Category: Utility Connections

Utility Connection Completed & Stairs Installed

After several days of not much happening inside the house, the painters were back at 8 a.m. this morning, and by this evening had painted the lounge, the bathroom and the guest WC.

Outside, the electricity, water and telephone connections are now installed, so now we have mains electricity running to a junction box in the cellar, a water supply (including meter) ready to be connected up and an FTTH (fiber-to-the-home) telephone connection.

We are not sure exactly who Osman is, but he seems to have been proud of his work, and has written his name on the cellar wall (right-hand side of the photo)!

When we arrived at the house this evening, we saw that the two flights of temporary stairs that were installed when the construction started (see “Stairway to Nowhere” from 6th December) are now laying outside.

Inside work was underway to install the stairs. The cellar stairs were already installed and we were able to try them out, and the first few of the stairs to the first floor were installed. An hour or so later when we left, they were almost done and were already working on the bannisters. We assume they by the time we are home and writing this, that the guys are finished and gone.

We are really pleased with the way they look (even though they are still wrapped in polyethene) and because they are no as steep as the temporary ones (because they turn the corner) they are much easier to use!

There’s really not much more to be done now:

  • Painters still have to come back
  • Internal doors and skirting boards
  • Laying the laminate flooring upstairs (will be delivered on Monday for installation by us)
  • Installation of the electricity meter
  • Connection of the water to the boiler
  • Installation of the bathroom suites
  • Installation of the solar inverter and battery
  • Attaching the plastic surrounds on the sockets
  • Installation of the air vents
  • The bricks will be cleaned
  • (Hopefully we didn’t forget anything on this list!)

Utility Connection – Day 1

Since it rained a lot on at the weekend (about 14mm) we estimate that the rainwater tank should have about 1000 litres of water in it now, ready for watering the garden in the summer. Better still, since the downpipes are now connected to something, we don’t have a moat this time.

No work happened on Monday, which meant that the windows were not opened at all during the day, and by the time we got there in the evening, the upstairs was a tropical 29° Celsius.

Like every Tuesday, today we met the Construction Manager first thing. As we arrived at the house, we saw that two grooves had already been cut into the road in front of our house by the energy companies’ groundwork company and they were working on a neighbouring plot.

The Construction Manager had taken the polythene off all of the windows where it hadn’t already been taken off, so the first time we can see out of all of the windows properly.

By this afternoon, the groundwork company had dug out the channel all the way across the road and were in the process of laying ducts for the water, electricity and telephone companies. Each of the companies should be on-site in the next few days to make the connections, and then the road will be closed up again.

The yellow duct is for gas, which is being laid even though we are not having a gas connection (presumably not connected at either end) in case we want to install gas in future.

 

Tiling Complete, Rainwater Tank Installed, Garden Levelled

Another week is over and looking back, a lot has been achieved.

The tilers finished grouting and set off for home at around 1pm on Thursday, having done all of the tiling in three and a half days. Someone else then showed up to start the silicon joints. The painters should be back again next week to finish off.

The electricians have now finished connecting up all of the wires, and the LNBs are now on the satellite dish, although the cables are not yet connected to the LNBs. The distribution cupboard is ready for the electric meter to be installed, once we have our mains electric connection.

Outside, a 3m x 3m x 2.3m deep whole has been dug out and the rain water tank installed. The downpipes for the water coming off the roof are now connected and as it is likely to rain in the next few days, the tank should start to fill up.




The road was dug up on Thursday to connect the waste-water and rainwater pipes to the mains, and new tarmac was laid today.

We also had the garden levelled at the back and side (where we are not laying driveways) so the original heap of soil that was dug out for the cellar and the new heap that was dug out for the rain water tank are gone!

Tiling Day 3

Although the tilers were planned for the whole week, they have already finished laying all of the floor tiles and the wall tiles.

Even though it is only Wednesday, they have already started grouting, and told us that they will be finished and heading home around lunchtime on Thursday.

The electrician is making excellent progress in the cellar, and seems to have remembered which cable is which and where they all should go..

Next to the electrical distribution board, but not in the picture, the satellite multi-switch has already been installed as well as the network patch panel.

Outside, the groundwork continues. Today the road was dug up and our waste water and rainwater connections to the mains were made. The rainwater tank should be coming tomorrow. By the time I got there this evening, the digger and bulldozer were parked up for the night on our front parking space.

The Scaffolding is Gone! (Again)

Since the pointing was finished on Saturday, the scaffolding has now been taken down again.

Unfortunately, the pictures were really grainy as they were taken at dusk.

Other than that, not much is happening at the moment.

We are visiting each day to ventilate the house so that the moisture can get out. The heating has now been running for almost three weeks, and the upstairs temperature has now reached 24.6° Celsius, and as you go up the stairs it really feels like entering a sauna.

In the coming days, the electrician should be back to install the sockets, and the digger should be coming back to dig a big hole for the 6600-litre rainwater tank and connect us up to the waste water and rain water drains. The painters should also be back to finish making the walls smooth and painting them.