T - 2 days ...

As of end of Tuesday (12. Feb) we have:

• some kitchen
• no front door
• no car port
• no driveway
• no front path

There is (as was promised) plenty of activity on site and it is starting to look like we will be able to move in to something habitable on Saturday.


The lobby is nearly done and the kitchen seems to be about half way through.  The stairs are nearly done and the fire is working fine.  We just need some doors in the cellar, the big lights and the bits and bobs listed above.  And the door bells. And the letter box.

Acceptance review for roof (left to right: Site manager, architect, roofer)

Kitchen taking shape

Staircase with steel baluster plates attached (pending hand rails)

Preparation work for front path - pavement and boundary markers removed!

Inner court and stone wall looking down from roof

T - 8 days ...

As of end of Thursday (6. Feb) we have:

• no kitchen
• no front door
• no satellite dish
• no car port
• no driveway
• no front path 

but the sliding doors are done now and the contract has been placed for the driveway, front path, etc.

We still need doors in the cellar and a few other things, but there is progress.  Today the joiners are working on the cloakroom.

Fire place being commissioned yesterday

T - 10 days ...

At the end of Wednesday (5. Feb) we have:

• no kitchen (except the island, which is lined up like a sideboard in two pieces)
• 3 sliding doors still missing on the ground floor and all doors in the cellar are also missing
• no front door
• no satellite dish
• no car port
• no driveway
• no front path

but we do now have:

• the library
• our dressing room
• many window sills
• rack mounted and cabled patch panel

Tomorrow is the official first lighting of the fire, with the architect, fire place builder, us, mulled wine and brownies.

Looking north along the library

East side of library

Rack with patch-panel mounted at the top and router still boxed below

T - 2 weeks ...

Since last week there has been some progress.  Going in to Monday morning (3. Feb) we have:

• no kitchen
• some library
• three doors
• no front door
• no satellite dish
• no patch panel (but we do have a smart rack for the patch panel to sit in)
• no car port
• no driveway
• no front path

...

Also, after a bit of team work for the last few days, we have completed laying the laminate floor in the cellar (3 rooms, hallway and under the stairs; around 85 qm).  No skirting boards, but still it looks pretty good.

Inside the entrance way the joiners have stored stuff where they need to build later

Guest bathroom with Great Wall of Roßdorf through the window

Front steps have been installed - 1 * 1500 kg and 1 * 500 kg

One of the main bathrooms; toilet seat left up, of course

Laminate floor being prepared on new laminate floor in table-tennis room

T - 3 weeks ...

For those of you who enjoy a good panic, we will move in a little under 3 weeks and have:
no kitchen
no library
no doors
no dressing room
no front door
no satellite dish
no patch panel
no car port
no driveway
no front path
...

But the skirting boards are nearly finished upstairs, so we can relax on that front.

T - 5 weeks and counting

We are moving in on 15 February, which is not far away.

Right now we have lovely oak floors on the ground and first floor of the house.

Oak parquet/parkett floor looking from the dining room into the living room

The craftsman laying them worked on his own across the winter break and has done a great job.  The colours don't look very nice on the web ... sorry about that.

We still don't have any bathroom furniture, a kitchen, any doors, a dressing room, any shelves, a front door, etc. but the house was busy today when I popped down.  I will check again tomorrow and see how the tiler, metal worker and fine plasterer are getting on.

We chose the wood for the terrace and balcony today - Siberian larch, which is, according to the source of all wisdom and lies, ideal for velodromes and mine props.

Last push before Christmas

In the last week or so there is plenty going on.  The craftsmen are working towards a Christmas deadline (Ho-ho-ho) and have even been spotted on site at the weekend.

Yesterday the tiles were laid in the entry area and on the floor of the main upstairs bathroom.

Tiles inside front door

After I had wandered around looking for him, the tiler asked me not to step on the first two rows inside the front door.  Aha.

The fire/stove is much more complete now.  The engineers were installing some offset piping halfway up the chimney yesterday.

Fire/stove nearing completion with recess behind for sliding door

Outside, the wall builders are doing their best to carry on, but it is getting pretty cold.

Wall

I guess about 2/3 of the stone has been laid so far.