Between the kitchen and the rest of the house far years there has just been a rough hole in the wall which has been there since we arrived. well with both sides now finished it’s time to finally put the last piece in place the arch itself. 
Showing posts with label Dinning Room. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dinning Room. Show all posts
Monday, May 31, 2010
Making shapes
Thursday, April 08, 2010
In need of support
In order to build the arch between the kitchen and dining room later this year we need to get the two sides made up to about the same point so that the former for the arch will sit level. We did the other side back in January. So we finally got our act together and sorted out the other side.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Spaghetti Junction
In preparation for creating the arch which will sit between the kitchen and the dinning room, we needed to mount all the conduit and boxes for the power and lighting for the kitchen and outside.
Once all the conduit and the boxes had been installed with a specially cut former to hold the socket boxes in place. The outside of the boxes were covered in plaster to hold the conduits firm and stop the concrete from seeping into the socket holes.
Once the concrete had been poured and allowed to set for a few days it was time to take off the mould and see what was underneath. We have 3 boxes that will hold all the switches to control the kitchen and outside lights.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Review 2008
Well as the end of the year draws near it's time to review what progress has been made over the last year, and also what has gone wrong.
In January we finally finished decorating the front room which we are calling the library, and the permission came through from the town hall to enable us to put a roof on the old water tank which we are going to turn into a bathroom. Then in February we got the builders in and in 3 days they had the roof on and finished. Meanwhile we got started on the dining room inside which up to this point has just been bear concrete walls. On the outside the mild weather meant that we could finish the steps and ramp down the side of the house. March saw a trip back to the UK to see Helen's grandson Theo. This trip was not as relaxing as I would have liked due to flight delays and missing bags. Also in March we had a scare as Helen fell from one terrace to another requiring a trip to the hospital for an x-ray on suspected broken ribs. Luckily she was OK just badly bruised. April saw work on the area for the water tanks as part of the preparation for the permanent drainage systems.
In May the doorway was converted into a window and the plastering of the walls and ceiling in the dinning room continued. Then in June the first part of the drains went in and the dinning room got painted and woodwork varnished. Then in July the miracle happened we finally got indoor plumbing and the tiles went down in the dining room. Which soon lead in August after a trip to Tenerife to the temporary kitchen going in and finally after 18 months I had a gas cooker with more than 2 rings and sink where the water went somewhere when you pulled the plug out this now means that work can start on the old kitchen which needs the old work tops demolishing and the drainage putting in and also the drainage for the bathroom needs to run through there. Since then it has been crazy I have gone from last year of only having 1 hour of teaching outside of school to having to turn people away as I don't have any more time to give classes. It has not been helped by having a bad head cold which refuses to go away, November and December have also been very cold and damp which has not made things easier. But at the moment the sun is shining.
Recently we have been demolishing the old kitchen. which included a large concrete chimney over what was the old fireplace. Hitting this with a large hammer enabled Helen to get rid of some of her frustrations. All that is left is a very thick concrete beam which goes form wall to wall and will have to be gut out with the angle grinder.
The only bad thing of real note is the continued problems with the car. We have had to have the clutch cable replaced, the ventilation fan is on the blink and I have just been given a price of nearly 400€ to replace it. Without the fan you get a smell of petrol into the car so it has to be replaced soon. The car still has wear on the front tires due to the corners here. And to top it all she still has the intermittent problem where she over revs at idle and despite us cleaning everything it is still happening so I will have to take the car into the workshop early next year and see if they can sort it out.
In January we finally finished decorating the front room which we are calling the library, and the permission came through from the town hall to enable us to put a roof on the old water tank which we are going to turn into a bathroom. Then in February we got the builders in and in 3 days they had the roof on and finished. Meanwhile we got started on the dining room inside which up to this point has just been bear concrete walls. On the outside the mild weather meant that we could finish the steps and ramp down the side of the house. March saw a trip back to the UK to see Helen's grandson Theo. This trip was not as relaxing as I would have liked due to flight delays and missing bags. Also in March we had a scare as Helen fell from one terrace to another requiring a trip to the hospital for an x-ray on suspected broken ribs. Luckily she was OK just badly bruised. April saw work on the area for the water tanks as part of the preparation for the permanent drainage systems.
