Maria hit the Casa with full force of 150-170 mph wind. The damage was severe! The roof on both the casa & the casita were blown off. The doors on the terrace were blown out as well as windows on every floor and all the casita windows and doors. That was just the start. 12 inches of sand was blown in on 3rd & 4th floors, 18” of rain flooded down thru the casa, eventually damaging all the sheet-rock and causing mold and corrosion. The pool was filled with 2 feet of sand while sandblasting the surface. Trees were downed onto the outdoor kitchen and even into the pool. Following all of this, there were 3 thefts stealing everything from a 2500-gal water storage tank to all the tools, materials, and SCUBA equipment.
Stephanie spent weeks there tracking down contractors to come give quotes for repair. This sounds easy, but with no power, no cellular, no computers, and no internet, she had to drive to everybody and drag them back to the Casa. Of course, they were still unable to generate bids or transmit them. To then make it worse, our insurance company has offered everyone 1/3 of the damage repair costs! Our lawyer is working to resolve this problem. We currently have been paying our contractor to repair the security fencing and remediate what can be done to prevent addition damage. Our contractor is about done fixing what is called the Casita 2 (or C3PR, if you’re Stephanie & Mo) a third home we own on our property. It will give us a place to live while the Casa & Casita are repaired. While we are resolving the insurance issues we are focusing on fixing the Casita & Pool after the C2 is completed.
If you want to see real pictures of the damage, progress, and even pictures of progress prior to Maria here is a link: Casa Evolution
Sep 15-2018 Our insurance company told us they needed a forth inspection of the our damage so we flew over and they never managed to do their job. However the trip did actually turn out to be the best trip yet! We met with the Mayor who amazingly contacted the power company and we now will have power within 30 days! We found an internet supplier who will install it on Monday! Rafael has done an amazing job on the C2 as well as other projects, Stephanie got the window and door companies to commit to an installation date. She also has HomeDepot assigning us an install date for the kitchen after the windows & doors. She also has the appliance company installing them also. German the electrician has almost completed the installation of all the new electrical in the C2 and working on the Prepa power requirements. In the end the C2 will be completed in the next 60 days.
Oct 16-2018 Major move forward on the C2. The Windows & Doors were installed which moved the entire C2 completion forward. We then had the kitchen cabinets installed, Rafael is completing the plumbing and German is completing the electrical! The garage doors were installed and to move forward we have ordered the doors for the Casita, Papo is creating the fence gate. We are now moving forward! Still no support from the insurance company.
Nov-2018 Great move forward the Mayor stepped in and helped us get power and PREPA has supported us and moved us forward. Now we are just ordering a new transformer and our electrician is running the feeder cables.
Jan-2019 The C2 is amazingly about done. And even more amazing is that it has its own electric meter! The Casita is having its roof replaced in the next few weeks, with the power we now have lights on the fence and the Atrium. The Casita has lighting. The pool is under construction to recover from Maria.
Feb-2019 Major work on pool was started and completed it is now better than before. The work has been amazing and the quality is stunning. Additionally Rafael is started working on the Casita now and is making huge moves forward plus the roof repair is starting. We got an electric meter for the Casa installed and are waiting for connection to the feeder lines.
Feb-2019 Roof construction on the Casita has started! Rafael has completed major work on the outdoor scuba area.
March 29 - 2019 A major change in everything! Prepa completed connecting us to the power grid! We now have full power at the Casa. After 3+ years we now have it thanks to Mario who we literally went far beyond what we expected from him and he made this happen finding ways around every wall that we experienced.
April-2019 Things have been moving forward faster then we had expected at this time, Rafael has now installed a 3000 gallon potable water tank for the Casa and is bringing another on site for the C2
April-2019 Celebration time! We have now pulled new power feeder cables between the Casita & the Casa! Installed the new electrical panel in the Casita and the Casa Control Room!
May-2019 Rafael and his team make constant forward changes! They have completely repaired the solid fence and prime painted it! We have selected the paint for it that they are about to paint it. They have made major forward motion on the Casita. Finished the pump room walls and floor. Build the wall on the patio for Papo to start the railings, leveled the floor, finished the window frames including building two new windows. We now have more electrical work! We now have lighting on all the floors in the Casa and Casita! We have the distribution panel fully breakered.
We did have to us a rare situation, a 14 hr power failure, but we found out no-one else though it was rare. So we are now looking at generators.
June-2019 Not only has Rafael & Papo finished the C2 adding the water tank. pumps, and the fencing around it. Major work has been moving forward on the Casita new floors, Pool pump room, the Casita patio walls and railing, they installed the circular stairway to the loft. If you want to see some of the work look at the pictures of the progress.
Nov-2019 There is been a large gap in updating the progress but it hasn't stopped! Raphael has completed the C3PR! He has completed the outside SCUBA area, he has started on the Casita and moved along amazingly. He has completed the garage floors, repaired and painted the exterior fence wall, completed the pump room. Papo has completed the outside railings and the spiral staircase and loft railings! A full security system has been installed. Cameras have been installed to view all angles of the Casa and C3PR.
The HVAC guys have installed Air Conditioners at the Casita!