Many tasks...so little time

Saturday was an incredibly busy day. It started with the grouting of the tiles in the laundry. This was then followed by the COMPLETION of the great wall. The brick arch over the entrance to the living room received some much needed attention.

Painting of the living room is now completed as is the guest bathroom. The only places left to paint are the kitchen, the hallway (we will do this after we have moved in), and the small hallway entrance to the kitchen. These are all simple tasks.

The sun shone, so it was time to tackle the job of applying the bitumen to the garage roof. Now this area is not small at all, but the task was soon completed.

Today is Sunday, and we need to clean the house up, as well as wash the upper great wall. We also need to position the bathroom fittings and cupboards in each bathroom so as to help the none to sharp plumbers.

I will be away on business this week, so Reggie and myself will agree a task list for this week.

The slab is laid....

Good news. The slab is complete, and awaits the arrival in the next 2 weeks of the Jacuzzi. The delivery of the said item has been under discussion with the moving company,

The day started very nicely with the early morning booking of our winter holidays. This was followed by a leisurely breakfast before the hard work of the day got underway.

James and myself tidied up the work that we completed late last night. We then cut the reinforcing steel to size. Straight after lunch we headed to the local hard core supplier. 800kgs is a lot of shoveling. Of course Raphael got to ride in the front loader.

We then returned for the concrete.

The task of shoveling this so soon after the hard core was not very enjoyable, but that was then followed with the slow leveling process.

Bottom line...we are done. Tomorrow we will remove the formwork, and tidy the area up...

The carpenters have completed the 2nd floor entry area, and more light fittings and boxes have appeared today.


Reggie has started top coating the living room. We need to finish this tomorrow.


All in all a productive few days. Still many things to do, but the list is shrinking.

Doors, painting, walls, it`s a whirl...

Today one carpentry company has been fitting the doors, and another has been building the enclosure into the second floor. The electricians have been cutting the holes for the spotlights, and have been continuing to fit the switches. We also have external sensors and power boxes.

The day started off rather early with a visit to a town about 25 kms from here. I had to pick up a flat pack wardrobe from a second floor apartment. What a load of rubbish(about the second floor) I thought, as I scaled the six flights of narrow stairs. The task of walking the stairs multiple times was mind numbing.

On return to the house, James and myself with the help of Raphael set about preparing the formwork for the whirlpool. The task is all but finished, and tomorrow we will hard pack it, and then pour the concrete.

The living room now has an undercoat of paint, and the top coat should go on tomorrow.

Work work work.....pleasure.

Kitchen, painting, wall....

Today the electricians have been fixing the switch plates. The carpenter is fitting the doors, and the tile layer has packed up and has left. He only needs to return to fix the final details when the doors are fitted, and the toilet fittings are put in place.

Today started rather early, with a quick trip into Germany to pick up the last of the taps (the one for our bathroom). I then zipped to the airport and picked up a great friend. James is the godfather of Raphael and lives in Berlin. The two of us then headed to Hornbach and Bauhaus to pick up a door and frame for the attic.

On return we picked up reggie and went to view some sandstone for the fireplace and heated bench seat.

By mid afternoon we had started work at the house. James painting, Reggie .... and myself working on the wall. This is all but finished.

Tomorrow we must head out early to pick up the wardrobe for Raphael. This will be followed by more painting, and a possible start on the jacuzzi slab.

The kitchen is mostly complete now. We await the last granite slab next week.

Onwards we go.

Painting Party...

Well maybe not a party as in drinks and music, but a party of friends helped family Harrison along the long road of house painting.

Family Schaefer turned up with daddy Dave looking after the kids, and Jill applying the power through a paint brush. The ever dependable Simon turned up as did Rachel. We cannot thank these friends enough for their time and energy.

We had the unenviable task of applying the undercoat in the main bedroom, office and Raphaels room, as well as the en-suite.

Applying undercoat is more difficult than top coat as Reggie and myself found out today. The great news for family Harrison is that the first floor is finished now after a second day of painting today (apart from the main en-suite). I also managed to get undercoat on the guest room and entrance to the guest room.

