Category: Ground Floor

Only 50 Days To Go

From August 8th 2016 (when we first found the plot that meanwhile belongs to us) to April 19th 2017 (the planned final handover date) is in total, 255 days.

Just over 200 of these are now behind us, and there are just 50 days more to wait.

Essentially the construction of the house is already completed, and the work that remains to be done is more or less the same as ‘redecorating’ would be – painting, tiling and bathroom suite installation.

Of course, there are a few other things still to be done as well:

  • The electrician still has to connect up all the wires and the electricity, water and telephone connections are still to be done.
  • The solar inverter and battery (finally we have confirmation that we are getting the Tesla Powerwall) are still to be installed.
  • The stairways and interior doors have to be installed.
  • The kitchen has to be installed (immediately after the final handover from Viebrockhaus).

When walking around the house now, it is looking almost finished and it definitely feels like we are on the home straight…

Entrance Hall: Dining Room, Lounge and Kitchen: Utility Room:
Landing:
Bathroom:
Bedroom:
Guest Bedroom:

Office:

Another Brick in the Wall

Since I was out early for a 7am haircut, I dropped by the site at around 7.30am.

It was still dark, and the builders were still sitting outside in their vans. It was the first time I have arrived before they had started work! They had however switched on the lights and radio, so I was able to go in and have a look upstairs.

There is not much place to walk about, as they have stocked up with building supplies before they put the roof on (while they could still use a crane to do save all the lifting and carrying!)

img_2129 img_2127Finally today it was a little warmer, and they have been able to continue with the bricklaying.

One of the long sides of the house is now bricked up to the top of the ground floor level, the other long side is about half-way up, and the ends are not started. Hopefully, it will stay warmer for a few days to let them get that finished by the middle of next week. After that, the weather will be a much less important factor.
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A Tour of the Ground Floor

Today we were able to visit the site in daylight again and had time to spend a little more time walking around.

Yesterday the ground floor ceiling was completed – the concrete slabs with concrete poured on top. Once that has set, they will be able to continue building upwards, but meanwhile, they have started the external brickwork.

The bricklaying team were still working when we first arrived so we came back after they had left at 2pm.

To give an impression how the ground floor is looking (and so we can compare with the end-result) here is a 1-minute video…

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Bricklaying Day 2

As I drove into work this morning, I dropped in at the site to deliver some chocolate bars for the builders.

Not much work had started up to then, but a delivery of scaffolding had arrived, as well as a large team of people from the scaffolding company. I had to get to the office, so didn’t have time to hang around and watch them offloading and building it.

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By 2pm (when a relative went to take some photos for us), the ground floor interior walls were well underway (we don’t have many due to the large open plan lounge / dining room / kitchen.

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The scaffolding was also up and allowed for some bird’s-eye view photos.

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We stopped in again ourselves at around 5pm and the builders were just leaving. The ground walls (interior and exterior) are essentially finished and they should start with the bricks tomorrow.

Here is the view from the front door.

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Of course, we took the opportunity to walk through the front door have a look around, but since it was dark didn’t stay long.

We are going back on Saturday with a tape measure and laser distance meter and check the walls are where we expect them to be.

It certainly looks right – even the internal door which was wrong on the plans for several weeks!

Bricklaying Day 1

Another icy cold night with clear blue skies and sunshine this morning. On the drive to the site, I was sceptical about whether the builders would even be there at all at 8am, but work was well under way.

More supplies had been delivered, and a small pile of broken bricks meant that someone was working already, but I couldn’t see anyone at first.

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Some moments later and I found them, in the cellar, staying warm and building the internal walls. One of the builders did then come up to use the saw.

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Until it warms up it is too cold for bricklaying outside, but with all that insulation (and maybe some electric heaters?) it was warm enough in the cellar. They were, however, confident that with the sun shining they would be able to work outside later in the day.

Here are a couple of panorama shots of the site. The difference now that the big hole is completely filled in is amazing – the garden seems to have re-appeared!

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I was able to leave the office early today and managed to get back to the site just before 4pm.

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It looks in the picture above that they have finished the interior walls in the cellar, but in fact, they haven’t had time. They were too busy working on the exterior walls for the ground floor!
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If it is too cold tomorrow morning, they will finish the cellar off first thing.