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 52: No Chimney

Today we were supposed to build the chimney through the roof to its final height. However, the morning started at –25°C, but the temperature rose to only –2°C at lunch time. It was a perfect, beautiful, sunny day, but at the height of the roof the wind was so cold that work was not feasible. Thus we did some preparations and installed some planks on the roof to move about safely, and we shall try again tomorrow.

However, today the interior got the finishing touches, which means that all skirting boards were installed, and the remaining corners were tidied up. Also, the windows and doors got their final touches: the wooden strips were put in place, which hide the gaps between door frames and adjacent plaster boards. Also, the blinds where released and tested. Above is a view of two of the living room windows.

Another team from the house company arrived today. One of them will do the plumbing, i.e. place sinks and toilets and install taps, while the other will do all the electrical stuff. Today the latter managed to get all electrical, aerial, and internet sockets installed, and most of the switches. The photo above shows the corner where our TV will be located and where all three types of sockets are present.

Also the thermostats appeared in most rooms, thus we can now control our floor heating in a per-room fashion. Nice.

By the way, I learnt this morning that our houseshow will take place on Thursday, 11th April 2013, between 1700h and 1900h. Then the sales person will be present and anyone can come and have a look.