DAY 39

It's looking good...We popped in on Saturday during Emma's catechism class and found the parquet floors nicely cleaned up and varnished. The doorway of the master bedroom was blocked so I gather they did that room last and wanted to give the varnish enough time to dry off. The nails were removed from the floor, and the floor sanded down before varnishing. It's now a shade darker, though depending on the light flooding in or the exposure of my photo, you will see a difference in the shade of wood in the different photographs. So all the floors have been completed. What remains now are the fittings, plumbing, electrical, cabinets and other furniture...The contractor will likely handover the house to us by mid-November. We'll set aside 1 week to rectify any issues, then we should be able to move by early December, well before Chistmas. Now comes the headache....packing!!!

Meg's room.

Close up view. The sheen or 'hotspot' of light on the floor irks me but it can't be helped unless I shoot this it dusk or when the daylight is not so bright.

Em's room.

Close up.

The master bedroom.

Detail.

No entry.

The water pipe for the bathroom sink has been installed.

Water pipe in the master bathroom.

Spare tiles for safekeeping.

The lights for the house sans the living and master bedrooms which will have the Philips Hue lights.

DAY 9

I dropped by in the afternoon to bring some snacks and drinks for the workers - as is my usual practice if I have the time - and this sight greeted me. I was a little worried about the noise it was creating especially since the three days for hacking was long over (28 - 30 Aug) but my contractor assured me that it was ok and it was quick to take down this wall. We STILL hadn't received the permit to hack the balcony/study wall and they decided to do this one first instead of waiting any longer. By evening, the wall was gone.

These are tradesmen whose skills are, I'm sure, very rare and sought after in this day and age. I hope they get paid well for their skill and expertise.

This worker was drilling a channel in the floor to hide the water pipe for the washing machine. 

This is what it looked like after it was done.

It's frustrating to have to wait so long for the permit to knock that wall down! I asked if we would eventually get it and the contractor said yes, and he wasn't sure what was holding it up.

More cement blocks for the walls (centre, right) and the lightweight concrete blocks for the balcony floor top up (left).

The 600x600mm floor tiles had arrived. I noticed them as I was leaving to head back to the office.

By evening, it was all gone...

The door frames had arrived.

View from Meg's side.

All the kitchen walls had been screeded. Notice the difference in the colour of the cement. The wall where the rubbish chute is was done two days ago and it's dried somewhat, turning into the light coloured cement we are used to seeing.