Day 82 - The water well is an important area behind the house. Nowadays household water is pumped to a large, cement tank on the roof and then runs by gravity to all the indoor and outdoor faucets and fixtures. There's still a bucket at the well but generally, screens cover its top. One faucet is out beside the well. This area's slab is used daily and it was really showing its age.
Back in the 80s, work like this was done with locally made bricks and covered with a cement veneer. No big work had been done on the platform since the house was completed in 1985, a year before my first visit. A few weeks ago, we noticed that it had seen better days and this week we started to make arrangements to create a new concrete structure.
We know a mason guy and he came to check what needed to be done and estimated three bags of concrete mix the other day. Although it's Sunday, he came with a helper to begin work. The demolition took only a few hours. Neither worker had on steel-toed shoes, goggles, or gloves.
We pay just the main guy about SR 5,000 for a day of work. That is only about $US25 and he pays his helper from that amount. He surely knew what he was doing and he worked quickly with the plans all in his head.
It was a very hot day, probably about 33°C and he suggested he complete a bit of re-plumbing for the location of a new faucet and a showerhead. There were a few trips to the hardware store to get necessities. In less than six hours, they left for the day. Only one bag of cement was used. Tomorrow, he'll return to complete the job
