How to Install a Cement Floor

First, call your local cement contractor and s/he will arrive with a big cement mixing truck. A crew will come out and pour the cement, you hand them your credit card and voila!

OR … in a small Central American village, the old-fashioned way. Project Ix-Canann has put in 200+ cement floors in the homes of villagers in the El Remate community, with priority going to those with young children in order to reduce exposure to bacteria and parasites that cause illness. The family is responsible for clearing out the space of furniture and leveling the dirt floor as best they can, then the supplies and crew (us) come in. 

Our work was at a very rustic building with two rooms, one of which is used for the living area for a young mother and her five-year-old son, and the other a small store.

There is also an outhouse. 

Our Guatemalan "strong men," in the most respectful sense of the term, were Edgar and his son Enrique.  Let’s just say that as hard as we were working, they outpaced us 20 to one!

Jim and Zeth shoveling sand into a big mound.

Edgar heaving enormously heavy bags of cement onto the sand.

Taking turns mixing the sand and cement.

As if each shovel blade wasn’t already heavy enough, then came the rocks.

Buckets of water were added to the mix, so we took turns shoveling sand, water, rocks and cement into a giant slurry.

Edgar carried probably 100 buckets of this heavy slurry to the floor, and we spread the mix with a trowel.

Unaccustomed to the heat or this type of work, we had to rest frequently throughout the day but Edgar and Enrique took only a short break for lunch. The rest periods gave Zeth time to interact with the young boy and a couple of puppies. He’s great with kids and animals, and his little bit of high school Spanish is coming in helpful!

Grateful to be here in Guatemala, lovely people.(Also grateful that next up will be far less demanding English teaching ;-)