Move any Mountain

(The Shaman, 1991)

Still there?   I wouldn't blame you for tuning out. 

So yes, we moved.  And it was enough of an ordeal for me not to want to re-live the whole thing any time soon, but I will try and record some of the highlights here so that, in years to come, we can look back fondly at these happy days of dust, boxes and bugs...  

Behold the bathroom, the day of the 'move': 28 November.

... and the staircase. A fairly major obstacle to moving in, since the 1st and 2nd floors would have to be out of bounds while this was sanded and painted. 

So the Plan D, agreed while the movers were navigating their way round the Schaerbeek one-way system, was that we would be allowed to occupy two rooms on the first floor, where we could pile up our belongings, while the workmen scurried around finishing what they could. 

And what about our little family?  After calling around various B&Bs to see whether they would house two downtrodden adults, two coughing babies and their double buggy, we took up the generous offer of friends who live on the next street to stay with them until the house was ready.  An offer they may have since regretted, as it became clear that we were not talking a few days, but a good week and a half....

A Kind of Magic

While a number of the window frames were being opened up, quite a few of the original mouldings suffered some fairly serious damage.  These were however magically replaced. 

First, they take the measurements of the existing mouldings (not sure how they did this - I imagine some fancy laser beam scanning device).

Then, the specialist company produces a length of mouldings which has the same profile.  Actually, it's fibre-glass covered with plaster. 

Then the damaged part is cut away, and the ceiling coated in something presumably very sticky... 

And the new piece added.   Ta da!  As good as new.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

(Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan, 1949)

In order to achieve our 'low energy' status, the front of the house also needed to be insulated.   This was slightly complicated by the fact that, in order not to spoil the facade, we had to do this from the inside.   
 

As you'll recall, we had already stripped this wall back to the bare brick, with our own fair hands (and a fair bit of help).  

Next, blocks of insulation (neopor) 10cm thick were stuck on, all the way up to the ceiling.  



Originally we had a doubt how this would look encroaching on the mouldings on the ceiling, but it turned out fine.












The pipes from the bathroom upstairs had to be added (since there was no bathroom in the house originally, these had to be put somewhere, inevitably making a hole in the ceiling unfortunately).










 

Finally, the wall was plastered and the edges of the window frames tidied up.  Not much to look at, but we're hoping we'll be able to feel the difference. 

Ready Or Not

(The Fugees, 1996)

Here we come, ready or not...


The movers have been booked for Wednesday 28 November. 

Boxes are being filled and are stacking up. 

The freezer is being emptied. 

The standing order for the rent on the flat has been cancelled.  

The flat has been put back on the market.

Change of address has been notified to banks and the like.



In fact there's no choice, the house will just have to be ready.   

Walking on Sunshine

(Katrina and the Waves, 1983)

 

 

The big change this week is in the kitchen. On top of the insulation, the underfloor heating has gone in...

Then a layer of concrete, and then finally the tiles. 

The view from the landing. Cool eh!

Knock On Wood

Up on the top floor, we are beginning to get an idea of the final finish.  Floorboards are being sanded...

 ... and the bathroom has been tiled. 

The Heat Is On

(Glen Frey, 1984)

Previously tucked away in a dark extension, the kitchen will now be the focal point of the house.  Soon, sitting at the kitchen table, you'll be able to look through to the living rooms, up through the internal window to the main staircase, or down through the huge window to the back garden. 

It has also become the focal point of the building works.  Not only has the structure been totally re-built, but it has also required a number of different people to do their bit: the internal walls, plumbing and underfloor heating, laying the floor tiles, fitting the ceiling, painting, and then of course the kitchen itself.  All these have been done by different people.

On top of that, the actual design of the kitchen - wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling oak panneling, with lots of built-in spaces - means that everything has to fit perfectly.

This means that there is a lot of potential for things to go wrong. 

The good news is that is does seem to be coming together...

The internal walls on the left - with doorway to the WC and staircase leading to the back garden.

.. and this is what is looks like from the other side (staircase still to come)

The first attempt and insulating the floor.  Has since been re-done, since not it was properly glued... 

The internal windows being plastered

The ceiling going in

Close up of that ceiling. Cool eh?

The floor tiles have arrived!

Faraway, So Close

So, what do we have for you this week?  Let me see... 

Back facade finished yet?   Nope.

Kitchen walls fitted? ... Neither.

Or the flooring laid for the under-floor heating?  Nope. 

Plastering anywhere near done?   You guessed it, nope.  

Accoustic ceiling in the kitchen fitted?  You're getting good.  Not been fitted, but at least the pannels have arrived.  And it's spotty!

Bathroom finished?  To see this picture, you'd think we're getting there. But actually that panneling vibrates so has to be re-done.  Sigh...

What we do have is a deadline about to be missed, and a plan B. More on that soon.

El Condor Pasa (If I Could)*

(Simon & Garfunkle, 1970)

 

How many men does it take to hammer a nail into a wall?

Actually, what is happening here is the marking out of the kitchen partitions. It's a precision task, which has to be done right.  Since the kitchen units, ceiling and floor all having to fit snugly together, there is no margin for error.  

Hopefully, with this now done, there will be no more delaying with putting up the walls, which has to be done before the floor can be laid. 

Meanwhile, in the rest of the house, the first fix is progressing, but at at a snails pace. The pipes (finally done) are being boxed in and the surrounds of the windows tidied up.  

