First Finishes - Cladding

Today marks the day the "first finishes" started going in. I must admit that it gives me a somewhat warm and fuzzy feeling that finally something is "finally finishing". The stone cladding is looking great and we are somewhat excited about the aesthetic appeal it gives the house. We also realise the amount of work it takes and the skill required. The truck delivered the sandstone yesterday (which is an entirly different story involving a heated altercation with a very rude and obnoxious neighbour who doesn't realise that public roads are public and not merely for the residents around it).The cladding guys arrived on site at 8am this morning to start on a sample. First the stone needs to be sorted, it is then chopped,shaped and only then mounted with hoop iron and a cement mix to the desired surface. Each piece of the puzzle is 100 mm thick and then shaped to fit together and create the finished look.By 4pm this afternoon they had done most of the first pillar and we have given them the go ahead to bring more guys and push ahead.

5 Months Down!!!

Can you believe it! Yes, truly, it has been 5 months already....we started on the 17th February.
A lot has been achieved - 99 % of the brick work is complete. We have ordered all our windows and doors and expect installation to begin in the next 10 days. The kitchen design is done and we are waiting for the plastering to be done for final measurements. The swimming pool is being sorted on wednesday-hopefully. General plastering,plumbing and electrical continues. The garage doors are to be installed on Friday - no motors. All the plaster has been stripped of the servant quarters and as soon as the garage doors are on we can start work on the "games room" and servants quarter. The reason for the delay is so that Steve and Simeon (who have been staying on site from the beginning) can move to the garage. This adds a little security to the property. We also have a beautiful gas braai on the patio and a wood fire in the living room. What more can the Joburg Johnnies ask for...............................maybe to move in?

Plaster Pleasure

This time we really seem to have found a gem! While looking at the plastering for our house I feel I found a rare gem in the building industry. His name is Martin and our luck happened upon us when Martin popped his business card into our postbox at the house. I check the box everyday and we often have loads of flyers and torn of scraps of paper with contact numbers shoved in the box. However, Martin's card caught my attention - simple & professional! We called him and got his rates which were very reasonable and so went to look at his work. First i went, then Chris went, then Errol went and then Chris & I went again. He came and gave us a quote and we were all very happy and got him on board! His guys are great, and work very hard!! On saturday, they worked on the garage "soffet". There were about 10 of them and it took vertually all day! The best part of it is that he no only plasters but does screed,rinolite,ceilings,cornices and painting!!!! Thank you Martin!!!

No Anger - No Action

As you all know I had been promised that our roof would be completed by July 5th 2006. The day came and went and they had barely started the trusses let alone finished! On top of the delay they neglected to read the plans properly and so the studio roof did not match the plans. This meant that due to technical reasoons as well as time contstraints Clive had to be called in again to approve a solution that was technically sound for the truss company and aesthetically pleasing.

In the meantime, the sheeting was started on the main bedroom and NO start was made on the patio or kitchen. Day after day of asking for the kitchen to be done but hold the patio. On thursday, my requested was totally disregarded and they started marking positions for the rafters on the patio.

My request ACTUALLY had reason behind it : kitchen = plastering = final measurement for cupboards = make-up = finishes on time and patio = hold as we waiting for velux skylights)

Needless to say that by friday - I had cronic sense of humour failure. I am not proud but action had to be taken. I had plenty of words with the guy and eventually he guaranteed me that by close of day on friday the kitchn and patio rafters would be up as well as sheeting completed on the mainbedroom. To add insult to injury - his staff are too lazy to go downstairs to use the working toilet onsite and find it necessary to relieve themselves all over the walls inside our bedroom and my studio - DISGUSTING PIGS!!!

I was on site at 3pm when these guys walked off telling me that they were not meeting their bosses promises..... Errol then called Attie and told him off. He then committed to being on site on saturday by 8am.(he was unable to get his staff to take his calls never mind return to site to finish their work)

Amazingly enough I was hardly surprised when they only arrived at 9.30am! They did however almost finish sheeting the studio and will sheet the patio and kitchen on monday. He has even offered to cut out the perlons where the skylights need to be installed....... but the moral of the story : ANGER = ACTION!

Pre-London Progress Report

Rewind my brain to the 21st June...the day we are leaving for our trip to London. The outdoor gas braai is being built and there is lots that needs to be lined up for the next 2 weeks.

The week before, I rushed around ensuring we had :
all the taps for the plumber,
light fittings for the electricians,
had a meeting with the window people to finalise the quote,
appointed a gas fitter,
ensured the gas braai was on site for installation by the builders,
the roofing people were on track so that the roof would be complete by the time I got back.

All in all, I felt good and thought I was pretty organised - bearing in mind Errol would also be away for 10 days, I THOUGHT WE HAD IT WAXED!

While in London...."they" soon twigged I am was not around = "while the cats away, mice DO play" The taps were collected late, the roof was never started, the final quote for the doors come in way more than expected (mainly due to my mis-understanding the original quote), the gas fitter runs over on expected installation date etc etc etc. Chris was on top of things but eventually told me that it was time I came home and "kicked some butt". So on my return with vertually no change at the house and I sat on the phone trying to get people into action.

Errol got back on Friday (as surprised as I was at the lack of progress) and together we are getting things moving....

As of tomorrow, plastering continues, gas pipes are being laid, roof trusses/perlons to be completed, servants quarters are being modified, ground is being leveled.......

Errol is still confident we can meet the completion date of 30 September (2006)

Fleeting Visit

Last month Chris and I went to London for a fleeting visit. It was Brian's big 30th and so we booked to go over for a long weekend and celebrate with him! Lucky me... got to extend my ticket and was there for 2 weeks! Although short, Chris and I really enjoyed our first time in London together! Quite weird when you think about it...we have been together for going on 13 years and have never managed to get there together. As you know, leaving home is always a rush and for this trip even more so, with both of us being self-employed as well as renovating = wrapping things up a little harder. Never mind we got to the airport on time and sat waiting to board our flight. While waiting, I noticed a strange man (wearing sunglasses at 9pm indoors) being escorted by two men who looked like they were impersonating Popeye having swallowed copious amounts of spinach. Chris casually told me he was actually handcuffed and probably being deported. Little did we know at this stage that he was on our flight. Yip, that's right, as we were about to take off he started shouting "help!". Eventually the captain announced that we would be returning to the airport buildings and one of the passengers would be disembarking and they would have to locate and remove his luggage. Everyone around him started cheering and clapping! This whole process delayed take off by 2 hours - LOVELY!!! I must admit it was rather exciting as the cops were there and everything. During this time Chris and I chatted a stewardess and she said she would try find out some info. In the morning, she told us that he was apparently a German man who had tried to enter SA about 9 times without the correct documents. He had told the cabin crew and passengers around him that he had been kidnapped by the guys escorting him and was being very disruptive to fellow passengers. I am pretty sure we got the very basic outline and things must have been a little more intense than we were told for them to actually take the decision not to fly with him on board. After that the flight was uneventful and we arrived at "the Londoners" safe and sound, albeit a little late. It was really lovely to see the family, Brian & Lisa and Michele again. We had fun shopping, visiting, picnicking and even sorting some wedding admin. Thanks again for all the laughs and fun shared (not to mention "patience personified" with beds & luggage all over the livingroom floor) we look forward to visiting again (in Switzerland too) - only hope it won't be so rushed for Chris next time.