Author Topic: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!  (Read 41932 times)

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Offline JohnF

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Re: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!
« Reply #40 on: December 17, 2017, 10:38:52 AM »
I had intended to update this topic a bit more regularly than I have.  Unfortunately a combination of having to deal with a messy separation from my esteemed employers in Istanbul (again!), visits from family & friends and the amount of time needed to manage a project of this scale have all bitten into my time.

We're still roughly on schedule to finish the majority of the project by 15th February, at a recent site meeting with the builder and architect they informed us that they'll be putting more guys on the job from the start of the new year. 

So far, our choice of builder has been a good one.  We've got a good relationship with him and he understands the term "budgetary restraints" when we have to deal with all the hidden gems that have been uncovered as the job progresses.



The amount of material that has been removed from the property over the past few weeks is incredible.  Every kitchen (five of them) and every bathroom (four) was tiled from floor to ceiling and they have all been stripped back - add in the amount of old mortar, plaster and general crap a project like this generates and you're looking a lot of skips.

Hang on though...  our street is too narrow for a skip and there's nowhere suitable within wheel barrowing distance to put one.  We had the exact same issue with our house in the Paspatur, everything was carried up to the site by hand using the little alleyway close to Pasa Kebab, and all the waste carried down by the same route.

So, rubble tubs it is.  Every couple of days the guys load up a van at the front door with rubble tubs and all the other waste. 



One little hidden gem we found was a rotten wooden beam - massive thing about eighteen inches by a foot which runs the length of one upstairs room.  Only solution is to replace it with a steel beam and we're currently waiting on a price for that.  Not even thinking about it just now!

After posting this I realised that you can't actually see the beam in that pic, it's on the other side of the wall  :)



On a more positive note, we now almost have a legal electricity supply!  Not cheap as so far its been just under €1,000 to get the new boxes installed and all the associated cabling work, internal and external.  Not sure how much the electricity company will lump on to that as they are a total nightmare to deal with. 



More when I get some time.

JF



Offline Colwyn

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Re: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!
« Reply #41 on: December 17, 2017, 11:06:45 AM »
We're still roughly on schedule to finish the majority of the project by 15th February
A highly propitious day. Outstandingly the best day of the year!

Offline Bluwise

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Re: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!
« Reply #42 on: December 17, 2017, 11:29:30 AM »
Yeeesh, all that mess gives me palpitations.  I would be hopeless with a re-build.
Enjoying the updates though, thanks.

Offline JohnF

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Re: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!
« Reply #43 on: December 17, 2017, 14:28:01 PM »
We're still roughly on schedule to finish the majority of the project by 15th February
A highly propitious day. Outstandingly the best day of the year!

I guessing that you're referring to Duke Philip the Stout forming the Council of Flanders on 15th February 1386, although the younger amongst us may feel that the founding of the Labour party on that day in 1906 holds more relevance to most on here.

JF

Offline marina

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Re: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!
« Reply #44 on: December 17, 2017, 17:03:47 PM »
Yeeesh, all that mess gives me palpitations.  I would be hopeless with a re-build.
Enjoying the updates though, thanks.

You and me both bluwise! It was bad enough when we had a new bathroom fitted beginning of this year!  : :)

Offline mercury

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Re: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!
« Reply #45 on: December 17, 2017, 17:06:53 PM »
Yeah... I.have been waiting for your update.. (I have a boring life)...Seems that the electric people are a Nightmare all over Spain...Nigel and Ian are having the same problems in Orihuela... If you manage to finish all this by February a small miracle will have been performed... Have a great Xmas and I m wishing you positive vibes for The New Year..
Sorry about your employer problems... Best Wishes John...xxxx

Offline Colwyn

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Re: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!
« Reply #46 on: December 17, 2017, 17:52:34 PM »
I guessing
You forgot 1971 when, on Feb 15, our currency "went decimal" - and without that you'd be constantly referring to your abacus.

Offline Anne

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Re: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!
« Reply #47 on: December 17, 2017, 18:38:07 PM »
It will be worth it in the end John.  Good luck with meeting the deadline

Offline busybee

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Re: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!
« Reply #48 on: December 18, 2017, 05:02:38 AM »
Now thats what I call a project, would love all that mess and mayhem(as long as I didnt have to live in it  !!!) a little bit jealous... The finished result will be worth everyday of all the hard work and stress.

