Walls Continuing....
Work has continued slow but sure this week with the walls. Apparently just two builders have been on site this week, beavering away (my project manager's words!). And the walls continue.
My project manager informs me that the walls are built first, and then, when complete, the pillars are "shuttered" (a wooden former made) and the pillars are then poured. This ensures a good bond between the pillars and the wall block work.
I'm waiting on pictures... my project manager forgot to attach them. You know, we have all done that! When I get them, I'll post them here:
Ah... here they are:
So here is the kitchen window again, more bricks... - lovely how we can see now the ridge that forms part of Sao Miguel's Valley. The sky is completely clear... some serious UV rays going on.
From the side of the house, walls 5 courses high, towards the kitchen and living area sliding door, now outlined. I'm really getting the vibe of how much light and sea view is going to be available. Wonderful.
In the foreground is the doorway for the bedroom deck, and to its left the dressing room window.
This picture is taken from the entrance drive, with the raised terrace of trees on the right. The cement mixer is again taking a well deserved rest. The entire house is now outlined with 5 or 6 courses of block-work. Interesting to see the area between the house and the top terrace is quite large and will provide a versatile area for raised beds, seating and even a spot of parking, without having to go all the way down to the lower field to the garage and workshop.
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Worth noting is that the last week has seen the full on start of the events and festivals on the island.
On the afternoon of the 23rd and during the 24th of June (today!) is the São João Festival, commemorating the settlement of the island, supposedly - but a little research on this festival shows it to have its origins in pagan festivities surrounding midsummers day and fertility.
Fertility, always a favourite amongst the pagans....
It never ceases to amaze me how The Church has appropriated these festivals for itself ... in this case giving the festival the name of John the Baptist, who of course has nothing personally to do with midsummer, fertility or indeed settling of the island by a bunch of Portuguese Noblemen.
All that aside, there is much music and dancing, and of course eating. Sounds like great fun to me.
These festa's bind communities, allow a pride of expression (each community has it's own 'style') and just generally let people unwind and have fun. It seems that somewhere on the island there is a festa going on somewhere between spring and autumn... then you have Christmas!
I could see the UK government having a proper fit if all people in the UK decided to party every other week. Think of the impact on productivity. Sigh.....
A good time for communities to come together, bang drums and make merry.
Rule number one - always put the children at the front. Here we see a bigger, more musical parade. Pity the guys at the back with the Tuba's. Wow.
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Meanwhile, with the house I have continued to look at some of the fittings - specifically regarding the dressing room. Bearing in mind my reduced budget...
The dressing room is located in the house between the bedroom and the shower room; it is quite small, but gives the opportunity for a built in wardrobe, an area to put a chair (ever more important for putting on your socks as you get older!) and enough room to swing a cat to get dressed or dried after a shower.
Zoomed in on the dressing room plan. The wardrobe is quite deep at 640mm.
I've decided on mirror doors for the wardrobe, which covers one wall. This is for practical reasons - a full mirror wall is useful and adds visual space to a small room. Slightly more expensive than louvre doors or similar. Also sliding doors save space. and reduce the cluttered look.
The best deal I found on mirror doors without going for anything cheap and nasty. Space Pro are a good contractor make. This is basically what you'd get if you bought a new house in the UK.
There is a massive difference in price on these doors on the market place. I have found ScrewFix to supply the most reasonably priced whilst maintaining a good quality. After all, what do you want a mirror door to do? You want it to reflect and open and close reliably. End of.
Looking at the mirror door wardrobe, reflects the light from the window opposite. This is the only carpeted room - just so it is soft underfoot as you are getting dried or dressed. The arch louvre doors lead to the bedroom.
Similarly, the shelves and rails in a wardrobe vary in price enormously. There are companies out there that will charge thousands to fit a wardrobe and shelves. They are having a laugh.
I searched suppliers for shelving - there are many 'systems' out there. Some seem cheap when looking at the individual components of a modular system, but when you add everything up, it comes out at a small fortune, for what is essentially MDF shelving.
B&Q do a range of shelving modules (or boxes) that can be fitted together and wall mounted. Drawer fronts are available as well as dividers. B&Q also do rails that can be cut to size and fittings for securing the rails.
With this system in mind, i concentrated on the wardrobe fitment / layout for maximum useful storage.
Don't worry about the horrendous green colour shown here - the actual green of the units is much more muted as shown in the B&Q image below.
Points of note left to right: There is a long hanging space for coats and jackets. Underneath room for a carry on bag and rucksack etc. Also space suitable for storage of an ironing board.
To the right, the tall rack of shelves are actually two units of three stacked together. These will use dividers as desired. But will stay as 'open' cubby holes, I think, although drawers and doors are available.
To the right of these is a small heater mounted low down - this is to reduce any possibility of damp or mould caused by the the high humidity found on the island. I've bought this and it cost me £19.
In front of the heater is room for shoe storage. Above the heater is room for another shelf (not shown) and then there is a shelf holding a large plastic storage bin. This bin can be used to store clothes if I am not resident, and stop any mould damage. Above this is a long rail for shirts and trousers.
At the far right a single three cubby unit (with dividers if desired) provides storage for socks and undies etc. Above the units is a full length shelf that provides storage for a suitcase or two, or extra storage tubs and bulky items. The floor is tiled inside the wardrobe.
Yup. £22 each. Three required. For sure, it's not oak or mahogany... but its a bunch of shelves that are hidden behind a pair of mirror doors. They will outlast me, so no worries. Funky colour.
Another "Yup" £8.22
To dress the window for privacy, a nice simple recessed venetian blind:
Dunelm to the rescue. Under £25. A similar item will be fitted to the shower room window.
In closing, I think this all provides a really sweet and well fitted dressing room. Materials are well under £500 - but of course will need fitting and assembling. All in all, about a days work for a competent trades person, since it is just a case of bolting it all together and making secure to the walls. Simplez.
Next Up: ..... Taking Shape
