Click here to see a summary of costs involved in land purchase and administration.

3 Administrative Stuff

On 24 January 2014 we signed an agreement with the seller to buy the land. This contract served in lieu of the title in the paperwork involved in transferring the predial, installing the electricity supply, and getting permissions to build. It was especially necessary in my case to have this contract, since as a non-Mexican it is necessary to obtain permission to buy land, and so we would have to wait for this to be processed before the sale could be completed.

To ensure we had a legal boundary, we hired a topographer, whose name was given to us by the construction office in Jacona. At the same time, we needed permission to build, which the topographer offered to handle. I thought it would be better to get permission for the entire construction at the same time, but the topographer said it would be better to do it in two stages - firstly that for the boundary wall, and secondly that for the house. This is since the former requires only basic basic structural details and can be completed fairly quickly; however permission for the house requires a full set of plans and structural calculations that must be completed and signed off by a structural engineer.

The topographer was entrusted to obtain permission to build the boundary wall, but apparently had to return twice to the construction office in Jacona due to errors he made. Although the permission was not complete, we were nonetheless given a verbal green light to begin construction of the wall. The final document still had a basic error in that the height of the wall was given as 2.5m, not the 4m we wanted and which was the height of the walls of the neighbors either side. And the boundary he marked was clearly incorrect as the frontage measured 20.20m not 20m. Since it seems he simply measured it from the property to the right, we adjusted it accordingly in the hope that this boundary is correct.

The topographer also offered to do the full set of plans, plus the structural calculation that is required to obtain permission to build the house (even though he was a topographical engineer, not a structural one). But it had become clear to us that he was an incompetent alcoholic; instead the necessary work relating to the house plans (including obtaining permission to build the house) was done by the structural engineer who checked and signed off the plans for "El Refugio".

We also had to consider Social Security payments (IMSS). Because we were to build a one-story house, the risk is lower than it was for "El Refugio", and some considered we need not bother. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that failing to pay IMSS contributions is not a good idea...

4 House Design

The design of "El Refugio" was primarily that of the architect - although I specified what I wanted, and subsequently commented on and insisted on some changes in the provisional plans produced, it is fair to say that he was in the driving seat. This was especially the case since being a newcomer to Mexico at that time, I had little knowledge of the options available. But this time, having lived here for over 8 years, I was in a position to originate the plans.

4.1 More Efficient Use of Space

The new house is on one level with 2 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. The design is much more compact than that of "El Refugio", and is intended to be generally cozier with less open space. I put some effort into keeping things down to just what was needed, hopefully avoiding making spaces too small for furniture and people to fit in (in any case we will have to ditch some of the furniture of "El Refugio"). In fact with a gross area (including walls) of 252m² (2710 square feet) with the covered porch and terrace of 22m², the house is not really small. There is also a covered outdoor entertainment area with kitchenette, and an outbuilding.

The house at "El Refugio" is open on all sides, and consideration was therefore given to providing pleasing esthetics to each of the four elevations. In contrast, the new house is to fit closely within the 20m width of the boundary wall - as such, only the front elevation is important esthetically. One could save money by using the boundary walls as three of the house walls, thus only requiring a separate front wall. But we considered it better to isolate the house completely from the boundary wall, and have a path in between. The height of the boundary wall is 4m, and that of the house 4.3m, with a gap of 1.2m in between.

4.2 Multiple Roof Sections

To the front, roofs are sloping with bóveda ceilings; since the house faces directly into the strongest sun, attention has been paid to providing good shading here. The front of the house is therefore very sheltered, most of it being a covered terrace, with an overhanging roof over the living room to the left.

Also, I aimed to provide not only a pleasing front elevation externally, but varied and appropriate ceilings inside. To this end, the front has four roof sections, which from left to right are:

1. A double-sloped roof over the large living room; the ceiling height ranges from 3.2m (10'6") to 3.95m (13'0").
2. A single-sloped roof over the kitchen and terrace; the kitchen ceiling height rises from 2.32m (7'7") by the terrace to 3.0m (9'10").
3. A double-sloped roof over the entrance hall and porch, with ceiling heights as per the living room (but more steeply inclined).
4. A single-sloped roof over the sitting room, half bathroom, and terrace; the ceiling height of the sitting room ranges from 2.32m (7'7") to 3.85m (12'8").

