The scaffolding is now up at the back of the house and they've started knocking off the plaster - revealing quite a big crack. Manuel's not worried though, as it has obviously been there for years and there was no sign of it inside or out as it was hidden under layers of plaster and paint. He's going to put some form of wire mesh over the back of the house to render onto which will give it a very solid surface.
We've been getting lots of nice comments about the front of the house, although all we did was say 'yes' to all of Manuel's suggestions. We're very glad that we went with his choice of color - we might have picked a more faded version (similar to what was already there) but the stronger tones look excellent.
I was feeling a little blue yesterday about the building work - not because it is nearing the end and I'll miss the builders - but for two other reasons. Firstly, I realised that lots of the things that we were going 'wow' about when they were first done we now just take for granted - the new laundry cupboard or the shelf in the pink bathroom, for instance. These little touches that we were in awe of are beginning to feel as though they have always been there - which I suppose is a good thing and in reality there is only so long that we could stand and marvel at the joins in tiles...!
The other thing is that it hit us with a bit of a jolt is that, although we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel, until the house is decorated it is still going to be a bit like living in a building site AND we will have to go through all the dust and debris stage again when the decorator starts (the thick layers of dust over house, dogs, cats - even food - has been one of the worst aspects). As the decorator will be sanding all the walls back - taking off decades of layers of paint - I think we can look forward to a whole new tranche of dust and debris.
We've needed the walls to dry out before they could start and the fine weather is certainly helping. We've not been able to put any furniture back as we've needed plenty of space for the air to circulate around the walls and also we'll only need to move it all again when the painter starts. And the internal doors won't be fitted until after the decorating has been done - which I hadn't appreciated. This makes keeping the animals under control difficult, but this will be much less of an issue now the weather is nicer and, of course, when the builders have finished.
On the plus side - sort of - we realised that we'd made a mistake about a hob and extractor fan being included in the kitchen - in fact nothing has been included which is what we had originally planned.
You may remember that we had later thought, however, that Manuel had said he was fitting some kitchen stuff. We weren't actually that surprised when we realised that we were wrong, as, when we worked out the figures, it would have been unfeasible that he could have provided this as part of the quote. We weren't expecting that he'd include any kitchen things to start with, it was only when he was doing the electrics that we started to wonder - however I think we heard 'are you having an electric hob' as 'you are having an electric hob'.
The reason why we are quite pleased as that it means we can really think about how we want it laid out and what we want in the way of equipment. At the moment Ian is thinking curved concrete work surfaces - which is a terrible case of deja vue as I think this is what he was planning for his house when we first met. So although it would have been nice if we'd had a kitchen 'for free', we are pleased that we can go back to our original plans and really work out something special. We were also thinking that we might not want to do too much till this time next year as it would be quite good to go through the heights of both the seasons before committing ourselves to a final layout. Particularly since we'll not have used our stove and it would be good to check out what impact that has on how we lay out the room.
Later today we are going out asparagus picking - hoorah! We have picked a few sprigs but saw some people with armfuls yesterday, so it looks like the season has started. We'll be able to use our new outdoor sink to clean it!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Finished Outside
The front of the house is finished! It is the original colors, a little brighter or deeper than it was before and it really does look good.
Next week they are putting the scaffolding up at the back to strip the bad plaster off the back of the house and replaster and paint.
Next week they are putting the scaffolding up at the back to strip the bad plaster off the back of the house and replaster and paint.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Windows
Well, the new front windows are back in and they do look very good. They got the thumbs up from Manuel - which we were relieved about. The problem was they just weren't finished well. Now they reflect the quality of the rest of the work that is being done. We can see that they've been much better treated now, and if this had been done to start off with the would have repelled the water much more.
Of course, we have bucked the trend by opting for wood framed windows and we do know that they will expand and shrink over the course of the year - more so than the aluminum that most people go for.
The back windows are out now which is making the house very cold at night. But hopefully they will be back next week.
They are still working on the front of the house, we still can't really see what they are doing as they are still at the top. I will take some photos soon.
Of course, we have bucked the trend by opting for wood framed windows and we do know that they will expand and shrink over the course of the year - more so than the aluminum that most people go for.
The back windows are out now which is making the house very cold at night. But hopefully they will be back next week.
They are still working on the front of the house, we still can't really see what they are doing as they are still at the top. I will take some photos soon.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sun
Well, I switched on my computer this morning and saw a little row of suns appearing in the weather forecast bar, and not the clouds that have greeted me over recent weeks. I will be very interested to see if this has been a record breaking year for rain, it has certainly been miserable. Last year we ate our lunch outside most days - even if we were wearing fleeces, but this year it has been impossible (not to say a little uncomfortable with builders walking in and out).
The weather picked up yesterday so we went out for a walk. It doesn't get dark now until 6.30ish so we can go out at 5 and still come back in sunshine. We were getting our asparagus eyes in as it will only be a couple of weeks before we're in full asparagus flow. In fact, I did find an asparagus spear on Sunday, but I think that was just one that was a little early.
The builders spent two days putting up the scaffolding and all the front of the house is netted up. They said they had a good day yesterday, but as they are starting from the top we have no idea! I bet they are glad that the weather has changed (albeit that the sunshine gives way to colder nights. Last night was 10c colder than the night before).
Project Austerity is going exceptionally well. Not going shopping definitely helps! We've been filling our water bottles up at the pillar rather than buying bottled water and this makes quite a substantial - and surprising - saving. We set ourselves a weekly budget of 50 euros (including gas and petrol, excluding electric) and we worked out that bottled water was costing about 4 euros a week so filling our bottles up resulted in a saving of about 8%, which is quite significant. We've been drinking bottled water since we realised how brown our tap water is. The plumber has replaced some of our pipes so it should be better now.
