But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!

[Stuart T]

Thanks for the update. Fascinating stuff.

All the best and please keep us informed.

Sounds like you've had a couple of good results there.

[BernieTeyze]

I quite liked it when you were doing stuff up, now its lots of replacement. It looks and sounds like its coming along nicely. I do hope my wing is sympathetically restored..spanish BQ indeed tut. what are you doing with all these frames and tiles you are removing? Is there a spanish equivalent of a reclamation yard?? 
Looking forward to more timely updates.

[Bluwise]

Love reading these updates - thanks.

[JohnF]

No choice Bernie, so much is beyond practical repair.  It's like I said earlier in the topic, we need to strike a balance between restoration and replacement.  As regards the structural work, it's essential - no choice as to remove the timber beams would mean disassembling half of the top floor!

The windows are all recent, 1960's onward so we've no issues about replacing them and the doors we're replacing are of a similar vintage. The older doors are generally in far better condition so will be refurbished.

The green tiles again were from the sixties or seventies and were cemented on so very few came off intact.  The front hall tiles which are a lot older will utilised elsewhere.

JF

[TOSH TOSH]

Really enjoy reading about your new project, all very interesting , and nice to see the before and after pics..

[Anne]

Seems to be going at a cracking pace now John.  I am eagerly awaiting the 'all done'photos

[JohnF]

You and me both Anne  

My gut feeling is that we're going to overrun, not by long but I'm just back and while the guys are making steady progress it's an external influence that's likely to be a problem.

The electricity company, Endesa, are a nightmare to deal with.  Everyone hates them - not just for their extortionate prices but for the slow and convoluted process to get anything done with them.  They have three separate accounts recorded for our property and they will not allow us to simply have one.  This means three meters, three bills and three sets of standing charges.  Our builder, our architect and ourselves have been trying now for nearly six weeks just to get one supply activated and its like trying to explain astro-physics to a five year old...

Chances are we'll get not a lot of change out of €2,500 just to get an electricity supply   robbin' b'stards.

JF

[BernieTeyze]

Was your place apartments then at some point? That's a fair few quid in meters. Isn't there anywhere to go to find out how they or when they fitted three.. Gawd it adds up these extras.

[JohnF]

Yeah, it's an old neighborhood house (casa de vecinos) where you had several different apartments all located round the central patio.  That said, way back in the day (1780 - 1800) it was actually two separate houses - sort of one third/two thirds.  At some point I'll investigate it further, actually getting in is more important right now!

JF

[JohnF]

Well, that's a definite now - no way we'll move in on the 15th.

I think both ourselves and our builder underestimated the scale of this project, especially in respect of both the internal electric work and the external element that is Endesa, the electricity supply company.  After three and a half weeks of fannying around they turned round and said we have to make the connection to the main supply and then they'll come and inspect it. This could take up a fortnight.

It seems we're not alone in having issues with Endesa, more than one person has described them as las sanguijuelas (leeches) and anyone who has had to deal with them for a project such as ours simply shake their heads and say una pesadilla (a nightmare). 

Going back a few years, in Turkey when you needed something done very often a small "present for your children" would smooth out a lot of bureaucratic wrinkles and get your job done with the minimum of fuss.  What I find curious is that Spain has this reputation where many low level officials are corrupt and happy to trouser some euros in a similar fashion to the Turkey I remember from years ago, but here its not the case.  At times I get angry at delays, but my anger is actually about the fact that we've got no-one to bribe!  Funny old world  

Anyway, it looks like we should get in to the upstairs in about three weeks time, as long as we have electricity.  The guys have been cracking on and all the plumbing is in place, all the conduits for the electrics and all the pre-frames for the windows and doors.  The windows and doors will be the last things installed.

This is the kitchen, now on the final run in. In Spain kitchens are generally tiled from floor to ceiling but as ours is five meters long by almost four meters wide we decided against doing that. The workmen found that decision a bit odd, but our rationale is that a) we prefer it that way and b) it saves us well over €2,000 in tiles and labour!







Externally, things are pretty much on schedule.  Almost all of the old flaky render has been removed, repairs made where necessary and fresh render applied and painted. 



One problem we have is finding replacement borders for the along the top of the wall tiles, a lot of them were already damaged and well beyond repair - and a good few were damaged as a result of having to carry out repairs to the walls behind.  I don't blame the guys, I know how difficult it is removing old tiles while trying to keep them intact.  Our Virgen de la Merced has suffered the loss of her outer frame, although our builder reckons he has something similar (from a similar vintage) that he'll use to replace it.  Some soot mixed with water will calm down the glaringly white grout I reckon.



More later

JF