Beachshack: Tropical Building Page

St Barts Renovation:
Azu Villa

Anguilla Construction:
Guest cottage.
Tech center.
Residence.

Mary Ann's Tropical Building Page

This is the web site for the three villas that I built on Anguilla and the villa that I am renovating in St Barts (see Azu Villa Renovation Page), plus tropical construction tips and resources as well. These construction projects started in 1997, although land acquisition and architectural planning started in 1995. Every stage of the construction is recorded here.

We rent the villa in St Barts and the guest cottage in Anguilla (La Vanda) and the villa at the top of the Anguilla property (Mimosa), but we keep the beachfront house and pool for our own use. And we have created a name and web page for the overall completed property: Bellamare

For details on the main Anguilla beachfront house, visit the Residence Construction Page.

For the technology center, visit the "Clubhouse" Construction Page.

And finally, for the guest cottage, our first attempt at construction on Anguilla, visit the La Vanda Construction Page.

-- Mary Ann Green

Construction Tips

Friday, June 01, 2001 Permalink

Coralstone: Cool and Non-Slip.
When we were in San Juan shopping recently, at a store called Multipisos we discovered some natural coralstone tiles, which are cut from rock in the Dominican Republic. They should be excellent for around pool areas, since they are cool (the irregular surface disapates heat) and non-slip (the irregular surface again).
Then, by coincidence, we received an email from the owner of the store, complementing us on our web site:
I am enjoying your web site very much. My wife and I will start soon to re-model a beach shack. Eventually we will add a great room and guests cottages. Next time you are in San Juan, stop by my store, Multipisos, 313 De Diego Ave.,Puerto Nuevo.We were the first ones In Puerto Rico to introduce saltillo and talavera tiles in an organized manner.We also introduced real coralstone,volcanic stone and all tropical oriented materials.
Regards, Rafael Batista
P.s. Ooops I forgot to mention glass mosaics, Byzantine and Venetian. for pools baths,etc

Reply by Mary Ann:
You won't believe this but, I just returned from a trip and I visited your store, before you emailed me. I have already purchased coralstone from you and have it here on site. Your store has the distinction of being my absolute most efficent purchase in Puerto Rico. I dealt with Luna. She gave me a sample to take with me. I then called her and gave her my credit card over the phone and the goods were shipped to the dock that afternoon and on to Anguilla on the next boat. I'll be sure and mention your store in my web update.
Bye for now, Mary Ann

Reply by Rafael:
Thank you for your kind words. We enjoy our work a lot and we do not sell materials we don't like.
If you have to grout any part of your coral stone, use white cement with yellow non-sanded grout or mix the white cement with mineral color.You want your grout or some of the big holes to be darker than the stone.
Rafael

Reply by Mary Ann:
I have lots of powdered colored pigment for concrete and I did my house in colored stucco but it has marble dust and silica sand mixed in - would that work?
I did some experimenting and discovered that pouring strong coffee on it stains it to a nice shade.
In handling the stones we observed they were a bit fragile. How resistant to abrasion or how fragile is the stone? Can you use it in areas that have high foot traffic?
Do you usually put a sealer on the stones? If so which one?
Mary Ann

Reply by Rafael:
I like the stone to be really close. We installed the whole pool deck at the Ritz-Carlton in San Juan and also in traffic areas. As sealers, I recommend Impregnator. If you have problems getting it, let me know. Lay several tiles on the floor - I think you can get away with a 1/8" joint or butt joint them. Do a dry run .You can also butt joint them and In case you have any lips you can grind them easily.

Monday, May 28, 2001 Permalink

Concrete Light Sconces
Exterior light fixtures are a major problem in the tropics, because they rust out within a year or two from the damp climate.
Here is our solution for this home: concrete wall sconces that go over simple lightbuild fixtures. They should protect the light and keep it from rusting quite so quickly. And doesn't look to bad when stuccoed either.
This is what the concrete wall sconces look like before they are installed.

Sunday, May 27, 2001 Permalink

Adding Color.
Here I am, viewing stucco work with contractor Ian "Sugar George" Edwards, who joined the project to do the living room/pool pavillion and help complete the project.
Notice the purple arbor and the yellow living room. This yellow color is applied as stucco, not paint. The color is built into the stucco, so scratches and knicks do not require repainting. We also used this product on the technology center building and have been very happy with it.
Each wall should have the stucco applied in a continuous process without stopping. Otherwise you will see lines where the stucco dried in once spot before the next section was applied.
Above is "Rasta" one of Sugar George's crew. He does masonry and worked on the stucco.
Here is the front door from within the living room, interior walls stuccoed yellow and wooden doors and windows painted turquiose and blue.
Yellow is not the only color of stucco. There is also pink and peach and sand. In fact, each building is a different color with no two adjacent buildings having the same color.