Progress continues....

I wouldn't say 'unabated' but it continues nonetheless.  In fact, it is getting pretty exciting now because it is all the visible things that are being done.  Which, of course, makes it all the more stressful.  Because, who really cares how good the brick work is, or that we have 35 6m deep piles in our foundation?.  What people see is how good the tiling is, or if have I chosen a good paint colour etc..  Funnily, the big choices (flooring, paint colours etc.) have been relatively easy.  It is often the little ones which trip me up and get me in a state.  I am also learning to live with things, and pick my battles.  For instance, there is one rather skew patch of flooring in my beautiful wooden floors.  Which could drive me crazy.  But I have decided it is a quirk of the house and it is nothing that a lovely Persian carpet couldn't hide (any excuse, really!!).
I have also made the decision to put all interior decorating, bar the kid's rooms, on hold for now.  We will move in with what we have.  Not only do I feel a huge weight off my shoulders having made that decision, but I know it is the right thing to do.  Live in a place for a while and see how what we have actually fits.  I just don't have the head space right now for more decisions.  I have what I say, 'decision fatigue'!
Anyway, I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking, with only a little explanation!

 Here is the hole for our sump - 1.5m x.1.5m x 4m deep.  Darrell, NO COMMENTS about our lack safety precautions!  The angels are holding this lot up, I swear!

 The pool now has its mosaic-ing and is looking gorgeous.  Not to mention the house in the background!!

 We have an external entrance up to our much-coveted room over the garage.  We are just waiting for the steel stairs.  Once again, NO COMMENTS about health and safety please!!!

 It took me quite some time to make a final decision on our kitchen floors, and I am very happy with what I have now chosen.  This is the living room into the kitchen.  The granite tops are coming next Tuesday and then the cupboard doors and kick plates etc.  We have put under-floor heating in the kitchen and scullery so it will be nice and cosy in winter.

 This is just a sample of how the bathroom tiles look (the many broken ones have now been replaced and I am a happy client once again!). 

 The BIC's have also turned out so well.  This is the one in Ali's room - well, a portion thereof.

I am booking the movers for Mon 9 December.  Come Hell or High Water.  Or both!  Which means we have 8 weeks to go.  The countdown begins!!!

All systems go

It feels like all hell has broken loose on site this week:
Peter the floor guy (I kid you not, that is how his number is saved on my phone!) arrived and has started laying our beautiful wood block (parquet) flooring.  One can no longer buy new the wood blocks, so one gets them second hand from old houses, which Peter then cleans up, re-lays, sands and polishes.  We have some issues with straight lines, but it looks stunning already and it isn't even sanded or sealed yet!

The kitchen people arrived yesterday.  I must say that Easy Life Kitchen, thus far, has been just what it claims to be.  Their service throughout the whole procedure has been fantastic.  Even today when there were 2 cupboards out of line, they came to site and have already sported it out by close of day today.  They are going great guns and are already upstairs doing the kitchenette.  Tomorrow the bathroom vanities, and by Thursday, my granite guy can come and measure. My friend Bev Bouwer and I, who has been renovating her kitchen since 1 March, have a bet on to see who is going to be finished first!  There is a bottle of wine at stake here.  Problem is, I can't remember if the winner or the loser must buy the wine?  Either way, we'll both be drinking to celebrate!

The tiler came today and continued with the bathrooms (after a brief pause while the under-floor heating guy came in and did his thing).  Small panic when I realised that he had laid full size tiles in the shower area, instead of the mosaic-ing, but it was quickly sorted out.  I think the tiler hates me!
The carpenter is on site putting in the skirtings and architraves.
The external wooden doors have arrived, so the frames are going in.
The ceiling guys are there doing the insulation and ceiling boards in the garage.

The foundation for our new garden wall on the North side of the house is getting along nicely.
Best of all, the sump for the pump to push our poop uphill has also begun to be dug.
So, all in all, things are BEEZY!!!

doors & windows - done and dusted

Well, not quite dusted, but done nonetheless.  I must add that that is the aluminium doors I'm talking about.  In theory, the wooden doors (both internal and external) are arriving tomorrow.
What else? Pool is in.  Off centre, but in.  God has sent these skew things to test me, I know it!!!
The kitchen and BIC's  (in theory) are arriving on Monday.  The tiler arrived on Sunday and has already managed to incorrectly tile all three bathrooms and has broken at least 20 of my extremely expensive Travertine tiles in his efforts to correct his mistakes.  The less said about that, the better.  Personally, I think I am being very calm in the face of extreme adversity!

Last thing to add... I finally finished crocheting Megan's blanket for her new room.  I started crocheting it at the same time we started building and I wondered which one would be finished first.  Sadly, I can now officially confirm that it is quicker to crochet a blanket than to build a house.
Anyway, I think the next couple of weeks are going to be very exciting, if extremely stressful.

windows and more

I cannot believe it has been so long since my last entry.  To be honest, the pace of progress has become glacial, so I keep thinking there is nothing to report.  But, that's not really true.  Our windows are going in, and the pool.  What else?  Cornices, retaining walls, window sills etc.  Sadly a large part of the work done these past two weeks has actually been repairing and patching what should have been done correctly in the first place.  The plumbers also seem to cause their own havoc, and we have patched and repaired one particular place 4 times now!!! 
Anyway, here are a few pics....

and on and on...

I'm running out of titles for our progress.  The roof is still being completed, despite the blistering start over a month ago.  But, the house is really looking so good now.

The downstairs ceilings are mostly in and rhinolited (here is a pic of our diningroom).

I love our big window on our stair case.  It lets in the most lovely morning sun.

The garage roof is also nearing completion and I think we are going to be very happy we made this late adjustment to the house and added this room above the garage.  Problem is, we are all fighting over it - Carl wants it for his cave, Ali wants it for his scalectrix and model train, Megan wants it for sleep overs and parties.  Me, I don't get a say!  In fact, the only space in the house that is truly mine is the little sewing nook which is open plan to the PJ lounge.  I'm not complaining, I'm just saying....

Now that the brickwork on the house is mostly complete, we are able to get busy with building the retaining walls for the garden.  So, it is all coming together, SLOWLY but surely. 

The roof goes on (and on and on...)

After a flying start by the roofers, things have slowed down somewhat.   The major delay was because the slab for the garage roof was delayed, so once the slab was laid, the brickwork could happen, and then the trusses over the garage could be installed. 

The sheeting is now going on over the main house, so it is starting to look more and more like a house!

In the meantime, while the roofers have been busy(ish), the builder has got on with the other tasks at hand, which fortunately don't need a roof in order to do them!  Like, rhinoliting (I have NO idea how to spell that!) which, for the uninformed, is a very fine, smooth layer of plaster over the exisiting plaster.

They also fixed up the wall & pillar at our entrance to the house from the road; the floor screeding is happening; the electrician is busy with wiring; foundations for our retaining walls are being dug etc. etc. etc.

So, 3 steps forward, 2 steps back still means an overall forward motion!

The roof

As hoped (and prayed) for, the roof trusses arrived on Monday.  Within 24 hours of working, the roofing contractors have transformed the place. 

Also, the builders got busy with the ribs and blocks which finally arrived last Friday. 

This is one BIG project!!