The main sections of the kitchen arrived on Friday and have been assembled. There is some tweaking work to be carried out, and photos will follow soon.

I have a few days off work this week, to crack on with finishing tasks. On Tuesday, James Brown (the godfather of Raphael) is visiting. I hope James knows what he letting himself in for.

Paint and Tiles

Not much to report today. The painters have been painting the ceilings, and have fine sanded the cassette ceiling in the lounge room. We intend to paint this ceiling magnolia white, to tie in the detail with the colour of the kitchen cupboards.

Gert. The tile layer has all but completed laying the tiles in the kitchen , and has started laying the tiles in the guest bathroom.

The kitchen should arrive on Friday and should be fitted on Friday and Saturday.

This week we have purchased a wardrobe for Raphaels room and the guest room. Again we sourced these from the internet, and we will collect these over the coming week.

Tonight I picked up the fallen apples and cut the lawn. When I say lawn, it is comprised of various wide leaf weeds and other foreign types of grass. At least it looks tidy.

The weather is noticeably cooler, and the days are drawing in. Tomorrow evening we will meet with the stone mason to discuss the stone to be located around the fireplace edge and heated bench seat. To comply with Swiss regulations, we also need to lay stone on the floor surrounding the fireplace.

No pics, but a report

Saturday 12th September. The plasterers have finished, and the window sills are finished. The rooms are now cleaned and the house awaits the arrival of the painter.

On Friday the front door was taken away to be cut down, the back door will be taken away on Monday for the same.

The pointing of the main wall is mostly complete and looks very nice.

Today, Sunday, we will spend some time measuring our current wardrobes, and try to establish which ones fit where.

Here is a short list of what needs to be completed:-

1. Electrical fittings to be completed including main power board.
2. Ceilings and walls to be painted.
3. Upper walls and doors to be constructed and fitted. 2nd Floor.
4. Parquet to be laid
5. Kitchen to be fitted.
6. Front and rear doors to be refitted, and lacquered.
7. Pointing to be completed.
8. Bitumen to laid on the garage roof.

Window Sills, Doors, Tiles

Today the carpenter cut and fitted the window sills. These are oak and should compliment the oak parquet floors when they are laid. The plasterers will return tomorrow to finish the detail around these. The plastering is all but complete, and our attention is now getting the house back to lock-up stage.

The front and back doors need some fettling to refit, as the floor levels have changed. Raphael enjoyed using the electric sander.

Today we took deliver of our en-suite sink, which nicely matches the shape of the bath, as well as the stainless sink which will be located in the kitchen. The kitchen tap also arrived today, and it is just so elegant.

The bathroom tiles are looking fine, but we have been having many unresolved discussions about building 2 niches into the wall.

We must dash now, as we need to drive to Germany to pick up the parquet and a few other items.

Walls, En-suites and doors

More progress. The plasters continue to ply their trade with many finishing off tasks. The tile layer has been laying tiles in the main en-suite. These are the tiles that we had so much anxiety over. We have been rather bold and daring with the design, and so far we are both happy with the outcome. I will post some more pictures of this bathroom tomorrow when more progress will have been made.

The kitchen will be delivered next Friday, so it is imperative that the front and back door are sanded and lacquered and re-located before then. I have spent some time this week working on the front door. One side is complete, and the easier back-side will be completed on Friday. The back door will just get a touch up. The front door is a lovely oak structure which just need some TLC to give it a longer life.

The natural stone wall will be attacked again on Saturday. The pointing is not difficult, but it is time consuming.

If the sun is shining on Friday I will apply the bitumen to the garage roof. This task, I have been putting off for a while, but now the weather is turning, I need to get it done.

More pics tomorrow...

A day late, but here it is..

Saturday was a day when we had the house to ourselves. I headed in early to build some natural stones back into the great wall and start preparing the surface for the final task of joint filling. Now anyone would think cementing some local rough stone into three cavities would be straight forward...right????? WRONG. First up you need to get the correct colour for the cement. This entailed driving to the local supplier in the pouring rain and then having to shovel it myslef into 5 large buckets. From there it was off to another location some 15 kms away to pick up some local sand. Easy right????? Wrong. This sand I had to sieve and bag myself.

