Tile purchasing complete....YAHOOOOO

Well we are very pleased to announce that the final tiles have been chosen for the house. The en-suite for the master bedroom has been unsettling us for some time, and today we went ahead and made our choices. We have adopted some tiles from the moods collection...need I say more.

Today has been busy collecting items from Germany, and unloading them into the workshop. This task is by no means finished, and will continue over the next week or so.

Taking a breath to review what we need to complete the bathrooms:-

Sink furniture for the en-suite.

Tap for the en-suite

Two electrically heated towel rails

2 Mirrors

2 lighting units above the mirrors

Toilet paper holders and brushes

Pretty good I would say.

No work over the coming week, as it is holiday time here in Switzerland. The week after next will see the completion of the floor heating (yes the two radiators have gone) and the installation of the windows and back doors.

On the level

A major step forward today, with the pouring of the flooring over the under floor heating system. It looks great. The only place remaining incomplete is the hallway, which will be poured in a couple of weeks, once we have finally tackled the contentious issue of the hallway heating. Reggie has stuck to her guns, and insists that we do not have radiators in the house. I am very proud of her.

Today is Monday, and we cannot walk on the floors until Thursday. In the mean time, we are crunching budgets to see if we can add a bit of luxury to our bathroom.

Off to dinner now before the calculator comes out.

House plans...Take a look

We have been receiving feedback, but not much (hey come on...post some comments). One such feedback has been for a look at our house plans. Well..... here they are.

They have been edited a little, but are quite close.

Things are heating UP.

Well they aren't actually, but the work that is being carried out at the moment should keep us toasty warm during the future cold spells. The underfloor warm water system is being installed and the top scree coat should go in on Monday morning next week. It will take three days to go off, before we can walk on it.

We are still in discussion about tiles for the hallway, kitchen and bar area. We know that we need a light coloured tile, but are unsure how the effect will be, when we match them to the kitchen.

We have a huge morning of meetings next Thursday at which we will meet the tile layer, stairs builder, plasterer, door and frame installer, all at various times during the morning. This should be great as these are the guys who will be finishing the jobs that will make our project look like a house.

On the tiles

This morning we headed off bright and early to choose tiles for the bathrooms and floors. We had a set budget and were determined not to cross the threshold.

We started in Bauhaus in Germany, and were soon heavily in discussion about Raphael's bathroom. We want something bright, and fresh, and soon focussed on a blue tile with nice borders and added decor. Job done.

Our attention then turned to the guest bathroom. We have already purchased the sink and bathroom cabinet with is black. We have always planned to have a dark floor and light coloured walls. Reggie found a wonderful combination of tiles and borders, and we soon completed the deal.

For anyone who has to choose tiles, please do not think it was so simple. We took quite some time, and still need to decide on tiles for the hallway and kitchen, and our en-suite.

I am unsure as to what is tougher. The choosing of tiles or the boring project management books that I am wading through.

Cleaning before floor laying

Today is Sunday, and we have to buck the Swiss rule of not working on the day of rest.

We have been asked to clean the floors before the heated floor gets laid. We are happy to do this, as anything to ensure progress is important.

We are preparing for a tough meeting with the kitchen company tomorrow. We had a planning meeting, have not received a firm offer, but were informed that the kitchen is ordered which is strange.

Getting laid....

The floor laying has started. And I mean started. This is the layer of flooring onto which the heated flooring system will lay. On top of that will be another floor material, and on top of that after the previous has been prepared, will come parquet or tiles.

It is very nice to see this stage happening.

Reggie and myself are now turning our attention to the kitchen. We have sat with a kitchen designer, and have received a raw offer. We will discuss this more tomorrow. Time is pressing, so we need to get this thing built now, before factories close for a summer break.

I drove my Discovery into the garage for the first time tonight. What a nice feeling that was.

It`s done....and some

At last the slab is poured. At 7.30 this morning two concrete trucks(one with a pump arm) delivered our concrete. Tomy, Cyrill and myself set to work. Tomy vibrating, Cyrill(son of Tomy) on laser leveling duty, and me pump wrestling. The slab was soon in place with Tomy refining the surface.

