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...