Kitchen Arrives and Cleaning Progresses

Our House is basically complete, except of the kitchen, which was accidentally delivered short by one element or 60 cm. The missing cupboard (foreground) and the work surface of correct length (background, to the left) were delivered on 3rd April, and they will be installed on Monday, 8th April.

Otherwise cleaning is progressing, with a general dusting of absolutely everything, which includes also a careful check of possible damaged bits. In a construction process it probably can't always be avoided that something goes wrong, but then it needs to be negotiated if this leads to compensation claims. Thus one of the tasks is finally to reveal the laminate floors by collecting the corrugated cardboard covering. The photo above shows the ready product, a design called "honey oak," the same as the one we chose for the work surface for the kitchen.

Also the windows got their first dusting, and they immediately become one step more transparent. It's surprising how much fine dust collects absolutely everywhere. Fortunately the large stickers weren't glued onto the glass, but stuck there simply by electrostatic adhesion, so easy to remove.

There won't be any more updates to this blog until next Monday, when the kitchen will be complete. After that, blog entries will be sparse, posted whenever something interesting happens. The next items on the agenda are the hand-over of Our House on 11th April, and the House Show on the same day.

Construction-wise, the chimney still needs to break through the roof and reach its final height, and access ladders for chimney sweepers must be installed. In May, we will dig the trenches for drainage pipes. After closing those trenches, another double-layer of FinnFoam around the outside of the foundations will provide the last bit of insulation against ground frost. On top of this, the soil originally taken from under Our House will be used for backfilling around the house.

Furthermore, the house needs to be painted from the outside, and a lot of gardening is going to happen. Thus there will be updates, but at irregular intervals.

House Show: Our House will be open to the public on Thursday, 11th April, from 1700h to 1900h, with sales staff present. Welcome if you are interested. For details follow the link.

Day 57: Wrapping the Chimney

After the plaster on the chimney under the roof was dry, it was time to wrap it in special fire-proof mineral wool. This is done to prevent the surroundings under the roof to get too hot, should the chimney itself get too hot. Two 50-mm thick layers are wrapped around and secured with wire.

Since the first set of mineral wool sheets are only just tall enough to cover the area to be filled with Ekovilla insulation, I put another set above the first.

This is where the chimney will eventually break through the roof. The roof is made up of large sheets of thin metal, which are pressed into a shape resembling tiles. One can clearly see the shape from underneath.

Unfortunately, it is really difficult to take pictures of this, but during Days 56 and 57 (29th and 30th March), the rest of the family have joined me at the site and began the process of cleaning Our House, beginning with an overall hoover session. Cleaning has started – surely that must mean we are close to moving in: 17 days to go!