Oh FFS

It now seems that there has been a delay in the “convocatoria” and we not will not be going back until October at the earliest. We have had no news until this, both me and Helen are going spare with worry over this if we don’t get back to work we have calculated we can just about survive until Christmas. This is causing big problems, as now both me and Helen are paralysed with worry about what is going to happen to us. Neither of us want to go back to the UK, we would have to leave everything we have here, and end up with nothing.

Foam Party

The normal way round here to stick the top layer of tiles on is to use expanding foam. So after yesterdays abortive attempt due to a failed can of  foam we had a drive out to get another one.

Once the foam had dried we can cut back the excess and render the outside.

On the tiles

with the cement fully dry after a few days, it’s time to tackle the tiles. Laying a bed of cement on which you lay the bottom layer of tiles. It’s a bit of an art to get right as you have to remember that the lowest row of tiles actually goes on the opposite way round to the rest of the tiles.

At present the top row of tiles are just laid on and not stuck down as the can of foam we had was completely solid  and wouldn’t work.

And it was getting dark with possible rain so time to call it a day.

Uncovered

After the few days to dry comes the crucial step of removing the frame work, and exposing the concrete. If the concrete is stuck to firmly to the wood then it could pull away and ruin the finish of the wall.

Thankfully this didn’t happen and we are left with a nice clean pour.

The tiles are just stacked on top for now, unfortunately we haven’t got enough of the reclaimed tiles so we are going to have to use new ones on this hut.

Frame Up

Time to put the top on the vent hut. This entails first building a wooden frame round the out side and inside of the top of the vent hut, this is sloped of the inside to take the racilliones which will provide the base for the roof.

Embedded in the back of the wall will be two pipes which will provide an exhaust, and also an inlet for the air.

Once the frame work is complete it’s time to pour the concrete, once the concrete is up to a level the racilliones need to go on.

And that’s that, just time for a long shot to give some idea of how it would look.

4 years of work

Over the last few days we have slowly been putting on the concrete render of the wall by the entrance.  It has taken a while to get this far. First the roof to the water tank was added.  then we built the wall round the edge. and now all it needs is a lick of paint. The photo below shows how it looked 4 years ago and how it is now.

Oh Bugger it..

I have received a letter stating that due to the on-going situation between the education department and social security we will not be going back to work at the start of September as was hoped but we will have to wait for a “convocatoria” which is an official announcement  of positions available and we will have to apply for our jobs back again…

What does this mean, well normally we have to cope without money coming in for the months of July and August, but we are going to have to cope for another month without any money coming in. Luckily Helen’s son had given us some money to do the kitchen but we are going to have to spend this money to tie us over. This is a very worrying development as we do rely on the money from the school work to cover the basic day to day expenses, and without this we can’t keep going indefinitely without another form of income.

Block up

Just a few blocks added here and there today.

First a few blocks go on to form the wall of the vent hut.

The another couple go on to bring the steps up a little, now this is ready to make the base of the small recess in the back of the steps which will house the valves for the watering.

A better photo of the wall that I mentioned earlier.

Venting

One of the little jobs that had to be completed before the painting of the walls could continue was what we call the “vent hut”. On the roof we have always had this little  square block and underneath was a circular hole which we believed was for a heater before the hole was made in the wall to connect the kitchen and the rest of the house.  Our intention is to use this to make a ventilation system to help keep the house cool in the summer.

Helen through the hole.

once the cover was removed from the top and with a board placed below it was time to insert the pipes that will handle the air extraction, the water feed up to the solar hot water heater that will be fitted one day, and control and power cables.

Then we built a wooden frame to make the base.

Fill with concrete and job is done for today. But there was time just to finish off a few little other jobs, like prepare the wall of the bathroom ready for the render. The blue is a mesh which is fixed on the wall to help the render stick and not crack.

Window top

Once the sides of the window had dried next came the top. the top sticks out a little to push the water away and stop it seeping in through the window.

Then it was time to add a little more cement to the steps

Patching sides

With the window sill cast and dried it’s time to patch up the edges of the window. So we fixed some strips of wood to make nice clean edges, and mixed up the fine white render and slapped it on.

One that was done we still had a little left so we had to find a place to put it.

So a little bit went to tidy the edge of the steps to the roof.

And a bit more to fill the hole where we found the horseshoe in the wall.

Sill season

Now the window is in and set, we need to finish of the window sill. The window sill is concrete but has a step in it to allow for the rendering to be finished off at the front and to put tiles on the top.

Cast windowsill is behind the wooden former.

A close up of the bottom of the window.

And on the inside.

The window goes in

Yess, today is the day when the window goes in, we had though of leaving the final fitting of the window until later in the day but after a quick test fit we decided that we would just go ahead and put it in.

The window cleaned and ready to go in. It had got a little dusty while it was stored in the bathroom.

The window in and fitted on wedges to hold it in place while the cement sets.

A view from the inside showing the cemented fixings, and under the window a load of paper just to block up the gap until the windowsill gets cast tomorrow.

Both windows and the door done…

A window on the wall

Today,was going to be a big day we were finally fitting the window which we brought way back, we brought 2, one which went into what is going to be the dining room. and the other is for the new kitchen. With one thing or another we have new gotten round to fitting the other window,well this week it’s finally going to happen.

The old window removed and all marked up for cutting the new window.

A few hours later and the main hole is cut.

Helen checks the lintel after we cut the hole and quickly put it in. The lintel previously was in the kitchen supporting the concrete hood over the barbeque.

All done for today just one more job to do.

Cover the window with some plastic to keep the insects outside.

Filling in

One reason why we had to get the blocks in yesterday was that today we were expecting Sheila and her husband Carlos to come and give us a hand shifting more soil, like they did before. So with Carlos, given a radio tuned to Radio 2 and a beer and we were off, several hours later, we had filled most of the lower patio and the soil on the upper level was almost gone.

But we now have a very level surface at the bottom.

A little more levelling at the far end, as this end is a little high.

The ramp now is a more gradual which is much better…

Where most of the soil came from.

A Step in the right direction

Work still continues on the step extension and the lower patio. we’ve put a few more of the blocks on to bring it up to the level where we can think about putting in the all important first step, but we have now run out of big blocks.

The blocks laid and ready to get in filled both in front and behind.

The whole ramp can now be in filled up to the height.

And with the left over material finished off rendering the inside edge of the roof.

Draining away

One of the tasks we have been working on is trying to divert the water off the roof to a more useable place. At the moment the water just tips off the roof and down onto the ground around the house, one side effect of this is that the lower storage room at the font of the house stays very damp. As we are laying the patio and the extension to the steps we need to put in the pipes as we go.

The pipes down all glued into place, with an access hole just in case we need to clean things out.

Helen double checking the width at the top of the ramp.