Labelling

 The US got into a trade war with Europe over the labelling of food that contains genetically modified ingredients. At this time, most of the corn and soybeans from the US are genetically modified. And so is sugar, wheat, and many other items.

While in the US, I used to always look for the "Certified Non GMO" label on the various food items, and stay away from those that didn't have it. Instead of labelling the food that DOES have GMO stuff in it, people created the opposite: labelling those that don't. 

There are two issues with this approach: first of all, it puts the burden of cost and bureaucracy on those who are doing the (in my eyes) "right" thing. And those, who are causing the whole problem are not incurring any additional cost and effort. That means, the big industry goes scott free, while the little farmers, who are trying to make a difference are punished even more. Most of them can not even afford the process, thus their produce ends up in the same bucket as the industry.

The second issue is, that this "Certified Non GMO" label is just a US animal. In other countries that is not available. That means, outside of the US you have no idea whether you're getting good or bad stuff!

Well, thankfully, Europe is quite a strong economic power. Thus, if the industry wants to export their stuff to Europe, they have to follow the European guidelines and laws. And, aside of complaining bitterly, and crying at the apronfolds of the WTO, the US can't do much about it!

Some of the food that is packaged to go to Europe ends up being sold here in Panama as well. And, maybe not really surprising when you think of who General Mills, Post, Kraft and these guys are, many of the items that I would consider healthy and that are part of my usual diet are actually GMO infested.

Here are a few pictures of the items I encountered with the oh so cute phrase "Contains bio-engineered food". 

Finally starting - The Slab

After waiting 7 months for the registration of the property ownership to be done, a lady at the municipality, feeling sorry for me, made a few phone calls, and arranged for the building permit to be issued. She told me in December that she received it. I haven't seen it yet, but, she says she has it - and I am choosing to trust her word (written in WhatsApp).

So we started the building process now in March - before the dry season ends.

Last year in June already we had prepared the ground by flattening the space where the house is going to be, and adding a 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12") layer of crushed stones. The concept is the same as used for train-tracks: The crushed stone interlocks so much, that it can carry a tremendous load.

On top of the we're putting a 15 cm (6") concrete slab. Enforced with 1/8" (3mm) rebar-mesh and by glass fibre added to the concrete mix.

I am thinking, that in case of an earthquake, the forces will be spread across the whole slab, which kind of floats on top of this layer of stones. Thus, less cracks in walls. I'm also anticipating less sinking foundations due to water.

This space has been sitting like this for more than 1/2 a year. The rain and weather has compacted it even more. On one side it sank a little into the ground, while on the other it stayed pretty stable. So we needed to add some more rocks to get the whole area to be level again.

Instead of building a frame with wooden boards for the slab, I decided to build a frame of concrete blocks - similar to a typical foundation: a ditch, and on the bottom a 10 - 15 cm concrete bed, on top of which one or one and a half layers of blocks.

Once this circumferencing mini wall had cured,  we placed 10 cm high 1/2 blocks all over the area, about 1 m (1 yard) from each other to support the rebar mesh that came on top of them. That way, the mesh will be inside of the concrete slab, supporting it's strength, and not on the bottom rusting away and serving no purpose.

Once the mesh was laid, we tried to place the rebar structures that form the center of the columns on the corners and at those places of the wall that carry the columns for the roof. Also, every so often we placed rebars to support the strength of the walls between the doors and columns. 

I decided to build frames for the doors and windows using cariolas. These door frames were placed, too. 

Once all that was in place, we pored the slab. There where three masons, and 8 helpers, 2 concrete mixers and 6 wheelbarrows. Yet, it took us two days to get the whole 200 m2 (2200 sqft) slab completed.

The lessons I learned:

The rebar structures for the columns and the door frames where very hard to keep vertical and in place, because the mesh would bend and shift as the concrete was pored. We had already filled the holes of the blocks that support the mesh with concrete beforehand. Now I know, that i need to put such supporting blocks for the door frames and columns first, maybe even building little foundations ensuring there's plenty of iron sticking out of them to bind well with the slab later. That way, it should be much easier to keep these things stable and secure.

Secondly: don't believe the local masons when they say something is possible. Think for myself, and go with my gut feeling! I should have had 4 concrete mixers 10 wheelbarrows, 6 masons and 14 helpers. Then we might have been able to do it in one day...

Thirdly, I have to stay at the concrete mixers and ensure that they are not mixing soup! Kindergarten! Grrr! 

Finally: I need to come up with a way to reduce the waste of sand, polvillos, and crushed stones. simply poring them on top of the gravel road ensures that a lot of it turns into the road, instead of being usable for the concrete.

What worked well where the strips of plywood I had prepared. With those we built caminos (paths) for the wheelbarrows to bring the concrete to all the spots necessary.

It is amazing how much strength and energy the local workers have!!! They worked tirelessly all day, with these very heavy loads! The guys at the concrete mixers appeared to be in a competition of who can shovel the sand and polvillos faster into the mixer. The folks with the wheelbarrows filled the to the very top - they appeared to be in a competition of who can lug more mix faster from the mixers to the location of the slab.

