Demolishion Complete - Well almost

Another day of humping and carrying.  Those hefty beams in the living room had to be lifted and cut up.  Not a task for the feint hearted.  Levering them out of their homes proved to be quite a tough task.  Other tasks needed attention too.  Removing the bundles of firewood from the first floor attic was a heavy and long winded task.  We first had to throw them out of the attic hatch, to be then be carried to the barn, to be then hoisted and stacked.

The ceilings in the kitchen, room to back garden and downstairs toilet were removed. (A filthy job). This task was followed by removed the skirting tiles from the corridor and downstairs bathroom.  I am so happy to be putting the jack-hammer away for a while.

The final tasks included firing up the chainsaw to cut up those beams, hoiking them through the window ready for stacking, and a final clean up.

We managed this although feeling totally weary.  Reggie was a super worker again today, and Raphael was there to make up the numbers.

We are happy to have concluded our demolishion duties.  The next movement in the house will be at the end of April when the pros take over and start creating our dream home.

The task list is greatly reduced

Wow.  What a day of demolition progress.  As soon as Simon arrived we loaded up yet another trailer load of wood (remind me never to live in Sweden), and offloaded that at geminde wood store.  We then proceeded to work from the top of the house down, completing rooms as we went.  We started in the upstairs bathroom, which needed tiles and the ceiling frame removing.  My theory of tiles still holds true (look at the last post).  We took it in turns with the jack hammer, as this really does cause pain and discomfort after a few minutes.  We had quite some debris to remove from upstairs, but with a new skip in place we proceeded to remove this with the aid of a wheelbarrow and brute strength.  By lunchtime we had completed most of the upstairs tasks including sweeping which is a good sign.  After a sandwich lunch (which proved a challenge to consume) we started on cleaning up the downstairs rooms.  Debris found its way to the skip.  We then started to remove the floorboards from the lounge room.  A new concrete slab will be poured in here, and we where interested to find out what lay beneath.  Once a few boards were removed it became apparent that a cinder floor with what can only described as railway sleeper sized beam lay beneath.  These beams are in excellent condition, (I say are, because they are still in place).  We removed over half the floor and then decided to load the trailer again just to create a day of equilibrium. After a quick shower, we headed off to the village restaurant for a Cordon Bleau.  It is always nice to order it with friends, as Reggie gets to say `We have Cordon Bleau, and England have Gordon Brown`.  On that happy note, thanks to Simon, Reggie and Raphael.  The end to the demolition is in sight.

Does this stuff grow on trees? er.....

If any of you have had the pleasure or misfortune to visit our current home, you will realise that we live in a place which to all intense and purposes is modeled on a Swiss Chalet.  that is to say lots of pine ceilings.  Now in its defense it is a lovely home, but I am just getting a little tired of humping this stuff around.  I would like to say that the stuff you see in the photos is the last of it, but I am frightened that another room will appear resembling some lost sauna.  

I managed a couple of hours tonight of wood moving, but finished with some jack hammer therapy.  I have a theory about tiled walls.  It goes something like this.  If you want them to stick on the wall they develop a conspiracy against you and join forces with gravity to end up with the noticeable bulge before falling off, but if on the other hand you want to remove them, then they stick like s***t to the proverbial blanket.  Never mind super Simon is coming on Saturday, and he loves a challenge.

A day for loading and unloading

Not an exciting day today, but at least if feels like spring.  Today started with the emptying of all of the wood out of the cow stall into the trailer for offloading at the village wood hut.  It will be burnt on August 1st.  This task took a couple of hours.  I then decided to tackle the remaining wooden ceilings, in the guest room and downstairs bathroom.  These came down quite easily, but once again this wood will now need to be loaded and shifted.

The skip is ready to be taken away as it is full, and I think one more should see us through.  We will order it this week, for next Saturday.  Simon will be over to help.  The last remaining large task is the removal of the wooden floor and joists in the lounge room.  

It is time to give the architect a call to discuss which firms we will use.  

Must go now.  Off to IKEA now to help load furniture on my trailer for a friend (Ramona).  Well hey, I an experienced loader and unloader.

So where have you been?

Ok OK, I know it would appear that we have been a bit slack of late, but that is far from the truth.  After the tremendous Saturday a couple of weeks ago, the physical activity has been rudely interrupted by a week of work in the UK While I have been away, we have taken delivery of more kitchen appliances.  Reggie has been working incredibly hard, and now the only remaining items of any size to purchase for the kitchen, is the sink and the induction cook top.

On my trip to England I picked up the dishwasher (a sexy two drawer model) and a lawn mower.  Why do you need a lawnmower and dishwasher from England I hear you ask.  Well the answer is price and availability.

Tonight we attacked the house again.  Finally removing the last of the false ceiling in the soon to be lounge room, along with the door frame.  As if we were not dirty and dusty enough, we started to remove the ceiling in the kitchen.  This will be a a two hour job which can only be described as being totally filthy.  

The coming Saturday will be wood removal.  We have received permission from the Geminde chief to dump our timber at a location so that it can be used for the August 1st bonfire to celebrate Swiss National day.  

Well off to the shower and then bed.

More Demolition with family and friends

Today Saturday Feb 21st was a good day for those of the demolition persuasion.  The day started very will with the arrival of Simon who had volunteered for a day of torture.  We unloaded the already laden trailer of metal objects before we started to attack the upstairs rooms and landing.  We warmed up with the removal of several doors and frames, which did not want to give up easily.  I likened them to impacted wisdom teeth.  Simon and myself then then tackled the parquet flooring and the glued down carpet beneath.  Now if anyone out there can offer tips to easily remove carpet that has been glued down, then Simon and myself would like to know the secret.  The energy that we expended was apparent as we steamed like burley rugby players on a winters day.  Having removed the carpet in one room we broke for lunch, and were joined after lunch by Reggie and Benny.  Reggie was not content with scraping paper off the wall so she took to demolishing the remaining wall to be demolished.  She was very surprised to make such an impact, but we all know that she is a power frau.  Benny attacked the upstairs bathroom, reducing the wall to rubble and removing wall tiles.  Simon not to be outdone, then attacked the the stairwell with gusto.  I managed to remove the false ceiling in the bathroom towards the close of day revealing a lovely big wasps nest.  In summary.  A great day.  It is just amazing how much you can achieve when family and friends pitch in.  Thanks go to Simon and Benny.  

Update... No photo

Just a quick update.  No work this past week plus as a severe bout of bronchitis has put paid to any physical work.  This has not stopped the planning phase which is moving forward.  We met with the architect (who is impressing us) on Friday eve, and we discussed refinements to the plan.  

We have decided to locate the laundry into the cellar, which means a journey outside, and down some stairs.  This will require us to build an addition to the rear of the house to cover the journey.  This will then enable us to have a more luxurious guest room.

I now have a complete list of tasks to complete, before building begins in April.  This is essentially more demolition.

Reggie has been busy buying appliances for the kitchen.  We only require an extractor hood and an induction cook top, and we will be complete.  We have opted for a double drawer dishwasher which should be interesting.

On the logistics front, we have been informed that we can hook up the house heating system to the community network.  This is essentially a network of hot water pipes that run under the village.  This will cut down on expense and ensure we have a small unit in the house to feed the under floor heating.

We have also been told that we need to build a new sewer connection, which is a negative on one hand, but will ensure us problem free flushes in future.