16 March 2014

8th March.


Well the weather has finally turned to spring and for the moment no rain on the horizon. We did cover the back wall with sheeting on Monday last (just in case) and the tiling did start on the same day. Progress has been impressive - and it looks amazing. Very pleased with the tiles (ochre / beige coloured and shouldn't show the dirt too easily).  Fred tested the back room floors for humidity levels towards the end of the week and it seems they have dried out sufficiently to continue tiling that area now. (I think he was worried that if he left them undone I'd do them before he came back!) So today the grouting is being done and I'm starting to move in. I'll do more photos when they have finished.

A friend Denis will be coming up from Marseille to help me build up the wardrobes (I've already put some shelves in two future cupboards) ready to put my things into.




Other than that Alexandre came over to do the final work on the waste water treatment ponds with me (the planting out).  For the moment it looks more like 'zen' gardens! I guess that once they are in use they wont be quite to attractive!

I still have to supply proof of which sands/stones and quantities I bought and place the green grids over the top before I obtain my 10 year guarantee!  What a shame they don't make green or brown toilet paper - to be a little less 'obvious' in my reed beds. Certainly wont use pink anyway!

The reeds look a bit 'dead' at the moment - but I guess once they get a bit of nourishment they will take off. The plants in the 'horizontal filtration pond' are small but at least green. They will do the final purification work on the water and will make a very attractive aquatic plant area. I  need to put some nice river stones around the edges to hide the pond liners though.

OK - now I have to get going to paint the impermeabiliser product in the shower rooms. Another job I can do for a cost of about 200E  saving in labour 600E.

12th March 2014 

I am in !!!

 The tiling is complete,(Cyril in the photo working on the guest room shower), the hot water tank in (Quockann- below plumbing that in), all I had in the rented flat is now in the house and more or less in the rooms it should be.  It is amazing!

Guest room shower

My shower 1m x 1.6m.

I have now been here 3 nights. I wont say slept here because I can't sleep at the moment. Even though it is so quiet and  peaceful.  I have had to work so hard trying to clean, hang cupboards and put in shelves to get things off the floor and out of the way.

One of the first jobs was to put the washing machine in its place and hang a cupboard above it to store all the cleaning materials. Fortunately it went up with no problems at all and looks perfect there.

There was a problem with the thermostat on the hot water tank (hence the covers still off ) but the heat pump alone was able to heat the hot water to almost 50C - plenty warm enough for my first (and much needed) shower in the house.

For the moment I have decided to use the guest bedroom as my workshop (or playroom) !   The temporary garage is too far away and has no power.

Jerome Andraud (plumber)

 The wardrobe Denis helped me put up is now all arranged - and big enough to hold all my clothes - with room for more!

I had been a bit worried the bedroom may have been a bit small - but no. Even with the bed in place, there is plenty of room around it.

 

I've taken the covers off the stairs, which also look so nice! Unfortunately some of the varnish came off with the tape and will need redoing. 

I don't think I will put in any hand rail. It would detract from the simplicity of the stairs - and for most of the descent - there is the beam to use for support.

Starting to look like a real home - except a bit spartan, unpainted and very dusty!


Finally -  I have cleared the terrace of all the building materials (and tools into the guest room).It still needs the rendering (as does all the house) - but that will have to wait for another 3 weeks I believe. Still I will be able to sit out here and enjoy the spring weather and look out onto the flush of new greens.

The paving slabs will need grouting but before that I will seal them - hopefully to protect them from the marks of the cement grout as I'm trying to introduce it into the spaces. The tiler suggested cutting a plastic bottle length ways to 'pour' it in.


March 17th Bernhard arrived from Germany for a couple weeks (preparing for the person taking over his work in Provence). He has been railroaded into helping with the kitchen units - with the first job being to collect them with me from LeMuy near Nice. It turned out to be a huge load and it was very fortunate that the van was just over 3m long diagonally otherwise we wouldn't have got the work surfaces in. The boxes were all over the place and with very little info on them!

We managed to get the boxes sorted out on the first day and with a good degree of relief they fitted correctly into the room!  Fitting doors, drawers and handles took a lot more time (but war more rewarding). The hardest part was building in the fridge into its housing (having the wrong hinges at first didn't help).  The work surface will need to be done by a real wood-worker with finer tools than mine. Monsieur Imbert who cut the stairs will do this. I also have to fit the plinths and hang the 2 wall cupboards and extractor fan but have decided to paint the walls first during the week I'm waiting for M. Imbert to do his bit.

But ............. it is looking good! I have my cousin Christele to thank for advice when I was choosing the units and Hygena for the top quality material. It all went together so well and does look very nice and solid. But Christel has very good taste!

I refused to change my 13 year old oven - which has cleaned up perfectly, and my gas top of the same era. I had  to change my kettle and toaster though - they were more than showing their age!

All that remains to be done now is the fitting of the sink and taps (and the splash-back which will be all around and in the same material as the surface).