When will we be moving in? That’s the million dollar question. Everyone is asking us, but we still have no answer. We always knew this journey was going to be one of ups and downs. It’s never easy having a new house built, we knew this to be true. We just didn’t envisage it taking this long.
On our way back from Spain, we called in to check on progress to see what had been achieved during our absence. We would be lying if we didn’t say we were a little disappointed. That’s not to say there hadn’t been any progress, there had. But not as much as we had hoped with three weeks of good weather just passed. We had a scheduled a meeting with the builders, as they wanted to go over a few things and we were hopefully going to find out what had been achieved and what was going to happen to get the house finished. Annette’s sister is due to come out in June and we were hoping, given the builders earlier assurances that we would be in by then. But there seems so much to do!
We had seen a real increase in progress during our last visit. When we got to Spain the weather improved significantly, so we hoped during those three weeks, there would be a continued push to get the house ready! The project was now in its fourth year, a project that we believed and thought was going to take less than two. So you might understand why we were getting anxious by the speed of construction. Perhaps other projects were getting attention with the good weather, especially if like us before, it meant getting a building closed up. At least that’s what we hoped and not another delay with trades people!
We were also getting pressured to have our furniture delivered. Remember, we had bought all the furniture and appliances because we had hoped to be in last year! We had paid for a delivery and installation service and they need to move the stock. Just another worry! We had hoped the rooms would be in a condition to receive them by now. But, there is still no firm commitment.
However, on a more positive note, the leaks we noticed before we went away had all been resolved and the office room was now boarded with drywall. We actually called in after there was some torrential rain and all was good and dry. The other good news was the kitchen build had started. At least the base units were in, but it was still the same a week later as this goes out, so hopefully more progress on the kitchen soon. Not a massive amount in three weeks but still moving forward. At least we are now sticking around for the final push.
During our last visit, the pool guys had made great progress and it had received some more attention. It is still not finished though. Work will hopefully continue when the slab for the equipment has been added. The deck also needs to be constructed so we can access the from the house and hopefully make use of it during the heat of summer!
Finally seeing the kitchen being put together and knowing the solar and heating systems need power to install and test it’s really important to get these soon. Without the electricity we won’t know if anything works and we have already lost a years warranty on the kitchen appliances. The solar company we have used is also pressuring us to allow them to finish their install and to do that we need electricity connected.
We also require internet before the solar install, and you guessed it, that needs electricity too! We don’t even try to understand the bureaucracy surrounding getting residential electrics, it’s bonkers and way more complicated than it needs to be, but we trust our builders to get things done.
On the internet front, we decided to go with Starlink. It’s a technology that Wayne has been following closely since its inception. It’s a fantastic service and we believe it will only improve over time. It’s also the most flexible option for us and at an affordable price too. Yes, the cost for initial equipment is required, (around 225€), but even that has reduced in price recently and yet the performance of the system has improved. We really like that kind of innovation and engineering approach. If you have not heard of Starlink or what it can do, check out the Spacex site and learn all about it here: https://www.starlink.com
We left our meeting with the architects/builders and actually came away feeling a bit more positive. They are planning the finishing jobs and have promised the work will speed up. The electrics and lighting guy seems to be onsite and working and they said they would be ready to start the laminate flooring soon. However, we were made aware that it was our responsibility to provide the underlay and transition pieces for the flooring. This was a bit of a surprise, we are not builders and had no idea what sort was suitable for underfloor heating, (why do we pay professionals?) and all the products are all in portuguese. But we went to our local DIY store and asked a guy to show us which were ok to use on heated floors. The range was super confusing to us, even after he showed us, and the price range was again vast. From a roll that just looked like cardboard, to a roll that looked like orange foam? We really had no idea. We chose a product that was in the middle price range in the end and will just hope it works! The transition pieces were just as confusing, with a whole range of profiles etc, to the non-DIY’er it’s very intimidating. Again we had to compromise and choose one that was similar to the tiles but not a perfect match. On the way home, we saw another store that did floors and decided to check there. They had one that was a perfect! However it was for the wrong type of flooring! So frustrating, but the girl there told us of another place, which we planned to check out after the weekend break. Now to those who do a lot of DIY this probably seems easy, but when you have little idea of what’s required, then it’s a minefield. We did manage to get some help in getting the right sort in the end, and took back the pieces that didn’t quite match. We were pleased with the service we got from: https://revesperfil.pt We delivered them to the site, but they have not started the flooring yet. We will just monitor the progress, but are waiting for things to pick up.
We are looking forward to inviting our friends over to view the house in the coming days too. They have just moved into their new-build house on the coast, so it will be interesting to compare our experiences. Although he being a lawyer they got theirs finished much quicker, we’ll have to see how 😂😂.
So, that’s where we are at the moment. Looking forward to getting in and starting the gardening and landscaping, something we are a bit more comfortable with. Hopefully we have seen the last of the diggers (they are so expensive here!). They have had to remove a lot of our old stone walls to be able to gain access to the land, so hopefully they will put back the heavy ones so we can start to rebuild them.
Our plans were just to rebuild the walls where they had collapsed over the years. It’s part of the charm of our area that is covered with old stone walls and we wanted to keep that heritage. Unfortunately the build has taken much longer than we thought, so the stone walls will have to be rebuilt over time. We are hoping we can rope in some help with the walls, we shall see. But that’s another story…
Thanks for reading, and we we will hopefully see you in the next one…
Our Portuguese Life 