Comments on: Couldn’t Have Done It If We Tried

By: Minerva

Minerva — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:37:03 +0000

I would venture a guess why your pipes were laid so shallow: it might have to do with absence of freezing in PR and the builder’s cost cutting. In Sweden around Stockholm the freeze gets to about 1 meter deep, thus by buiding codes you have to put pipes lower than that, even if it means blasting through 30 meters of a granite down to thse 1.2 m and upsetting the water balance of the site. In Texas it was a lot less, but still some depth was required due to occassional possibility of a freeze. In PR – no freeze, no requirements to dig the pipes. I see them sticking out here or there in my Aguada landlord’s yard. But I am just guessing and the guess might be a tad to logical for PR.

Like or Dislike: 0 0

By: jeff kruse

jeff kruse — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:29:23 +0000

Summer – Our water line is copper and enough below the surface that we don’t do more than knick it (besides the back up pvc white pipe episode). It actually follows the driveway so we know where it is. It is the neighbor’s whose pipe meanders along the fence line with a little bit in our lawn. Now we know where it is too. Its funny to see pipe in the middle of nowhere travelling alongside the road. I guess it is easy to see leaks that way!

As for land maintenance? We just can’t do it all. We have to leave some wild now that logs and rocks and vines are in a better situation. Weedwacker broke today and we are screwed – Sears will fix it (under warranty) and we’ll have it back in 6 WEEKS. A lot can happen in that amount of time. We have to get a better one. katrina

Like or Dislike: 0 0

By: Summer

Summer — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:01:57 +0000

Katrina – Yep, you feel our pain then. I was wondering why our pipes were being layed so shallow, but whenever we ask, we always get the same response: “That’s just the way we do it in Puerto Rico”. Ha

Minerva – I’ll make sure that the sea grape gets in the ground today (Next to the new spigot, so it gets lots of runoff water ). A house and land is so much more maintenance then you think. There is no way Stefan or I could do this by ourselves. As a matter of fact we are thinking about hiring two people to help out. Luckly for the internet, when we break stuff, we can always find a solution to fix it. Stefan had never touched a plumbing tool before we moved to Puerto Rico, so its funny to see how quickly you learn to fix something when you HAVE to!

Like or Dislike: 0 0

By: Minerva

Minerva — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:58:49 +0000

Don’t forget about this Uvas del Mar (Sea Grape) plant, no matter the pipe! It has such a tasty fruit – a bit sour, but that’s why it so enlives the smoothies here since most tropical fruit is soo sweet, sweet, sweet.
Yes, discovering the maintenance cost of ownership can be a rude awakening. Once upon a time I had a very handy and practical spouse, who took care of it so effortlessly, I did not even noticed it. Then he died and the neighbors in my cul-de-sac in Texas took pity on me and divided the chores among themselves. One mowed the grass (it grows as fast in Texas as it does here, just not all year round), another was trimming the trees in my oak grove, the third one was helping with house repairs, parts replacement etc. At first I did not even notice their efforts (talk about absentminded professorial types with their heads in clouds, lol), but once I did (the guys, who did the work kept mums, but their wifes told me how much time their spouses spent helping me and I not even grateful enough to say thanks — how could I? I had no idea…) I lasted less thana few months in that dependency of good will… got rid of the house… and never bought another. Renting comes with a minimum of mainenance and maximum movability…

Like or Dislike: 0 0

By: jeff kruse

jeff kruse — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:54:11 +0000

Most of the pipes around here are laying on the ground which we thought was odd. When we moved here the grass was tall and Jeff mowed over (and broke) the neighbors metal water pipe. Then he backed the truck up and off our driveway breaking the white pvc water pipe. Then he mowed Amparos pipe again. Yup. We are trying to clean up down at the bottom of the driveway where there are 4 or so copper pipes (2 functioning, 2 or more not) going on the property line but on our side of the cut for about 40 feet. I pull a grass clump and the pipe shifts…we are planting a nice hedge there to hide the stuff and hope nothing springs a leak as we are working! Again… we know the feeling! katrina

Like or Dislike: 0 0