In May the doorway was converted into a window and the plastering of the walls and ceiling in the dinning room continued. Then in June the first part of the drains went in and the dinning room got painted and woodwork varnished. Then in July the miracle happened we finally got indoor plumbing and the tiles went down in the dining room. Which soon lead in August after a trip to Tenerife to the temporary kitchen going in and finally after 18 months I had a gas cooker with more than 2 rings and sink where the water went somewhere when you pulled the plug out this now means that work can start on the old kitchen which needs the old work tops demolishing and the drainage putting in and also the drainage for the bathroom needs to run through there. Since then it has been crazy I have gone from last year of only having 1 hour of teaching outside of school to having to turn people away as I don't have any more time to give classes. It has not been helped by having a bad head cold which refuses to go away, November and December have also been very cold and damp which has not made things easier. But at the moment the sun is shining.
Recently we have been demolishing the old kitchen. which included a large concrete chimney over what was the old fireplace. Hitting this with a large hammer enabled Helen to get rid of some of her frustrations. All that is left is a very thick concrete beam which goes form wall to wall and will have to be gut out with the angle grinder.
The only bad thing of real note is the continued problems with the car. We have had to have the clutch cable replaced, the ventilation fan is on the blink and I have just been given a price of nearly 400€ to replace it. Without the fan you get a smell of petrol into the car so it has to be replaced soon. The car still has wear on the front tires due to the corners here. And to top it all she still has the intermittent problem where she over revs at idle and despite us cleaning everything it is still happening so I will have to take the car into the workshop early next year and see if they can sort it out.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Cooking On Gas
Well finally after 18 Months I have a cooker..
We have been running on to small camping stoves since we arrived, now this is OK for you basic Meat and two Veg as I can do the meat on the barbecue and the veg on the camping stoves, But if you want a sauce to go on the meat well that's a different matter. So now having four reasonable burners available is great. OK they run off a gas cylinder that is under the worktop for now (it will go outside once we have built the proper kitchen). The funny thing is the first time I decided to use the cooker properly it ran out of gas so I had to go back to using the camping cookers again!!!!! But I was able to go and exchange the gas bottle at our local village store (which isn't officially open at present as the is a problem with the license), I was a little worried about doing this as I hadn't had to handle this before, the was the system works out here is that you have to jump through all sorts of hoops in order to get your first gas bottle, then you can just exchange the empty for a full one after that. I was worried that I would not be able to get a new bottle, but as it happened there was absolutely no problem in exchanging it. So I now have a full bottle and it will be interesting to see how long it will last, as we only use for cooking.
We have been running on to small camping stoves since we arrived, now this is OK for you basic Meat and two Veg as I can do the meat on the barbecue and the veg on the camping stoves, But if you want a sauce to go on the meat well that's a different matter. So now having four reasonable burners available is great. OK they run off a gas cylinder that is under the worktop for now (it will go outside once we have built the proper kitchen). The funny thing is the first time I decided to use the cooker properly it ran out of gas so I had to go back to using the camping cookers again!!!!! But I was able to go and exchange the gas bottle at our local village store (which isn't officially open at present as the is a problem with the license), I was a little worried about doing this as I hadn't had to handle this before, the was the system works out here is that you have to jump through all sorts of hoops in order to get your first gas bottle, then you can just exchange the empty for a full one after that. I was worried that I would not be able to get a new bottle, but as it happened there was absolutely no problem in exchanging it. So I now have a full bottle and it will be interesting to see how long it will last, as we only use for cooking.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Everything including the kitchen sink
After 18 months we finally have a kitchen sink! Yes one with taps both in hot and cold and a drain connection.
This may not sound much but our old sink had only a cold tap and if you emptied things down the drain you would end up with wet feet. As well a sink we also have a set of worktops which doubles the amount of space available for cooking. It was very hard to cook in our old kitchen as the work surfaces were about the size of a postage stamp. The outflow from the sink goes directly into the grey water tank which is behind the bathroom in the garden. Along with a plumbed-in sink the washing machine has also been fitted. If you remember before I had to drag the machine across the floor drag a pipe in from the garden and then I could do nothing else while the washing was running. Now it is so easy to just trow the washing in to the machine and forget about it.
At the moment this kitchen has been built temporarily in what will be the dining hall once all the work is finished. We have built a wall of plastic sheeting between the dining hall and the old kitchen so that we can knock the old kitchen to pieces with out filling the rest of the house fully of dust and muck.
Hopefully early next week we should be able to fit the gas hob, at the moment we have been coping with two little camping stoves. So finally having 4 full gas burners fed from a big gas bottle (No mains gas here) should make things a lot easier. Helen has just been taking it easy for a few days, as she pushed quite hard to get the kitchen done and just needs a little rest.
