Touch the Sky

Kanye West (2006)

This week, work on the back roof has started, under thankfully blue skies. 

In the spare room, we can now see the centuries of dust and grime...

... but also one of Brussels' landmarks, the Atomium, built for the 1958 Expo (World Fair) and now the symbol of an era.   The bedroom is also in line for some demolition. The window has been taken out, and next the brickword underneath will be removed.

Eventually, this will be French window leading onto the green roof.  You can also just make out the neighbour's illegal terrace, decorated with hanging plastic dinosaurs. More news on that in due course..

From the ground up

It's suddenly getting hard to keep up with the changes.  I just miss a week of updating the blog and am overtaken by events.  So, here in brief is the news from last Saturday. 

The most visible change was that, under the blue tarpauline, the foundations for the garden room have been laid.

Access to the drains and the cistern has been provided for.

On the left is the corner will be where the laundry will be.

And here, against the far wall the staircase will come down from the kitchen to the garden (you can just make out garden ground level on the right) and the garden room.

And the new beam above the door of the garden room, which will be supporting the weight of house.

The only thing which is not looking too happy is Mum's Villosa lace-cap hydrandea, which had a narrow escape from a shovelful of rubble.  It's going to need some protective fencing until the leaves come out and it is less camouflaged...   

Weapon of Mass Destruction

(Faithless, 2004)

With Europe gripped by sub-zero temperatures and snow, we were not surprised to be told that the workers had only managed three days of work at the house this week.  

They’ve probably managed to take off the roof, we speculated as we drove round on Saturday morning.  The first thing we saw was the tip in front of the house, looking ominously empty.  

This is what we saw as we opened the front door. 

Yes, what you see out the back is daylight.   That doorway used to lead to the kitchen and back door.  

The entrance will stay, but will lead to the new, bigger, kitchen.  You can see better from the back of the garden.  On the left is the entrance to the kitchen from the hallway, and on the right, the window will be opened up to connect the new kitchen and the living room.  

The new kitchen will fill the whole width on the upper ground, with a staircase on the right hand side leading down to the garden.  

Meanwhile below, on the lower ground/basement level (about a metre below ground level) you can see where the garden/laundry room will be. 




And here is the same from above.  You might just be able to make out the paw prints of the neighbourhood cats, having a nosey around.  There's still a bit more work to do in clearing this back to the foundations.  The slightly raised area on the left is where the rain water cistern is, which will make the next stage a little more complicated.

In terms of salvaging pieces of the old house, we were pleased to see that they have dutifully stacked up the Pierre Bleue steps… on the herbs.  



Oh well, it will be easy enough to replant them. The clematis and jasmine had a narrow escape with just a few old doors stacked on top of them, which might in fact give them some kind of protection from the frosts still to come.  




Because unfortunately, this frost looks set to last a while longer.

GO!

(Moby, 1991)




If I sounded a bit hesitant last time that the works had actually started, then this week has made it all real.  Where to begin? 

In the house, the contractors have been busy, beatifully wrapping the chimneys, floorboards and marble hallway in protective coverings, 

Removing all electrics and piping, such as the original fuse box. 

Removing the banister from the back staircase, as well as the doors and windowframes, ready for the demolition of the back annexe.





On Friday, we paid a visit to the neighbours, to check the state of the dividing wall before we start the heavy works, and also to identify any works that need doing on the dividing walls.  It was a good opportunity to build up good neighbourly relations, not least because of the issue of the illegal and grotesque roof terrace and corrugated plastic extension on one side, which blocks out quite a bit of sunlight.  See what I mean?  There is hope for a solution that everyone is happy with, but more on that in due course. 




To top it off, this weekend we finished off the bits and pieces we had on our list of things to do inside the house, like removing the plastering around the front door (which will be fitted with insulation), 

removing the staircase down to the cellar from the hallway (part of it will find a new life as part of my bike ramp idea), and...




... an interesting but fruitless trip to a salvage yard in the Belgian capital of the Duracell battery, in search of floor tiles to match those we have recovered from our old kitchen.   No tiles, but we did see some inspired roundabout art...

Meanwhile, temperatures have dropped to below freezing and the whole of Belgium is bracing itself for a general strike on Monday.  Let's see what this week brings...