Offline JohnF

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Re: But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!
« Reply #49 on: January 22, 2018, 19:14:14 PM »
I can't believe its been five weeks since I updated this topic, time just seems to slip by just now.

Further investigation in the area of our rotting roof beam revealed that there were actually two that needed replaced.  Ouch.

We were thinking that this one may be a biggy and affect the overall budget quite seriously.  In addition to the steel work we needed four new supporting pillars constructed as the walls the beams rested on were in pretty poor condition.  I don't get some folks, this was all caused by a leaky roof over several years and it would have been so obvious as when it rains here, it really rains!

Email came in and to be honest, I didn't want to open it - we were heading out to meet some friends and I thought it may put a damper on the evening.  Curiousity got the better of me and what a result, €2,495 to install three metal beams, one of them fairly complex as it has to also support the roof joists and construct all necessary supporting pillars.  I drank way too much oloroso that evening

    
     

Two other major issues we've had to deal with is windows and doors - we have twenty five windows and about twenty doors.  Our original plan was to renovate and repair where we could and replace those that were beyond repair, a concept our builder understood and was happy to go along with.  Unfortunately as work progressed it became apparent that this simply wasn't a practical approach; the windows were all a bit of a mix with some aluminium framed, some metal framed and a few with wooden frames, all in varying states of disrepair.

Decision time.  Lets go for it we decided, replace the lot (well, almost all) and just be done with it.

So... our builders regular window guy comes out - little weedy guy with a face like a rat and a lot of attitude because we couldn't keep up with his rapid fire Spanish.  We took an instant dislike to him but thought we could ignore our feelings if he came up with a decent price.

Two weeks later we still haven't got our quote, despite nagging our builder several times.  Don't worry he says, we've plenty of time.

Another week goes past and we told our builder that if the window guy didn't come up with the quote soon we'd be going elsewhere.  Surprise, surprise, quote arrives in my email two hours later.

Including VAT, this joker wanted €13,500 for twenty windows.  NFC says us (think about it ).

A few searches on google and we worked out that there were four or five window manufacturers in one particular industrial estate, so off we toddled that afternoon completely forgetting that the following day was a public holiday.  They were all closed bar one.  We decided to give it a go and once we'd found the office the folks there couldn't have been nicer or more helpful.  After twenty minutes, with a combination of our rotten Spanish assisted by Google Translate, we provided them with a specification list of what we wanted.  They made a few (excellent) suggestions in respect of the windows we weren't going to replace so we decided go for the lot, all twenty five of them.  It was left that they'd give us a quote based on our measurements and, if we were happy with the price, they'd come out to the house and take accurate measurements.

One day later, email arrives with a very professional quote considerably less than rat faces price. We arranged to meet the owner of the company at the house in a couple of days.

Once again, the advice given was excellent - rat face had included persianas (built in shutters) on several windows that weren't actually deep enough to have them.  More money saved.

Two days later and after a little bit of to'ing and fro'ing we ended up with a final price of just over €9,000 for all our windows and a new set of patio doors which will all be fitted sometime during the last week in January.  Happy days.

The same day rat face was out, we had a carpenter out to quote for new doors, repair of doors and to assess our front door to see whether it could be repaired or would it need renewed.

We couldn't believe it, same sh1t as rat face - nearly three weeks for a quote and when it arrived it was for nearly €8,000!  Again, NFC.

He wanted almost €400 each to replace ten internal doors and €1,800 to just repair the front door.  Then there was over €2,000 in time to repair the other internal doors.  In my opinion the guy either didn't really want the work or he thought we were rich - or maybe he was simply stupid.

The following day we headed off the equivalent of B&Q with our builder and picked up a dozen solid pine doors for around €140 each including frames.  A new carpenter sourced and he will fit them for €50 a time.  He's old school and took the time to assess the front door properly - beyond practical repair (which we pretty much knew anyway) therefore new door required.  Its a big chunk of door, 1.5m wide and 2.3m high, and we knew we could buy a factory made set of double doors for €2,000ish.  New carpenters price for a hand made set of hardwood doors, including new frame €2,400.  Again, Happy days.



We're looking at something similar to this one he made recently.

Overall we're pretty pleased with the progress of the project - we get on well with our builder and the guys he has working on site are a good bunch.  Not a word of English between them but we still had a cracking time when we all went out for a celebratory meal over the festive period.  Do have to say that Google Translate is a godsend!

Here's a few before and after pics of the roof which the guys have almost finished:




More later.

JF





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