We Got Tile!

A few days before leaving for vacation, we took a walk to a fantastic second-hand vendor called Antiguedades: El Mamey (located near San Sebastian on the corner of Calles 75 and 72). Impressively stocked, the place is a ramshackled treasure trove of furniture, old stone and building materials from Mérida’s colonial past. Always keen for a look, we fell in love with a stack of reclaimed terracotta tiles, probably manufactured a century or so ago in Marseilles, France.

As with many building materials used in houses of the time, these tiles were employed as ballast on ships sailing to Mérida as part of the international henequen trade. Upon arrival, the ballast (our fantastic tile) was generally dumped at the port before being salvaged for use in the city’s colonial building trade.

We have been hoping to reclaim old tiles for our house, but never did we image we would hit the jackpot. After a few hours picking through the large stack for the choice tiles, we had 1200 - enough for our kitchen floor.

Each tile has a rough, slightly-chipped patina on them that will make for a textured, non-slip surface underfoot. Reflecting the terracotta roof tiles overhead in our kitchen (also from the same company in Marseilles), our kitchen should take on a lot of character when completed.

Being reclaimed, the tiles are covered in mortar, which means we have many days of cleaning them up ahead of us. Lucky for us, the mortar is rich with lime, so a simple acid wash will do most of the grunt work for us.

The Heat is On

We were stuck for ideas for our blog post today so we decided to go for a walk. Outside. At noon. With no shade. It was 100 degrees. Did we get inspiration? Yes - and all of it sweaty!

As we strolled, we were reminded of the wonderful cooling effect of trees. Whenever we passed under one, the temperature dropped 10 degrees. The reasons are twofold: first, tree leaves reflect heat and second, they transpire water through their leaves, which creates a great evaporative cooling effect.

Compare that to walls, roof overhangs and other hard surfaces. Although these surfaces provide shade, they also soak up heat and radiate it back at you. You only need to stand in the middle of a parking lot of a big-box retail establishment colonizing Mérida’s northern suburbs to understand how horrible this is. For that matter, touch the bedroom ceiling in your concrete house around 9pm and you’ll feel heat radiating through the concrete.

All of this is timely reminder for us given that we have been debating over the last week about whether to remove one of the bitter orange trees in rear garden. Last week, in the luxury of cooler weather, our instinct was to chuck it. After all, we have two others, and there is only so much naranjada we can drink.

But today, at the start of the hot season, we are firmly committed to keeping it. Even if we don’t use all the fruit, we will certainly enjoy its cooling power and its ability to keep our AC bills down.

Ventilation = Comfort

In Mérida, a well-ventilated house is key. Bringing a steady flow of fresh air helps flush the humidity, keeps people cool(er) and is the best cooling strategy for the climate.

Upon revisiting our design today, we realize our plan is not very ventilation friendly. The central courtyard, for instance, is sheltered from wind on all sides with little or no airflow across the space (bad thing).

We need to do a better job as this is where we are trying to push most of our outdoor living.  As such, we’re backtracking our design with an eye to maximizing ventilation strategies.