One of the reasons this is moving so slowly is that the contractor has a few men ill, and can only put a few men on site.  Their team manager has recognised that they are "dans la merde" (sic.), and is now considering our suggestion than he subcontract some of the remaining tasks to our original wonder crew, who did the first part of the works so well and so efficiently  (and who are also at the ready to step in to do the final finish). Of course we cannot impose this solution - it's a deal the contractors have to work out between them - but we are hopeful that they see the sense of it.  We shall see... 

* I think only Liz will get this... 

Dirty Old Town

Nothing to do with the house, just snapshop of our new neighbourhood.  

Meet Taram and Vouzier, the two carthorses who do the daily round of the Schaerbeek streets to collect the rubbish.  They only collect the street bins - but that alone replaces a truck, and are cheaper to run too.  

Rear Window

More progress this week on the plastering and insulation front.  Notably, the rear facade is being coated with blocks of what resembles blocks of polystyrene, and then a layer of 'roughcast'  (what google tells me is the English for 'crépis' - who knew...).  

From above - the rear wall

From the flat roof to the main bedroom

The same, seen from the inside

But, excitement of excitements, we now have glass in our windows! Here you can see the kitchen window in all its glory.  The lower left one slides open (pictured here), and there is a little glass balcony, which makes the perfect place for pots of herbs.

With the blocks of insulation

As Time Goes By

31 August 2012: a momentous date.  We have given notice on our flat.

In three months' time at the latest, that's to say by 30 November, we will have moved into the new house. 

Or out of this flat at least.  Whether or not the house is ready for its new inhabitants by then remains uncertain... 

A Whiter Shade Of Pale

While the Not-So-Super Mario Brothers tinker with the plumbing and heating (they have now had to return four times to re-do/complete various parts of their brief and some things are STILL not right), the other contractors have been plastering away.

From the top down, the house has gradually been covered in a pristine layer of white, starting with the bedrooms under the roof:

Twins' bedroom

Spare room

Down to the first floor, where all the walls have been plastered, save the front facade which is still waiting to be insulated from the inside:

Back bedroom

Front dressing room

The rear facade has also been insulated from the outside, and plastered. 

Rear bedroom, from the flat roof

The ground floor is however a story for another day...

Call off the Search

To conclude on the kitchen tile saga, well, I'm afraid to say we gave up.  After a valiant but fruitless hunt around the salvage yards of Belgium for tiles matching those we had recovered from the old kitchen, we plumped for new carrelages de ciment, made in the old style by Carrelages Du Marais.

We did consider a patchwork of old tiles, or old and new, but decided this would look cleaner and would also be much easier to place. It also turns out they are less expensive than recovering old ones (these salvage yards put a hefty price tag on cleaned salavaged tiles - one quoted us eur 175 per square metre)

"bastide rouge" from carrelages du marais

We opted for this 'bastide rouge' design, which fits both the contemporary style of the kitchen and the classic style of the rest of the house. I also like how the green leaves on the floor will echo the greenery of the garden which will fill the kitchen window.  

Meanwhile, we have 8 square metres of beautifully cleaned tiles on our hands. Maybe they can find a new home on ebay...

Paint it Black

(Rollling Stones, 1966)

With the dazzling new cornice and windows now in place, the rest of the facade looks even grubbier.  It's hard to believe that those tiles above the first floor windows are supposed to be white, as are the stripes in the brickwork. 

Tempting as it is to get out the scrubbing brush, we decided to leave that for a later date once we have done the main works and our finances have recovered.
 
We will however be repainting the window frames and restoring the front door, which raises the question - what colour paint? 

Originally, the front door was simply varnished, and the window frames painted a rather nasty orangey brown.  But do we want them white to match the cornice?  Or try to find a suitable brown?  And what about the front door - painted to match the windows or returned to its natural colour?

To see what the various options look like, we wondered round the neighbourhood to find other examples of (clean) red brick facades.  Surprisingly, the white window frames don't stand out too much, though we might have to get the brickwork cleaned rather sooner than later.


Other examples of red brick facades in the neighbourhood - with brown window frames to the left, white to the right

The Final Countdown

With a three month notice period on our current flat, we will soon have to make a call about when we can  move into the new house.

We broached the subject at the site meeting on Wednesday, and the current plan is this:

- We hand in our notice by 20 August, 
- The main part of the works are finished by 1 October,
- A month to sand floors, paint the rooms, fix the front door, fit the kitchen, curtains etc,
- We start moving our things in over the 1 November long weekend ...
- and are out of the flat by 20 November.

And because we like a challenge, at the same time we have to factor in my return to work, the twins starting nursey and C changing jobs.  

I think we can already declare 2013 the year of putting our feet up.

Heart of Glass

Although the house is not listed, one of the conditions attached to the planning permission was that we maintain the original facade, including the orginal window frames, made of Belgian oak. 

At the same time, if we are to achieve the level of energy efficiency needed to qualify as a "Low Energy" house, one of the most obvious improvements was to add double glazing.

Happily, it is quite straightforward to add double glazing to old windows, providing the frame is thick enough.  There are a number of companies in Brussels who specialise in this, including Xylonis, who did the job extremely efficiently and proficiently.

First, they take the window off its hinges, and repair or replace any peices of wood that need it.  They also place a rubber seal around the frame, to prevent drafts.

Then they fit the panes of double glazing, which has been specially made to measure.

And voila!  It took all of four days. 

Given how simple this operation was, I find it extraordinary that most windows in London - a city I know well - do not have double glazing.  It is not uncommon, in a London flat, to feel the draft coming from a closed window.   The usual excuse is that double glazing cannot be fitted into the traditional sash windows, but I find that hard to believe...