By Mark Ogren

Dry season in Granada is a good time to tackle construction projects, and this year we concentrated on our timber-framed toilet. A little history: Two years ago (2017) , Gerard and I traveled to Rancho Mastatal in Costa Rica to participate in their excellent workshop on timber framing, that is building structures with tenon and mortise joinery. We came home prepared to do our own project. For a reminder of how our class went, check out our blog post, Learning to Timber Frame. Also, find an overview of timber frame techniques and technical photos.

Upon returning from our class, we knew we would be applying our new skills to the guesthouse compost toilet. The concrete base for the structure had already been built and Gerard went ahead and created a detailed scale model that proved to be so useful.

Next we needed to source material for the structure. Tropical storm Nate, passing over Granada in October 2017, provided. As heavy winds and rain came from the Pacific, nearly forty trees fell to the ground in Viverde’s forest section. The majority of these trees were a local leguminous hardwood known in Nicaragua as Chocuabo (from the Caesalpinia family, as far as we know). The heartwood has a beautiful bright coral color when freshly cut. These would be perfect. 

During our next trip to ViVerde in May and June of 2018, the main project was turning the fallen logs into posts and beams. The logs were first milled with a chainsaw into square shapes. Then Brett used a hand planer to create one very square corner on each timber, while Gerard and I worked on carving the tenons.

Certain political events and national strife delayed our progress during the rest of our stay, but we knew we would finish when we returned to ViVerde. 

While Brett and I went back to Sonoma County, California to settle into our new life, Gerard pressed on with the diagonal braces. This year (2019) we showed up in January determined to finish and raise the structure onto its concrete foundation. With the tenons all finished, we moved to the mortises (50 of them!). Measure, layout with pencil, score sides with a hand saw, drill the main channel, chisel main channel, chisel housing, test against our model, repeat . . .  Once we got the hang of it, each one took from 30 to 60 minutes to complete. 

Many mortises later, the timbers were tested to make sure they fit together well. Brett made the wooden pegs and she and Diane carefully sanded all the pieces. Finally it was raising day!

Wanting the compost toilet to feel tropical and airy, we had the team from León install another thatch roof. Don’t worry, the walls are coming.  Diane just came back from a natural plasters workshop at Rancho Mastatal with lots of good ideas. The photo below shows her sitting in the garden facing the compost toilet, with guesthouse sinks behind.

Now the best part, last. After ten years as good friends and two as partners, Brett and I got engaged in Nicaragua in February! We will tie the knot at my uncle’s house in Humboldt County, California at the end of August in a small, intimate wedding. So many more exciting chapters to come for us…