To the rear and center, roofs are flat losa 30cm thick with skylights instead of windows. In these areas, the ceiling height is 2.75m (9'0").

4.3 Three Zones

There is a division into three zones, from open (front) to private (back):

• Open to all visitors (entrance hall, half bathroom, outdoor areas)
• Restricted (living room, sitting room, kitchen, pantry, dining area, bar)
• Private (bedrooms, main bathrooms, study, laundry room, stairs to roof)

The Open zone

includes the covered outdoor entertainment area with kitchen and built-in tables and seating similar to that of "El Refugio", and the terrace. For parties, people have access to the half bathroom and entrance hall via the terrace and porch; the front door will then be left open, and the door behind can be locked as required. This avoids the need for an additional half bathroom for parties, as is present in "El Refugio". The path from the portón to the front door by the entertainment area is completely covered, so that one can enter in the rain without getting wet. There is a separate path down the center of the garden direct to the porch. There is also an outbuilding for storing tools, etc.

The Restricted zone

has sloping bóveda ceilings and normal windows, except for the dining area/bar which has a flat roof with skylights. There is a large living room and smaller sitting room, both similar to those in "El Refugio". The kitchen area is much more compact, but with a separate walk-in pantry. The dining area has a built-in dining table similar to that in "El Refugio", with a separate built-in bar counter.

The Private zone

is accessed from the restricted zone via a short passageway with at least one solid door (a second door could be fitted if required). There are no external windows - instead light is provided by skylights in the 30cm thick losa. Each skylight comprises two 20cm square blocks of thick glass separated by a large space. The corridor is lit by 16 such skylights, and provides light through internal windows to the two bedrooms and study. The bathrooms and study have their own skylights, giving a good level of natural light here; the bedrooms have no skylights, making them (appropriately) rather darker. Apart from the exit to the restricted zone, there is a door at the end of the corridor leading to the laundry room; by the side of this is a room under the stairs where the circuit breaker box is located. At the end of the corridor is a robust double-paned sliding door leading to stairs to the roof; these are inside the 4.3m wall of the house, which in turn is inside the 4m boundary wall. The shared bathroom is rather larger than that of "El Refugio", also having a bathtub with hydromassage ("Jacuzzi"), but with a separate shower cubicle.

4.4 Other Criteria

Both external doors (by the entrance porch and by the laundry room) are to be of heavy-duty aluminum and double-paned with decorative reinforcement between the panes (the laundry room door is actually within the house wall). The side door and all external windows have sliding mosquito nets; it should be reasonable to leave them open most of the time. This, together with the provision of ceiling fans should give good ventilation, despite the seclusion and soundproofing of the private zone making it somewhat ventilation-challenged.

As the water supply is discontinuous, there will be an aljibe with a capacity of 12,000L under the outside dining area; a submersible pump in this will supply water to the 750L tinaco on the roof. We also plan to have a pressure system, solar water heater, and perhaps a water softener (if the water proves to be hard). We will use PEX rather than copper for the water pipes; this will give better insulation for hot water and also avoid noises from knocking in the pipes when the pressure system pump cuts out. We will build a 4-chamber septic tank; the 4th chamber will hold agua gris suitable for irrigation.

5 House Plans

I aimed to complete the plans myself as far as possible, having the benefit of a significant amount of experience in using AutoCAD Architecture. I had some firm plans sketched out by 21 February 2014, based on the above design principles. The basic design has changed remarkably little since then, but quite a lot of refinement was needed to produce plans to build the house. I put some effort in to making them as simple as possible, since complex plans are likely to lead to more mistakes in construction. I initially concentrated on the house, since the phase 1 items (boundary wall, septic tank and storage building) should be relatively straightforward; the only significant design work here is that for the fachada.

The plans that I submitted to the engineer were almost complete except for a few technical details, mainly in the foundation. These were then completed and signed off by the engineer in order to get permission to build (this was done around 23 May 2014). The engineer provided a completed foundation plan and a new roof plan, but the foundation plan was subsequently modified and the roof plan found to be unusable. So in the end, the plans we used included relatively little from the engineer.