Whenever I went to a new city, one of the first things I did was buy the major newspaper, to read the advertisements. I always felt you could learn a lot about the city that way. In Uruguay, you will find most of those advertisements in the ‘El Oferton’. You can see the classified advertisements for that week by surfing to http://www.gallito.com/default.asp?origen=gallito_com_uy on Mondays after 11:00, Montevideo time. They do this to minimize the effect of web readers on sales of the paper, which drops to nil by Monday morning. You cant see the display advertisements on line.
So what’s hot and interesting in Uruguay right now?
- Membranas (roof waterproofing). Winters are wet. We have lots of flat roofs. Flat roofs leak. You’re supposed to replace the membrana BEFORE the winter, but if you dont, you may have to do it now. I guess enough people do it now to justify the advertising. Membrana comes by the roll. It is silver on one side, asphalt on the other side. After preparing the roof, you lay down the membrana and melt it to the roof by way of a blowtorch. Seams are melted together with surface tar, melted also. They last 10-15 years uncovered. You can cover them with patio stones and then it will last for 25-30 years.
- Burletes (weatherstripping). Uruguayans get motivated to add or change weatherstripping when the wind starts to blow through the house. Because of the terrain, winds are very strong here. Doors and windows are traditionally loose fitting. A good combination for weatherstripping.
- Snow tires (just kidding)
- Cabinas (small, fiberglass, one man, outside guardhouses). Many businesses and high end residential areas hire guards to sit the property at night. They dont want them freezing to death overnight. They’re also used for taxi dispatchers. They cost around USD600.
- Flandes, estufas, woodstoves, furnaces. In Uruguay, the majority of homes and apartments dont have heating. Traditionally, when things become unbearable, they plug in an electric heater. More organized/prepared people purchase supergaz heaters (propane). But each year, some people decide to go for a more sophisticated heating solution, like a pot belly stove, high efficiency fireplace or even, a whole furnace/radiator system. Recently, we’ve even seen some solar systems. The heart of a radiator system, the caldera, costs around USD3K. A 300m house with rads, pipes, will cost around USD$8K. Add to that the cost of breaking and repairing the walls and floors (and replacing the tiles, marble and/or granite), for the piping. A lot of people will opt for split airconditioning/heating systems. A whole lot cheaper. You can install a 9000btu heating/airconditioning split for under USD$500. A 12000 for USD$600. The same system installed in Toronto is USD$2200. I guess 110v costs a lot more than 220v (pardon the sarcasm).
That’s the winter stuff… tomorrow, I’ll do the more interesting stuff–the things people buy here all year long, that are different or have a different twist, from what we’re used to up north.