Whilst that was happening the carpenters removed the staircase in the top floor, which was a mistake, and had to be replaced. We have had very few errors, and no harm was done. The electricians are running the last of the house cables, and will run the internet cables this week.

The plumber is busy fitting toilet systems, and today we had to position the free standing bath to ensure correct location of drainage.

Raphael can now walk into his en-suite without having to drop down a large step. The new floor level has been constructed.

The visit to Ceramic World this afternoon turned out to be a 2 hour wasted journey as they were closed.. Oh well. Like we said, we have had few errors.

Meanwhile... All of this hot weather, and the opening of the chicken shed has led to a release of chicken sh*t odor. This task of cleaning must be tackled quickly. oh the joys.

Ready and Waiting.

Today I was not looking forward to three hours of head down, and bum up, but that is what the task required. I joked with Tomy that it was easier for him as he is not so tall, and he replied that it is even harder for me as my stomach gets in the way of bending over....point taken.

Well we have completed the preparation for the pouring which will occur on Monday morning. The tedious task of wiring the steel components together is now but a distant memory, and today we can rest.

The coming week should see lots of action at the house. Reggie and myself are still busy picking up items for the house. We now have the toilet for the master ensuite, and the bathroom cupboard and sink for the guest room.

Raising the roof

I know. I hear you. Yes this bl**dy garage roof is taking up too much blog space. Well hear is a quick update. Friday was the day that Simon Tomy and myself built the formwork for the new slab. We even managed to start wiring in the steel. I personally cannot believe how much steel we have going into this slab.

Today (Saturday) We need to finish wiring the steel together so that we are ready to pour first thing Monday morning. Hopefully three hours should complete the job.

Concrete, corners, kitchen and more - on the level

The first casting of concrete on the garage roof took place today. From 7.30 in the morning until 3.00 in the afternoon required all of the formwork to be put in place. This required lots of concrete drilling, cutting and clamping. At 3.00 the work of carrying the pre-mixed concrete a bucket at a time got underway. My broad shoulders took the strain, and Tomi was the willing recipient of the muck. 3 hours later with much energy expelled, the concrete was in place. (Oh yes and it was 30 degrees C, again today)

The kitchen designer swung by, and we discussed basic layout. We will visit him next week.

The boss of the plumbers was on site, with Andi, Reggie and myself to discuss the final location of toilets, sink units, cabinets, and shower fittings.

The underfloor heating guys are still fitting the main junction boxes. I hope the floor heats up faster than these guys move.

Andi and his beautiful assistant Sybille marked the final heights of floors.

In summary, another progressive day. We continue to be impressed with the architectural side of the project, and are pleased with the work completed.

On our side, we need to purchase a sink element, and some more lights.

Tomorrow will be a back breaking day. Tomi, Simon myself and possibly Uwe will be forming up the main garage roof for the final slab which will be poured on Monday morning.

Hammered at 30 degrees

Ok Ok. What a rubbish heading. Let me explain. Today the temperature was 30 degrees for most of the day, and that coupled to working on an exposed white concrete roof meant that we were in for a hot day. To make matters more interesting, this was the day that we would spend jack hammering the softer cement layer from the roof. This proved to be quite a physical task, and rehydration was the order of the day.

Tomi gave the instruction, and I just got on with it. The net result is that the roof is ready for stage 2 tomorrow, and we are on course to cast the new slab on Monday.

Other work was being undertaken at the house. We met the architect and electrician this morning, and the under floor heating guys got to work ( I was quite shocked at how slow these guys moved). Tomorrow I will have a word, or speak to their boss. The plumbers started as well, and these guys disappeared for some time, but returned with pipes to fit. I also noted the 2 hour lunch for the electricians (am I becoming Mr. Angry head?).

Off to bed now to rest my weary bones. I will dream of steel erecting and thats about all.