket if needed to move it as required.

Step 7 Bend the tubes one at a time so the ends go into their respective holes and retighten the nuts. Small word of caution, do not over tighten, these are small brass fittings!

Step 8 Put the protective cover back on and you are almost done.

Now Go ahead and light the pilot light. If it lights and stays on after you release the button, then you have fixed the problem. So turn the temperature control to your desired setting and the main burner should light off. This is a very common problem with water heater and is really a 50 peso fix.

If you have spent any time in the Yucatan, you have heard the word SARRO, probably in a combination of swear words. Sarro is to water systems, as cholesterol is to arteries, it plugs them up.

Saro in spigot filter of tap

Lets start with the basics, Sarro is simply a calcium deposit, also called scale in Canada or the USA. It slowly builds up in the inside of your tinaco and in some points of your piping as well. Till the water slows and eventually stops due to the build up. If you notice your water flow is starting to slow down, sarro is the most likely suspect. Remember when it comes to piping, 1/4 the diameter is a reduction of flow by 1/2. So if you kitchen tap normally delivers 4 gallons a minute a 1/4 reduction will reduce the output to 2 gallons a minute. So it does not take a lot of build up to drastically reduce the flow. The other related problem that creeps up and slowly stops the flow, is small particles of sarro breaking off and going downstream. They eventually end up in the fine wire mesh at the end of the tap spigot. Since it builds up over time you don’t notice the flow decrease, until it is partially blocked. The other place this occurs and I am willing to bet a lot of you do not know you have one, is the washing machine inlet filter. Samsung LG and most washing machines here, have a small fine steel mesh filter inside the coupling, where the water hoses attach to the machine. Usually it has a small tab to grab and you pull it out. If you notice the washer doesn’t fill as fast as it did, now you know why.

Saro taken from a tinaco after 2 years.

But, the issue is what do you do about it? The solution is not difficult, but is time consuming. First you need to drain your tinaco and clean every speck of sarro out of it. It is hard to reach the bottom of the big plastic tinacos, but it has to be done somehow. As they build up a lot of sarro over time and of course pieces break off and plug the works.

One way to avoid some down stream problems is to install a filter just downstream of the tinaco to catch particles as they break off. Just make sure it is easy to access and have spare filters handy. Now once the tinaco is clean, comes the messy and what could be dangerous part. No doubt when you have been in a grocery store here you have seen the shelves lined with Muriatic acid (diluted hydrochloric acid). It is used to dissolve sarro. People pour it in the toilet water tank to dissolve the sarro build up on the flapper valve as an example. The locals also use it to clean out the house water lines. I am not suggesting anyone, not familiar with its use, do this, as acid is dangerous, but this is simply an explanation of the process, in a non pressurized house.  Since muriatic acid dissolves sarro, It is diluted and poured into the plastic piping that exits the tinaco, do not use this method if you have old metal piping in the house or a cement tinaco. There are a few things to remember, if you are using this method. Acid stains stainless steel and dissolves limestone or concrete, so if you were to get any coming out of the tap in the kitchen, it needs to be caught in a bucket or other container. you also need to remove every wire mesh filter from taps and other locations and make sure the washing machine taps are turned OFF and all the other taps open and free to let all the gunk out. Now that everything is ready, what the locals do is just pour the acid in the lines, you will see a lot of bubbling and foaming as the acid dissolves the sarro and it may take many bottles of acid to get all the lines clean. While the lines are being cleaned, people pump the tinaco full of water, in preparation to flush the acid and gunk out of the lines. Once the acid has done its work, which could take an hour or more, depending how bad the lines are. the water is turned back on at the tinaco and the lines well flushed. This process may have to be repeated several times, if the lines are really bad.

For day to day removal of saro around sinks and taps, vinegar also works, but a lot slower. As it is not as powerful of an acid. I have also heard of people pouring a gallon or 2 of White vinegar in the tinaco, in an effort to slowly dissolve saro as the home owner uses up the water. But I have no practical experience with it. There are also commercial products like CLR that will do the same job, but they are more expensive than acid.

Exterior paint, takes a beating in the Yucatan. The sun breaks down the pigments and binding agents over time and the paint begins to chalk and flake. If you are at the beach, the salt air and sand are even harder on the paint and it does not last as long as house paint in Merida. I am currently having my own house at the beach painted and it is not a quick process if you want it done right, so that it will last. It is not a matter of a quick scrape and slapping on some paint.

First the exterior has to be washed with a good powerwasher. This will strip any flaking paint and dislodge any loose finish. The areas of loose finish, then need to be chipped away, to get to a solid surface, making sure the underlying material is sound.

This area then has to be prepped and resurfaced. We use a special bonding agent to make sure the new cement bonds to the old.

