Mary Ann's Tropical Building Page

More Insteel Panels

Insteel Construction Panels.

The main complex is built using the same Insteel panels as in the Technology Center and the Guest Villa. The system consists of wire mesh panels with a foam core.

For more details, read our earlier reports:

About Insteel Construction

Spraying the Walls

The Double Roof

Pouring the Roof

Erecting Walls.

Once the foundation is prepared with steel rebar sticking up every 2 feet, the wall panels are put in place. They are connected to the rebar and each other with stainless clips, then window and door openings will be cut out.

Blowtorch Work.

The panels have foam insulation within them that is burned out with a blow torch to make room for rebar, electrical and data conduit and plumbing pipes.

Looking up the hill.

When the rough plumbing and electrical is finished and the panels are all connected to each other firmly with stainless clips, and the openings have been cut, concrete will be sprayed on the panels to create a virtually indestructible unit.

Here you can see the master villa walls, looking up the hill through the master bath toward the tech center. This master bath has a 12-foot opening that will eventually look onto a walled garden, providing romance and privacy from the road above.

The Secondary Villa

Columbus and David.

The secondary villa is the one closest to the beach, just behind the gazebo. It will have a veranda all around, another walled garden in the back, and will share a swimming pool right off the porch.

This villa is designed so tht it can be used either as a separate sleeping unit or as a living room for the main villa.

Building a wall of blocks.

In order to get this building up and closed in before Carnival and the peak of Hurricane Season, we decided to build the walls with standard concrete block methods, and only the roof with Insteel panels.

This allowed us to have a second crew working at the same time. Based on our experience with the other two buildings, this should not reduce the coolness of the building too much, since it will still have an insulated, radiant barrier roof and it has a veranda on three sides (thus keeping solar energy off the walls).

Ready for Concrete and Then the Roofs

View from above.

Here is the view of the main complex, from the porch of the tech center, taken on May 14, 1999.

The Insteel walls of the master villa and kitchen/study area are up, but still must be fastened together carefully. Then the shotcrete will be applied.

The second suite on the left has the concrete block walls up and plywood forms ready for concrete to be poured in for strengthening columns.

Stay tuned for more adventures in "Tropical Construction".

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