An electrician has wired up the new wiring which means we have light in the new bathrooms now. He is also upgrading our electric supply soon. Manuel sorted that out as he was getting fed up with the electric going off every time we put the kettle on!
The weather picked up yesterday so we went out for a walk. It doesn't get dark now until 6.30ish so we can go out at 5 and still come back in sunshine. We were getting our asparagus eyes in as it will only be a couple of weeks before we're in full asparagus flow. In fact, I did find an asparagus spear on Sunday, but I think that was just one that was a little early.
The builders spent two days putting up the scaffolding and all the front of the house is netted up. They said they had a good day yesterday, but as they are starting from the top we have no idea! I bet they are glad that the weather has changed (albeit that the sunshine gives way to colder nights. Last night was 10c colder than the night before).
Project Austerity is going exceptionally well. Not going shopping definitely helps! We've been filling our water bottles up at the pillar rather than buying bottled water and this makes quite a substantial - and surprising - saving. We set ourselves a weekly budget of 50 euros (including gas and petrol, excluding electric) and we worked out that bottled water was costing about 4 euros a week so filling our bottles up resulted in a saving of about 8%, which is quite significant. We've been drinking bottled water since we realised how brown our tap water is. The plumber has replaced some of our pipes so it should be better now.
An electrician has wired up the new wiring which means we have light in the new bathrooms now. He is also upgrading our electric supply soon. Manuel sorted that out as he was getting fed up with the electric going off every time we put the kettle on!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Green
Everything is a rather alarming shade of green - a vivid pea green - and I include cats and dogs in the 'everything'. The reason...? Well, Manuel has recommended that our grouting in the hallway is green rather then white. This is to complement our tiles, he felt that while would look wrong with old tiles. But, phewey, it IS green. Apparently it will fade but at the moment it is quite a surprise. The reason why everything else is so green is because they painted all the tiles with this green stuff to ensure that any cracks were also greened and then any dry stuff was brushed off and this gave a fine coating of green to everything and is proving difficult to brush up.
Our two front windows are back at the workshop and we're boarded up - with a few gaps. The weather is quite mild at the moment, albeit still damp, so we aren't too cold. The forecast is for sun later in the week though, and this will mean warmer days but colder nights. The back windows will be repaired after that.
Yesterday they were erecting the scaffolding at the front of the house. We're interested to see what they will be getting up to.
One of my most important jobs is my rubber stamping site which I write for About.com. About.com is owned by the New York Times and, as a freelance writer, I am contracted by the New York Times - who are having troubles weathering the financial storm. There is a lot of talk and speculation about the future. About.com is profitable and therefore is important to the NYT group - but I do wonder how profitable my little rubber stamping site is. We'll see what happens....
Our two front windows are back at the workshop and we're boarded up - with a few gaps. The weather is quite mild at the moment, albeit still damp, so we aren't too cold. The forecast is for sun later in the week though, and this will mean warmer days but colder nights. The back windows will be repaired after that.
Yesterday they were erecting the scaffolding at the front of the house. We're interested to see what they will be getting up to.
One of my most important jobs is my rubber stamping site which I write for About.com. About.com is owned by the New York Times and, as a freelance writer, I am contracted by the New York Times - who are having troubles weathering the financial storm. There is a lot of talk and speculation about the future. About.com is profitable and therefore is important to the NYT group - but I do wonder how profitable my little rubber stamping site is. We'll see what happens....
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Windows
Well, I am sat here watching the carpenter take out our windows! Honestly, I leave Ian on his own for a few days and look what happens!
Actually, again, things sort of went in our favour. Of course it very much depends if you are a half empty or half full sort of person. So, while we'd rather that we didn't have problems with our windows, we're very glad they've happened now - before we've paid and the work is finished. So this is what happened...
The weather has been horrible here for what feels like several weeks. It has rained constantly since the new windows went in and earlier in the week Ian noticed a wet patch under the windows in the back room. The rooms are very damp with condensation from the plaster etc so he wondered if this was due to that, however Manuel said he thought that there was a problem with the windows. Then on Thursday some of the window joints 'popped'. There was a large site meeting today with the carpenters and the long and short of it is that they are taking the windows down to repair.
The good part is that the weather has been exceptional, so if the windows had gone in during the summer then the problem might not have been found for months or indeed years. There wasn't a problem with the carpenter and he didn't try to duck and dive so hopefully this will be no more than a hiccup - albeit we are sat in a drafty house again!
One problem that Manuel noticed was that he has had to do a lot of work to the walls to get the shutters to fold back properly. In fairness, however, this is probably just a result of an old house and thick walls. It's a shame as we were progressing so well, however much better we find out problems now rather than later....
Actually, again, things sort of went in our favour. Of course it very much depends if you are a half empty or half full sort of person. So, while we'd rather that we didn't have problems with our windows, we're very glad they've happened now - before we've paid and the work is finished. So this is what happened...
The weather has been horrible here for what feels like several weeks. It has rained constantly since the new windows went in and earlier in the week Ian noticed a wet patch under the windows in the back room. The rooms are very damp with condensation from the plaster etc so he wondered if this was due to that, however Manuel said he thought that there was a problem with the windows. Then on Thursday some of the window joints 'popped'. There was a large site meeting today with the carpenters and the long and short of it is that they are taking the windows down to repair.
The good part is that the weather has been exceptional, so if the windows had gone in during the summer then the problem might not have been found for months or indeed years. There wasn't a problem with the carpenter and he didn't try to duck and dive so hopefully this will be no more than a hiccup - albeit we are sat in a drafty house again!
One problem that Manuel noticed was that he has had to do a lot of work to the walls to get the shutters to fold back properly. In fairness, however, this is probably just a result of an old house and thick walls. It's a shame as we were progressing so well, however much better we find out problems now rather than later....