This may not sound much but our old sink had only a cold tap and if you emptied things down the drain you would end up with wet feet. As well a sink we also have a set of worktops which doubles the amount of space available for cooking. It was very hard to cook in our old kitchen as the work surfaces were about the size of a postage stamp. The outflow from the sink goes directly into the grey water tank which is behind the bathroom in the garden. Along with a plumbed-in sink the washing machine has also been fitted. If you remember before I had to drag the machine across the floor drag a pipe in from the garden and then I could do nothing else while the washing was running. Now it is so easy to just trow the washing in to the machine and forget about it.
At the moment this kitchen has been built temporarily in what will be the dining hall once all the work is finished. We have built a wall of plastic sheeting between the dining hall and the old kitchen so that we can knock the old kitchen to pieces with out filling the rest of the house fully of dust and muck.
Hopefully early next week we should be able to fit the gas hob, at the moment we have been coping with two little camping stoves. So finally having 4 full gas burners fed from a big gas bottle (No mains gas here) should make things a lot easier. Helen has just been taking it easy for a few days, as she pushed quite hard to get the kitchen done and just needs a little rest.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
A Week on the Tiles
Although the work on the house is progressing, I will not say that things have been going that well, I seem to be getting more and more uptight and grumpy, a day really goes by without me snapping at Theresa. After a rather tiring week of work finishing with a very late night grouting, the dining room was ready to become a temporary kitchen. Then a day of intense cleaning, to rid the house of construction dust and another day to move the fridge and washing machine in to the newly finished room and put up a false wall to stop dust from the work on the new kitchen and things are looking good.
While doing the tiling I thought it would be good to fix the few tiles that had fallen off of the wall in the loo/shower, there were only about 8 or 10 tiles to put up and we had some spare tiles in the under croft (original 1950 or 60 tiles in a wooden crate). So I started removing the old tile cement so that the replacement ones would be at the same level that current ones are. removing the old cement was not to hard as it was quite loose but then the old tiles were not that well attached to the wall ether and stared fulling off.... in the end I hand to put around 30 tiles back on instead of around 10.
The other job that we have managed to get done is to finally have a proper path and steps to the loo so after a year we can now go to the loo without risking a broken ankle.
While doing the tiling I thought it would be good to fix the few tiles that had fallen off of the wall in the loo/shower, there were only about 8 or 10 tiles to put up and we had some spare tiles in the under croft (original 1950 or 60 tiles in a wooden crate). So I started removing the old tile cement so that the replacement ones would be at the same level that current ones are. removing the old cement was not to hard as it was quite loose but then the old tiles were not that well attached to the wall ether and stared fulling off.... in the end I hand to put around 30 tiles back on instead of around 10.The other job that we have managed to get done is to finally have a proper path and steps to the loo so after a year we can now go to the loo without risking a broken ankle.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Inside Plumbing
Finlay Hot water in the house - pity there is no tap yet...
The first stage of the pluming for the temp kitchen is done and so is all the painting and the varnishing of the doors (still have to put the bedroom door on its hinges).
OK the pluming is not much only a few meters of pipe (cast iron, old but it works) And we can plumb the washing machine in.. no more moving it around and connecting it to a long pipe that dumps water in the garden..
I will just be glad when we can get rid of the lopsided hot water tank - but that will not be for a while.
The only thing left to do now is put the tiles down and then the dinning room is ready to become a temporary kitchen. How long it will be before the real kitchen is ready will depend on when we get some more money in as our building reserves are now just about run out, but we will have what we need to get on with things and see if we can make a living out here. That is going to be the real test is it not... Mind you we still will move slowly on some things, like knocking the old kitchen about, removing the concrete kitchen units and fire place (shame about that but its is just too big and low).
As to how we are feeling, well things are OK but we are a bit touchy at the moment, I have so many things I want to do and as usual Just cannot seem to get any of them done. As I have never lived in another country for more than two years I am a little worried that it will be the same this time. We will just have to wait and see.
The first stage of the pluming for the temp kitchen is done and so is all the painting and the varnishing of the doors (still have to put the bedroom door on its hinges).
OK the pluming is not much only a few meters of pipe (cast iron, old but it works) And we can plumb the washing machine in.. no more moving it around and connecting it to a long pipe that dumps water in the garden..
I will just be glad when we can get rid of the lopsided hot water tank - but that will not be for a while.The only thing left to do now is put the tiles down and then the dinning room is ready to become a temporary kitchen. How long it will be before the real kitchen is ready will depend on when we get some more money in as our building reserves are now just about run out, but we will have what we need to get on with things and see if we can make a living out here. That is going to be the real test is it not... Mind you we still will move slowly on some things, like knocking the old kitchen about, removing the concrete kitchen units and fire place (shame about that but its is just too big and low).
