There were a number of comments on my post about salitre, I am really no expert. I think it has a lot to do with how careful your house builder was with the amount of salt in the sand used in making the concrete. Less salt, less salitre, I think. But certain spots in your house might just be inclined to it, and you will probably repair it over and over again.
I’d only put a couple small photos up before, I thought you might want to see a larger area. Here it is just something you live with, and every once in a while it becomes enough of an eyesore that you do something about it. Comex also has a product called Fin that supposedly seals it so it won’t come back, but they were out of it when I went so I am using plain sealer.
I had a bit of a meltdown the other day with the original dust plastic I installed to keep the sala fresca project dust out of the kitchen. It was just so hot in there with only one window! So I bought another tarp and cut the room in half diagonally. That way I get the double window and double door opening letting air in with the added benefit that you don’t have to walk through a plastic doorway. Much better!
Then our contractor came by with the antique hardware he bought on his visit to San Francisco last week. The picture below is the picador (I’m almost positive that’s what the bolt that goes through the bottom to secure the doors are called) – I think it is gorgeous. When Paul gets back we’re going to visit the doors at the carpenter’s shop and see them in progress.
He estimates the job will be two more weeks beyond this week. It’s been a bit of a challenge but that isn’t very much longer, and I know it will be worth it.
Theresa in Mérida
July 22, 2009Hi Nancy! Polvo is awful, and it seems to regenerate doesn’t it? you think you have it all swept up and find more the next day (or hour). I think you mean pasador not picador but my spelling is suspect either way. A picador is the guy who “picas” the bull with the lances to weaken him. A pasador is where you pass the bolt to shut the door.
We have parts of our house with a lot of salitre and others with none. It is funny how people pay a lot of money to mimic the look with faux painting and we pay lots to get rid of it! I am thinking of just leaving it in the places where the paint is just turning white but I have to do some repairs where the paint and plaster are puffing up and falling off.
regards,
Theresa
Leobardo Alberto Rivera Lizarraga
July 22, 2009Salitre in the walls of course is heavy connected with the way that the concrete is make but is also linked with the moist in the room/wall. In my house i have only some points with salitre but they exists because some humidity leaks near that spots. Ask in the comex store for “SELLADOR 5X1 REFORZADO”.
Nancy
July 22, 2009Theresa, Yes, polvo is my enemy, but so far so good with this project. I thought a pasador was the door/window hardware to open and shut it. This is the thing with the spike that goes into the floor (one with a chain to pull goes into the top of the door jamb). Do you know what those are called? Or is it a pasador, too?
Yes, we had several areas of the puffing up and falling off kind of salitre but I think I got kind of over zealous since Paul has been gone and I need to keep occupied.
Leobardo, Yes, I think we have a few places where the water comes up from the ground, Comex sold me the Sellador you mentioned, and I have used it throughout. Thanks so much!
Theresa in Mérida
July 25, 2009Nancy, I will ask La Muchacha when she comes on Wednesday, unless one of my neighbors wanders over first, but I think they are both pasadors but don’t feel especially sure. It has been my experience here in Merida that several things will get the same name if they are vaugely related in function, but that doesn’t mean that they have different names in other parts of Mexico!
regards,
Theresa
Nancy
July 29, 2009My contractor read this blog post and wrote me this:
Picaporte is the name of the floor kick latch and as my guys use it, a pasador is a horizontal sliding latch.