More terrace

Some progress on the terrace:

First placing concrete L slabs to act as retainer wall for the soil beyond.

As level as possible. These things weigh 65 kg each.

Starting the brick wall, the first row is the most difficult.

Overnight, a cat will always come to your fresh concrete and walk over it.
This one however tap danced on it :D

More layers go faster.

Here come some stairs.

Garden

We haven't been working in the house for a while now. Taking advantage of longer days (although it's been pouring like crazy this spring), we've been working outside. The terrace is coming along.

Soil-cement as a base for concrete Ls to hold the ground

A cat left an imprint overnight

As matters stand today

Meanwhile, further back in the garden, I'm working on some paths,
using the same bricks that we will use on the terrace

Terrace

Terrace coming soon!

Pim has been putting a stabilised sand floor (chape? screed?) as a base for the terrace. This is sand from the garden with some cement. He's reinforcing it with some wire meshes that are like mini-rebar. I'm sorry, our English building terminology is failing us hard here :)

All this underfloor is now delimited by a concrete and rubble (we're going Roman here) frame he poured to be the foundation of a future greenhouse/conservatory thing.

Brick floor soon!

May 2014, May 2016

Facebook prompted before & after, two years and two days:

The hillbilly roof protected our tomato crop for two years

Digging

Pim's been digging out the terrace. It's a lot to dig...

Today Pim's dad has also removed the add-on to the corner of the back building. We think that was there just to attach a door that is now long gone, we also found some evidence in the rubble (lots of rubble! this space was used as a dump) in the ground that Pim dug out. It wasn't really supporting anything. He then started reconstructing the corner.

Not kidding about the rubble, and this is only a fraction

Pim's also now trying different configurations for the stairs leading to the upper level. We of course make drawings, and plans in sketchup and stuff, but there's nothing like seeing it in place and going up the steps.

Paint, drains, pipes, lights & garden

Finally, we're up to finishing a room: bedroom. Cleaned and cleaned up the room (it had become a bit of a storage room) and started painting it:

Bedroom

Ceiling and wall

Perhaps a more colour accurate image of ceiling and wall colour

 Pim also got the dimmer element he was missing and set it up, these are the night-table lights for the bedroom:

Max

Not even min

And the timer in the staircase is also up and running!
We've used push buttons for timer lights to
distinguish them from the rest of the lights.

You have two minutes ;)

Little roof and tomatoes happened!
See more at garden journal.

Draaains! progress in the bathroom

April

I have not updated in... a month!!
To be honest, I have been distracted with the garden. I don't mean I have been only working in the garden, but when it comes to blogging, it appears that's what I've been doing.

Of course a lot has been done in the house as well.

Let's see what I wrote about last...

Floor

Indeed, still going at it. Still a lot left. Less than half, yes! it is a lot of square metres and 3 layers.

Aïda sanding

Boxes upon boxes

Electricity

This is what we've been working at the most. Trenches (?) for the cables, plug boxes, installing switches etc. LIGHTS ARE WORKING! sorry. Yes, this is a big milestone :) The main lights for the bedroom, bathroom, "library", "parlor" and entryway are working. All the cabling for the staircase is installed, so are most of the lights, but the switch is not working yet (the timer we needed is backordered at the moment).

"Parlor"

"Library". I'll try to restore this medallion from its atrocious paint "job".

Entryway. Still doubting between a medium and a
dark grey for the ceiling.

That's a mane of internet cables.

Switch guts.

Holes to add wiring where there's none.
Staircase.

New staircase lights.

Much finishing to do.

Due to the inclined ceiling, at the top of the
 staircase we are putting the lights on the wall.

Hallway.

STUFF!

We've been receiving several deliveries, stuff for the bathroom: shower tray (enamelled steel plate, but of course) with fittings, shower glass (stripy!), washbasin, bathtub with fittings & the thermostate for the shower. We should very soon receive all the taps, I can't wait to see them.

Bathtub fittings. Drool.

Washbasin on its approximate placement.

I couldn't find brass fittings that I was sure were going to fit,
so I ordered a porcelain click-clack closure made by the
same manufacturer that made the washbasin.

It is actually chrome, but you cannot see it when installed.

We found a box of these marble stripes for a steal.

Here come a few dreadful phone pics:

The stripy shower glass.

That's all you (and I) are gonna see of the bathtub for now.

Apart from this claw. Talon.

We've also decided (that was hard) on the floor tiles and ordered them, this may take up to a month. We have matched them to an edging of antique tiles we bought and will place in the centre of the bathroom as a feature. The colour scheme is white, pale grey & sage green with brass hardware and medium oak furniture. This is all I have for now, a phone pic taken at the shop:

Top and bottom tiles we already have.

Since we finally chose tiles for the floor, we have to reinforce and straighten the beams, which will be a lot of work. Tiles will be a lot of work too, but we want it to be well done and functional, so we discarded the idea of wood in the bathroom floor.

The bathroom is still a bit of a battlefield:

Pipes and more pipes.