I noticed the amazing functioning of the fibre we added to the mix when washing the wheelbarrows, and cleaning up some concrete that was splashed here and there. Totally fascinating! The what seemed like VERY little amount of fibre added created a fine but very strong mesh inside of the concrete. I am curious to see if the large slab is getting some of the typical shrinkage cracks or not, and if so, how severe. So far, after about a week, there are no cracks - so I am hopeful...

Kindergarten - Herding Cats - Fighting Bad Old Habits and Ignorance

 Not sure which of the three it is. Maybe all of them?

The workers here are very hard workers, and generally kind and polite people. But, they are also VERY set in their ways. Usually, it is the people that are 40 or older who are set in their way and not able to learn anything new, or grasp a new concept, idea, or approach - not for lack of ability, but for lack of interest and abundance of ignorance. Here, it seems even worse! And it sets in already at a much younger age!

Trying to get the concrete workers to adhere to better practices is a very frustrating Sisyphus torture!

For example:

When laying blocks, it is necessary to fill the vertical holes in the center of the blocks and compact the concrete in there as much as possible. The best way I know of to accomplish that is filling the whole about half way, then using a short piece of  3/8" (12mm) rebar to push the concrete to the bottom of the brick. Then fill the hole again, and use the rebar again to compact. After about three iterations of this, the hole is really filled and the concrete in there nicely compacted.

Here, the masons fill the whole all the way to the top in the first go, then use the "palaustre" (a mason's trowel) to compact a little. The problem with that approach is, that the trowel, depending on the size, only reaches somewhere between the upper 1/4 to - in the best case - the upper 1/2 of the block. The bottom of the cavity in the block then is mostly air.

(Below are pictures of how that looks from Iris’ house. Added a new outlet, noticed jackhammer hitting such an air-pocket!

Air cavity nicely visible

Added another outlet, noticed jackhammer hitting air

I’m so glad i was so vehemently insisting on the use of rebar at my house!)

The blocks themselves are not really providing much strength, but function only as handy form to make it easier to build straight walls. The real strength comes from the concrete columns inside of the block. Now, obviously, if the bottom part is mostly air, there isn't much strength there!

Over the last week I demonstrated this problem every day about 4 times. When I observe somebody using the trowel, I walk up to them ask them if the hole is full. They say "Yes, of course". I poke the rebar in it, and after getting beyond the top 1/4 of the block it basically falls into empty space. After pushing the concrete all the way to the bottom, there is usually somewhere between 1/4 to 2/3s of the hole empty on top! Still, some workers - mostly the ones who charge the most as they say they are experienced "albañils" - just don't want to understand and continue their old ways! 

To me, it is bad enough when somebody, who calls themselves "expert",  doesn't know this! But, to continue to do the wrong thing after days and days of proving the point - now that gets me really frustrated!

The other worst practice they adhere to religiously around here is to make concrete soup. According to documentation freely and widely available on trustworthy sites it is important to give the cement sufficient but not too much water. The more water is added to the mortar, the weaker the cured concrete is going to be. So, it is recommended to keep the mix as dry as possible. And later provide water on the outside to the finished product. for a concrete slab, usually, one should ensure that for a few days it does not dry out, by spraying water on top of it multiple times a day.

Well, the problem with this is, that when the concrete mix is dry it is more difficult to work with. If you have concrete soup the likelihood of it running all the way to the bottom of the hole by itself is higher, than with a dry mix. Also, laying and adjusting the blocks is much easier when the mix is more malleable. The masons here LOVE soup! Sometimes there is a centimeter or two (1/2 an inch or a full one) of water floating on top of the mix in the wheelbarrow! Such concrete you can break with hour hand when it is cured!

I had gotten a load of blocks delivered that were made with that kind of mix. If you touch them too tightly they were breaking. Sometimes they break from their own weight, when holding them on one end! 

Imagine an earthquake hits, and your wall is built with such blocks, filled with such mortar, and in that fashion! Your wall turns into a pile of gravel!

Well, for the last two weeks, as we've been working on first the foundation slab and now the walls of the house, I have been fighting every day and all day to get the mix to be dry. The more "experienced" the person is who is making the mortar, the more often I have to send the wheelbarrow back to add sand and cement.

The same goes for the filling of the blocks! I ended up asking the least experienced persons on the site to do these tasks (filling holes and mixing mortar) - because they would obey what I tell them to do. The more experienced ones would do the right thing when they see me watch them, and go back to their old habit as soon as they feel unwatched!

The lesson I learned: Try to get unexperienced helpers, and only one or two "experts". Then explain the approach to the helpers until they understand. And the experts? Well, I have to keep a constant eye on them! Like in a kindergarten! I have two eyes, so I can watch two "experts"; no more... And just keep on watching them!

Sigh...