As to how we are feeling, well things are OK but we are a bit touchy at the moment, I have so many things I want to do and as usual Just cannot seem to get any of them done. As I have never lived in another country for more than two years I am a little worried that it will be the same this time. We will just have to wait and see.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Look Drains!
Work moves forward... On the outside the gray water tank is now in its correct place and yes it has pipes to the house and to the fields (but not the final irrigation connections). 
We have a wast water connection to the tank now in the dinning room for the temporary kitchen sink, also the main drain connection to the pozo negro has moved closer to the house.
the old location of the gray water tank is now being converted to a small location for potting seeds etc, and concrete paths are being added from the house to the outside loo etc. we hope to have a small formal herb garden created in front of the dining room with a patio, once all the drains are in.
On the Inside work on the dinning room moves slowly forward, most of the wood work has been striped and the first coat of vanish should be on the front doors today (once I have done this blog and got dressed) I would like to get all the wood work done this week so that the painting can be done over the weekend. As the room will be used as a kitchen for a while we are only going to use white paint for now but that should seal the walls. It will have to be redone once the final kitchen is done. To finish all the wood work I need to make some trimming around the door into our bedroom and will try to use some of the old planking that was on the water tank roof.
As to the rest of the house, money is running low so things may take a bit longer than planed, we plan to do only a few things over the summer as we have to work on the web site etc and anything else that may get money in.
We are fighting the worries that all this is going to come tumbling down due to no money coming in, The teaching job that Theresa has ends for the summer this week, we hope that it will start again in September (we are as sure as anything in the future that it will) but we need a bit more coming in to be able to continue the work on the house and to be able to see the family etc.
We have a wast water connection to the tank now in the dinning room for the temporary kitchen sink, also the main drain connection to the pozo negro has moved closer to the house.the old location of the gray water tank is now being converted to a small location for potting seeds etc, and concrete paths are being added from the house to the outside loo etc. we hope to have a small formal herb garden created in front of the dining room with a patio, once all the drains are in.
On the Inside work on the dinning room moves slowly forward, most of the wood work has been striped and the first coat of vanish should be on the front doors today (once I have done this blog and got dressed) I would like to get all the wood work done this week so that the painting can be done over the weekend. As the room will be used as a kitchen for a while we are only going to use white paint for now but that should seal the walls. It will have to be redone once the final kitchen is done. To finish all the wood work I need to make some trimming around the door into our bedroom and will try to use some of the old planking that was on the water tank roof.
As to the rest of the house, money is running low so things may take a bit longer than planed, we plan to do only a few things over the summer as we have to work on the web site etc and anything else that may get money in.
We are fighting the worries that all this is going to come tumbling down due to no money coming in, The teaching job that Theresa has ends for the summer this week, we hope that it will start again in September (we are as sure as anything in the future that it will) but we need a bit more coming in to be able to continue the work on the house and to be able to see the family etc.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Another month gone!
Och... its June and We have not blogged!
True we have had promptings from friends to get down and write something - anything... Its not as if nothing has happened but most of it is all small things. Well one large thing did happen, We got our money back from the local council, yes €600, in cash (we emptied the till). But as to the rest not much has been finished, its all little things; like the wall for the water tank, the rendering on the walls for the Dining room.
There are two main reasons for this, one being that we have had guests over for one week, the other is that we (well to be honest its me) just have not been feeling that much like doing much.
We did help to move one of our friends from Santa Cruz to Puntagorda, I would not say that it was a fun day but it was a good day.. She lived in one of the old water mills above Santa Cruz, and the only access was a donkey trail so it involved around 4 trips back and forth to the car of about 1Km each way but as there were 6 of us and not too much stuff it was not bad. The other end was much better as we could get the car a lot closer to the house (3 m)..
I have been feeling like I have lost my way lately, it may be that the house is talking a lot longer to complete. Part of it is also that we are trying to do to many things at once. At the moment we have the following part done; the dining room, the drains, the grape vine, the garden (veg patch), the solar electric and the bathroom roof (not to meanchon the bathroom its self) oh yes and the tiles in the entertainment room. Then there is the money situation, its running out.. So I think we need to just get some things finished... and have a bit of a brake.
True we have had promptings from friends to get down and write something - anything... Its not as if nothing has happened but most of it is all small things. Well one large thing did happen, We got our money back from the local council, yes €600, in cash (we emptied the till). But as to the rest not much has been finished, its all little things; like the wall for the water tank, the rendering on the walls for the Dining room.
There are two main reasons for this, one being that we have had guests over for one week, the other is that we (well to be honest its me) just have not been feeling that much like doing much.