So back to the wall. I was soon into the swing of things with the natural stones and old bricks soon in place. This took the best part of 4 hours. Reggie turned up with Raphael to help on the wall. This was fun as Raphael really enjoys the dirty stuff. In the afternoon Raphael went off to visit Christoph his uncle. This allowed us the finish preparing the wall. We called it a day with the task complete at 7.00pm. Where did those 11 hours go?

An update on the jacuzzi. We have a lovely location for the jacuzzi, between the chicken house and the workshop. We have also found one for sale second hand. Today I took the 2.5 hour drive to go and view it. This turned into a 9 hour round trip. The good news is that the product is just perfect. We now need to work out how to get it to Tenniken from Geneva. We also need to plan on laying a slab to support it. Work Work Work.

New stairs, and more rooms completed

Today was another action filled day. The trench is all but filled and new concrete is in place. The elements were certainly against any outside work today with rain squalls.

Reggie learnt a valuable lesson today when taking photographs...do not step backwards into a freshly plastered wall.

The electricians have been preparing each socket ready to accept the final covers. We had some final discussions about placement of some sockets, but nothing major.

The plasterers are applying finishing touches, and the bedrooms and office are now ready to paint. We can now plan a date for the painting party.

The new stairs are now in place and they look great. The treads are only temporary and will be replaced as one of the final tasks.

The workshop stairs are also in place, and will really allow easy access to the first floor. Even though we have a large house, the storage space will be ideal for camping equipment and the like.

Tomorrow family Harrison get the house to ourselves, and we will busy ourselves with working on the stone wall or laying tiles in the laundry.

Harmony at work

Today we had 4 plasterers, 1 tile layer. 2 stair builders, 1 architect plus 1 assistant, 1 stone mason and a pipe fitter. Not to mention Reggie Raphael and myself all working in the house. Yes it is that time when things are being finished. The office and master bedroom are ready for painting, the tiles are complete in Raphaels' bathroom, and the walls are complete in the guest bathroom.

All ceilings are now in place, and the plasters are busy finishing the walls. Tonight I spent a few hours in the kitchen cleaning the old mortar away from the old stone wall. Some of this wall will be exposed but other parts will be plastered.

After lunch today the main spine of the new stairs was delivered, and will be installed tomorrow. This will then allow the carpenters to build the walls and door for the second floor.

Tomorrow we have a control meeting with the electrician to ensure that we have not missed anything.

We are busy searching for heated towel rails for each bathroom, as well as the glass shower screens. There is one other piece of bathroom furniture that we require. That is the unit to support the sink in the main en-suite. The tiles do not arrive for 2 more weeks, so we are not concerned.

We must say that the workers in the house really work well together. Let's hope this continues until we finish.

Beams and beaming smiles

No post for a couple of days, so here is an update. The trench work is almost complete with the village heating system connected, the new sewerage line in place and the telephone and electricity cables in place. We will be happy to see this task completed so that the neighbor is no longer impacted.

The plasterers have attached glass foam tiles to the corridor wall which adjoins the cow stall. This was an necessary thing to do, as saltpeter would continually leach through the wall. This impermeable membrane will stop this completely.

The spaces between the beams are now being expertly filled in with plaster board. This looks great, and we are happy with the result.

The tile layer has completed tiling the walls in the guest and Raphaels' bathroom. He will start tiling the kitchen and corridor over the coming days.

Reggie and myself have not been enjoying a spectator sport. We are still busy purchasing items for the bathrooms, and following up on detail.

The great wall of Reggie is now fully pointed. This task has taking some 24 man hours to complete. The render might appear various colors, but we will be applying whitewash to the wall.

The next huge task for us two is the pointing between the natural stones which run up the staircase to the first floor. We have tried all along to expose elements of the old farmhouse, sometimes to the chagrin of the architect who we sometimes feel would like everything sharp, modern and white.

We are currently undertaking the project of sourcing a jacuzzi. We have worked hard on our budget to make savings, and we feel that this is our reward.

Off to shower now and to rest weary bones.