All to often what seems like a small crack ends up like this and of course it takes time to repair properly and time is money.  The whole house has be washed and repaired, then a sealer coat is put on. But this has to be done in sections to make sure the salt air does not get on the old surface again before you paint. The sealer does 2 things, obviously it seals the old and new surfaces, but it also acts as a bonding agent between new and old paint. Only now, can you put on the first coat of paint and it usually takes at least 2 coats, to get a good solid coverage. 1 man working on a small house, will take almost 2 weeks to do it properly, depending on repairs needed and the complexity of the colour scheme and house design. Then of course there is the cost of all materials required and paint is not cheap. Now you know why quotes for painting vary so much. There is quick and cheap or there is doing it right, which costs a lot more, but lasts longer.

We just finished a complete home remodel, featuring these beautiful custom made cabinets

Remember, the creativity displayed in a project, is only limited by your imagination, this customer wanted a cool custom TV display area. These concrete cabinets, will hold a variety of articles including stereo and surround sound equipment. All with custom inset LED lighting.

Custom welded stair railings were the order of the day for these folks as the grandkids were coming down.

New pool, stamped concrete terrace  and total top to bottom house reno here, complete with all new kitchen tiling and cabinets.   

Here are some questions you should ask of any prospective builder, to give you an idea of their ability to do the task at hand. I have put in my answers for each question, just as a reference.

• Are you a registered company and do you have a company website?

Yes we are. Aerocretos de Mexico S. de R.L de C.V.    RFC ame120510gf1  and we can be found at http://www.aerocretosdemexico.com

• How many people – direct employees – work for your company? This answer will give you an indication of company depth.

It varies as projects come and go, but we keep a core group that have been with us for 7 years and expand as required, right now it is about 30.

• What are their job descriptions? This answer tells you if the contractor has adequate support staff.

Some are master Abiniles others are helpers. We also have 2 support trucks, one with an overall supervisor and the other with a fluent english speaker. We also have a master plumber electrician on staff and an engineer.

• What do they do each day? You should get a feel if the people are full or part time.

We put dedicated crews on each job and the service trucks visit each site at various times during the day delivering materials and checking the progress. Our engineer partner visits projects daily to review the progress and one of the other partners or perhaps all of us, will also show up and check quality independently.

• How many jobs does your company have in progress right now? Will your job be lost among these?

We have 4 major project projects in progress and 5 smaller ones, right now. We won’t take on more till one wraps up. We have projects that are waiting till a crew comes free.

• Do you have any other outstanding bids right now? If these turn into jobs, will your job drop to the bottom of the list?

Of course, if we waited to bid on contracts until jobs were finished we would be too late to bid. But we start new jobs in the sequence we get them.

• Do you work from your home? This can be a sign of under-capitalization. I never had an office of my own, so ask more if this is important to you.

Yes, it is better for me, but we also have an office/storage place in Chelem and a formal meeting space in Merida.

• How do you manage your jobs on a day-to day basis? All jobs require management. Ask for details! Who checks for quality, mistakes and progress?

There are 3 partners in the company, 2 are on the road at any given time reviewing the projects. When mistakes are made we correct them and make sure the workers understand the issues. All the major jobs have timelines posted, along with our company standards, for all employees to see. It is not practical on smaller jobs.

• Have you or your company ever been sued before? The truth is available in the courthouse records!

NO, never!

• What is the worst building experience that happened to you? Listen! What is the story behind the tale?

We have had customers that were impossible to please and changed their minds on things mid project and blamed us, when the job went longer than planned. It all worked out in the end, but it was frustrating.

• What has been your best building experience? Listen! What is it he/she likes to do? Ask why.

Actually most of our past customers are now current friends, it is fun to do projects where the customer has a vague idea of what they want and we can guide them, to get the dream job completed for them.

• What are your business ambitions?
• Are the words quality, customer satisfaction in the answer? If you hear, “…make a lot of money…” WATCH OUT!

To keep a good quality crew, busy year round on interesting projects. We are in the process of working on a new roof top pool and total reno in an older house. Structural engineers are involved, architects, all the partners have various ideas. It is fun for me during the design stage and my other partners are more active in the overall building phase.

• What is the longest amount of down-time you experienced between jobs? A contractor in demand has little or no down time.

Maybe a week or so as we had to wait for permits.

• Do you use sub-contractors? Most contractors do.

Yes, but we usually end up hiring the best of them full time.

• What is average length of time they have worked for you? You are looking for 5 or more years here!

Most for many years.

• Can you provide me with a list of customers I can contact and can I see samples of your work.

Absolutely, we can show you for example, various renovations, many of which required structural engineering and from the ground up homes. Structural reno’s, are actually the most challenging as it is not as easy, as building from the ground up. We have even built projects in cellular concrete, to keep the third story weight as low as possible, (boutique hotel) and are currently building a new house on pylons, for hurricane protection. As well as the 40 or so custom pools we have designed and built.