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