Morocco: Let the building begin!

Have you ever wondered how exactly you would go about building 10,000 square feet spread over one house and two guest houses in Morocco?  You've seen our house design (in the Morocco Ta Da post below) and I can assure you that the two guest houses are also complex designs (each with a Moroccan dome).  But with a coveted Marrakech building permit in our hot little hands, the time had come for the building to begin! 

Now I admit, we were in better shape than some since Chris was an architect.  (Thank goodness I hadn't married that handsome astronomer or that charming door-to-door vacuum salesman…)  But as useful as his profession was at a time like this, it also posed some constraints.  With a professional eye, he would look at the work of some Moroccan builders and pronounce it shoddy.  Other builders were deemed completely unaware of twentieth century safety codes.  Still others were accused (quietly) of using poor quality materials.  And so it went.  I pleaded with him:  “Is this all really necessary?  We are not building the Petronus Tower.”  To which he responded:  “Would you prefer the leaning tower of Pisa?”  As far as he was concerned, this was going to our home and lodging for our guests, and as Little Red Riding Hood had surmised, it needed to be just right.  Anything that smacked even mildly of mediocrity was to be banished from the kingdom - forever. 

So after much to-ing and fro-ing, yet another enormous check was written (gulp and double gulp).  And we had ourselves a Marrakech contractor.  Rather than hire a builder to do everything, Chris decided to contract a company only for the labor.  That way he could purchase all the materials himself to ensure the very highest quality that we could afford; he was convinced that it was in the quality of materials that the builders skimped, thereby ensuring a higher profit. 

And so that’s how we have come to have 20 Moroccan workers toiling away on our land, pouring concrete and setting pipe.  Not to mention the other four workers that we have hired to build a wall around our 8.5 acres of land and olive grove  My husband leaves at the crack of dawn in his work boots and returns at night trailing in gravel.  He then promptly collapses into bed in a dusty heap of big lug. 

This all leads me to ask myself one question – and one question alone -- do we know really what we are getting ourselves into?  Oh my….

Comments

[Yonked]

Wow-- sounds exhausting and daunting and exciting, all rolled into one!

Best of luck, and remember when the process is going poorly, that it's supposed to be fun! (It's not actually supposed to be fun, but it helps to think it!)

[John]

"Do we know really what we are getting ourselves into?"

Probably not, but y'all sound infinitely more prepared than we were. It'll definately be a learning process; enjoy the good parts. As for the rest, close your eyes and think of England (or whatever gets you through the night).

[Ruzana]

ah.. so it has started! it definitely sounds exciting, but at the same time scary too. Good luck!

[kuri & ping]

Hey! Thanks for stopping by my blog the other day. I'm enjoying reading about your house adventures in Morocco and am looking forward to hearing more! :)

[Pete]

Great project!

I'm guessing Chris' experience is with wood framed homes as is the norm in America... I'm also guessing that you will be building an all brick house in Morocco...

Make sure you don't rush the build, each stage needs time to set and dry properly, especially after pouring the floor slabs... about 30 days in European climates, maybe a bit less there.

I hope (for your sake) that this all goes well, sounds like it's going to be a fantastic project and I agree with your husband... quality matters!

[KS]

_10,000_ square feet of house(s)? Is it climate-controlled or open air?

[Maryam in Marrakesh]

Yonked and John - Thanks so much for the valuable advice!

Ruzana - You are right. It is definitely a little scary but it is amazing, too and so that helps make up for it.

Kuri& Ping - Thanks so much for dropping by. I enjoy your blog!

Pete - I can't wait to show my husband your comment. We have been living in Morocco for 6 years and so Chris is pretty familiar with the building technique here but he is all about "curing" too!

KS - It is 10,000 sq feet spread out over 3 houses. My husband is doing green building to ensure cooling and heating through various wind,water, and solar techniques and he has also designed the house to take into consideration sun placement, and has created outdoor courtyards to allow for exterior cooling.

[Saad]

Hey,
Good luck with the house building experience, I'm a native of Marrakech, but I live abroad, so I am definitely interested in hearing how the whole thing turns out, in case I decide to go through the same thing. Also since I haven’t been home in 2 years, I have heard a lot of talk about how the price of real estate has doubled/tripled in Marrakech, I would love it if you could shade some light on that, also is building a cheaper alternative to buying if so how much cheaper is it, and is it worth all the headaches? Thank you.

[Bill Day]

Congratulations on breaking ground. Not being very handy myself, I have always regarded it as a minor miracle the way structures come together!

[An Indian in America]

I read a quote on a building in Manhattan, " If you can conceive it in your mind, you can achieve it".

Go on Maryam.

[An Indian in America]

I read a quote on a building in Manhattan, " If you can conceive it in your mind, you can achieve it".

Go on Maryam.

[Maryam in Marrakesh]

Saad-Thanks so much for stopping by the blog! I love it when Moroccans visit. Prices in Marrakech have skyrocketed. If you are lucky, you can find a hectar at about 100,000 euros within 15 Km of Marrakesh. Middle of the road building prices are around $350 a square meter. A lovely inexpensive villa costs about 400,000 euros. Most of the villas around Marrakesh are going for about 500-750,000 euros. Super pricey. Drop me an email if you want more info and I will put you together with my husband.

Bill - It is a miracle to me, too. Yippee for Chris!

Anrosh - Thank you. I am printing that out and putting it over my desk!

[Brittney]

Yay, the work begins! I'm sure it's not possible to be quite as excited as you must be, but I'll be following along...and possibly saving up for those plane tickets. It may mean macaroni and cheese for the next two years of dinners, but hey! I have a chef for a husband...I'm sure he can make it bearable.