We did help to move one of our friends from Santa Cruz to Puntagorda, I would not say that it was a fun day but it was a good day.. She lived in one of the old water mills above Santa Cruz, and the only access was a donkey trail so it involved around 4 trips back and forth to the car of about 1Km each way but as there were 6 of us and not too much stuff it was not bad. The other end was much better as we could get the car a lot closer to the house (3 m)..
I have been feeling like I have lost my way lately, it may be that the house is talking a lot longer to complete. Part of it is also that we are trying to do to many things at once. At the moment we have the following part done; the dining room, the drains, the grape vine, the garden (veg patch), the solar electric and the bathroom roof (not to meanchon the bathroom its self) oh yes and the tiles in the entertainment room. Then there is the money situation, its running out.. So I think we need to just get some things finished... and have a bit of a brake.
Friday, May 09, 2008
A new window on the Garden
Hi all
Its been a very busy two weeks - two weeks ago we finally got the new windows that are going in the dinning room and kitchen. not grate windows but only just over €100 each so cheep and they are on the back of the house so are not a problem as to looks.
Well the first window to go in replaces the door in the dinning room to the garden, as there were 5 doorways from the dinning room changing one to a window at least results in one wall without a door and a nice view out on the garden.
The first job was to move the current door from the opening in the dinning room to the opening in the Kitchen (manly as the old door had the cat flap and also was mostly glass so there is more light in the kitchen). The problem was that the door was 2cm bigger that the one in the kitchen, but a quick run down with the angle grinder and a few
bashes with the hammer and chisel and the door fits great (wooden door frames what wooden door frames its all concrete!!!)
Next the old opening needed to be part bricked up to form the base of the window.... Now the door was about 70cm and the window is 1m so the top had to be opened up a little. For this we got a BIG angle grinder (and still it was not big enough to cut through all the wall only went 1/3 of the way through so again required a lot of hammering (remember that this wall is made of concrete and stones, big stones, some about 30cm in diameter, so it was rather hard work), but finally we had the opening and a new lintel added. After that putting the window in was simple.
The rest of the time has been spent rendering the walls and ceiling of the room, and it does look quite good now. See the before and after photos below.
Its been a very busy two weeks - two weeks ago we finally got the new windows that are going in the dinning room and kitchen. not grate windows but only just over €100 each so cheep and they are on the back of the house so are not a problem as to looks.
Well the first window to go in replaces the door in the dinning room to the garden, as there were 5 doorways from the dinning room changing one to a window at least results in one wall without a door and a nice view out on the garden.
The first job was to move the current door from the opening in the dinning room to the opening in the Kitchen (manly as the old door had the cat flap and also was mostly glass so there is more light in the kitchen). The problem was that the door was 2cm bigger that the one in the kitchen, but a quick run down with the angle grinder and a few
bashes with the hammer and chisel and the door fits great (wooden door frames what wooden door frames its all concrete!!!)Next the old opening needed to be part bricked up to form the base of the window.... Now the door was about 70cm and the window is 1m so the top had to be opened up a little. For this we got a BIG angle grinder (and still it was not big enough to cut through all the wall only went 1/3 of the way through so again required a lot of hammering (remember that this wall is made of concrete and stones, big stones, some about 30cm in diameter, so it was rather hard work), but finally we had the opening and a new lintel added. After that putting the window in was simple.
The rest of the time has been spent rendering the walls and ceiling of the room, and it does look quite good now. See the before and after photos below.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Hole in the Wall Gang
This week I came home from work one day this week to discover that not only had Helen put some rendering on the wall in the dinning room but also a large hole had appeared in the corner of the room through to the bedroom.
Why is there a hole through the wall from the dinning room to the bedroom? Well the trick is that where this hole is there will be a wood burning stove. The hole will house a grill and a fan which will push the hot air from the stove through into the bedroom.
Helen has made a plywood frame to sit in the hole with a correctly sized hole and mounting points to take a standard PC case fan. The PC fan will be powered using a peltier element attached to the stove so that as the stove heats up the peltier will start to generate current causing the fan to run .
Fitted in the wall
And finaly the wall made good
Why is there a hole through the wall from the dinning room to the bedroom? Well the trick is that where this hole is there will be a wood burning stove. The hole will house a grill and a fan which will push the hot air from the stove through into the bedroom.
Helen has made a plywood frame to sit in the hole with a correctly sized hole and mounting points to take a standard PC case fan. The PC fan will be powered using a peltier element attached to the stove so that as the stove heats up the peltier will start to generate current causing the fan to run .
Plywood frame ready for fitting.
Fitted in the wall
And finaly the wall made good
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