Renovation and Repair week 2

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June 13th

Ian and Aaron reported at their usual time for their next week of thrills and spills chez nous.

With the kitchen fitting being seriously delayed due to the unexpected building demolition problems - another worker has been allocated the job of fitting the new windows in the kitchen and the ensuite bathroom.

However waiting for said window fitting has impact on the order of progress in the kitchen fitting - at least there is plenty of other stuff to be done! 

Plaster boards have been applied to the rails and the electric sockets and feeds to the appliances are done.

June 14th

We are ordered to go out for the day as Ian is to fit the new electric circuit board and there will be no electric all day.

We headed off to Puilboreau on the outskirts of La Rochelle - a large out of town shopping complex.

We have to purchase a fridge freezer and return with kitchen tiles. A nice light fitting for the kitchen is also in mind. We trawled around the various superstores in search of our treasures.

Carol was disappointed on visiting her favourite shop - Maison du Monde - there was nothing in the store to contribute to the kitchen purchases in mind.

After an exhausting morning we lunched at .......... McDonalds! Oh yes it was well worth Carol taking the effort to wear a skirt and apply make up - what a treat!? We gobbled our "tasty Mcdo sandwiches" whilst surfing the web on our ipads comparing prices of electrical goods and catching up with emails.  

   We returned to Castorama the chosen place for the fridge freezer and were disappointed we could not fit it into the car - delivery will be Mon 20th - 27€ extra ( How much ! - G )

    Then on to Leroy Merlin a diy superstore to choose the kitchen tiles. After much debate we went to inform the salesperson - 10 days delivery - what!! Back to the displays and an alternative was agreed on and purchased - however they are more expensive than we anticipated - ( would be - G )

    However to cheer Graham up we found a light fitting for 6€ ! -( plus an extra 13€ for the large bulb)

         We returned to the beginnings of a carcase of a kitchen 

  June 15th

Work continues - most of the electrics done .

The window fitter arrived - at last.

But the day ended in a bit of a drama when the double sink  is too large for the space - we dashed to  Niort 40 minutes away to a large diy store and bought a single one - not our favourite but the choice was limited and it will do the job.

Work finished at 8.15pm for Ian and Aaron - a long stressful day - duly rewarded with a couple of beers ,Rob the extra labouring help arrived just as the beer was opened - perfect timing as he was politely greated by the boys.

June 16th

The boys arrived this morning with tales of a good evening last night spent watching the Euros French game at Le Grand Cafe - the atmosphere was reported to have been great amongst the partisan crowd. However Aaron looked rather green around the gills - apparently the mix of beer and cocktails didn't agree with him?

It looked touch and go whether work would be done this am, but after rehydration with tea, toast and paracetamol he rose to the challenge and soon the heavenly sound of heavy drilling filled the air.

 By 9am we had 3 people working on the kitchen and 3 people fitting a woodburning stove in the dining end ( that's a lot of tea making! - C)

The woodburning stove was fitted with no problem - amazing.

Good progress was made with the kitchen and hopefully it will be completed tomorrow.

The boys have sacrificed their anticipated afternoon visit to a local bar to watch the England game - what professionals! Having monitored the score regularly on their phones it appeared to have been the usual nerve wracking England game, so it was probably better for their health that they had remained chez nous. 

June 17th

Today is the final push as the plastering, jointing and tiling are completed. However because of the unexpected extra building work needed  there remains quite a lot of finishing off for us to do.

Friends are arriving tomorrow so apart from some rubbing down and serious cleaning we have suspended decorative duties for a few days.

Just the painting and decoration to go.......!

La Maison Pierre - June 2016 - major repair/renovation month!

June 7th

After expecting a delayed start to the arrival of the kitchen fitting/building team - we received news that they could start the work a few days earlier than we thought. We managed to telephone our french neighbours and arrange for a key to be left - they arrived the morning we arrived in St Malo.

When we got to the house 4 hours later- remnants of kitchen furniture and appliances were already decorating the patio.

Ian the electrician and his stepson Aaron kitchen fitter are a powerhouse team of 2!

Unfortunately the stud wall that Scott the kitchen fitting boss ( from his previous assessment visit) had promised us would fall down when the gentlest of pressure was applied, turned out to be concrete!! Cue detailed investigation. Why was it concrete? Was it holding anything (ie upstairs) up? After a few spy holes it was decided thankfully No, this was not a load bearing wall.

Aaron the building allrounder had not been anticipating this and had not brought any heavy equipment.

However after much cursing before and after, a mammoth effort of brute strength and determination hammer wielding Aaron demolished the ******d wall in a day - all by himself - we observed in awe. 

Aaron the champion wall destroyer heads off for his beer reward.

However that was not all .... Preparing to remove the window in readiness for the new one Aaron discovered that the wall was not supporting the lintel - the window was the support - so fearing the possibility of wall collapse when the window was removed - concrete supports were created either side of the window - creative but time delaying - adding another 2 days to the job.

Bizarrely the door frame was held up by a steel lintel seen above right - this was removed a day later when Rob the labouring reinforcement arrived with suitable heavy cutting equipment. This was proving to be not the simple small kitchen fitting job they/we  anticipated.

Well truthfully what else could we have expected!

June 10th

Things are beginning to take shape. Rails have been constructed ready for plasterboarding after the weekend. A ceiling has been made and electrics in place.

Graham has many projects to complete - building a cupboard to hide pipes, meters etc in the dining room. Also a cupboard in the "children's bedroom" - which can be locked to store any personal belongings if we do rent to holidaymakers. 

Graham at work. OK, so not quite as demanding as a concrete wall, but important all the same.

Carol has been controlling the garden - which was overcome with many weeds. And usual catering and cleaning duties!

 

A bed post weeding.

Amazingly the pond and fish have thrived - the pond pump had failed as we left for home last time and we anticipated to see dead fish. Thankfully all fish alive and counted for, and after a clean and dry out the pump now works ... for now!

We have had wonderful weather this week - in the 30's C some days however next week is forecast to be rainy - just as we have bought a BBQ - we're getting sick of salads!

Saturday,Jacques an elderly deaf neighbour living in the house opposite, who we spoke to once in March when his car wouldn't start,sent his carer round with a bottle of bubbly. How kind. It looks not shop bought. Hmm. Was he, or is his son a viticulteur? We need a evening to find out....

June 12th

Sunday - a rainy day makes a day painting and more diy not so bad.

Graham wallpapered a wall , replaced various electrical sockets and continued his quest to sound proof the down pipe from the upstairs bathroom - the macerator toilet sounds like a jet fighter flying by as the waste goes down the pipe situated in the dining area cupboard!

Carol applied paint layer one over the destroyer grey paintwork.

We hope to achieve a light grey, white, with a touch of zingy yellow colour scheme in the kitchen diner.

Tomorrow Ian and Aaron return to begin the kitchen transformation!

Tonight we had barbequed sausages for dinner - we bought a cheap discounted bbq  - however still only with salad to accompany them ( oh how we dream of roasted vegetables). The sausages were delicious!