Full Steam Ahead

During the week I had great news. The long awaited 'Builders Licence' was released by the Camara (City Hall) and this means that work can progress at maximum pace with no worries of being stopped, or set back on the timeline. My project manager tells me a full team will be on the build in the coming week, so we expect to see significant progress. Full tilt!

Of course I have my project manager, architect and indeed builder to thank for this, as they have all applied "persuasion" regarding the importance of clearing this important regulation.

I feel that I am going to be responsible for some nice dinners out and some cases of beer when I visit next month. Which will of course be my greatest pleasure. If you are reading this guys, I will be trying to organise this next week with the project manager!

Here's the latest photo of the complete build: The project manager got up amongst the trees to take this over-view... and got stuck up there! He says that next time he will take a ladder to get back down with.... We need steps up to this area, as it will be beautiful for a afternoon BBQ when it is sunny and warm.

The licence of course needed paying for - there is no such thing as a 'free lunch', as they say. My project manager has paid this on my behalf, and will be re-imbursed when he sees fit. The charges for the licence are based on the cost of the build, and in my case come to about 640 Euros. Not an insignificant sum.

Additionally, just recently, the second payment to the builder has been made. So the Portuguese bank account was pretty drained at this point. A further transfer has been made to the from the UK. It makes me weep when I see how the exchange rate has been decimated (literally) by the effects of the so called 'Brexit'. What an act of national financial suicide.

I can't understate how this exchange rate has affected my long term plans - what was my early retirement fund has now been reduced to such an extent that the funds I have will be more or less totally used for the build and fit-out.

Fortunately, I have my works pension lump sum and with luck the sale of my current UK property to make this back up. It's all flexible... so no problems, but it would have been nice if I didn't have to rely on these for an early retirement. Meanwhile, I still have my job... so if need be, I just keep at it. Don't we just, as ever....

Additional news is that my Lotus Esprit was sold during the week, and trailered away. I must admit to having a wee tear in my eye as she was driven away on the flat-bed. However, a good investment, as she had kept her value and better indeed than money in the bank.

Just before she left... engine bay open for inspection by the buyer's engineer who'd come to pick her up on his flat-bed. Got to say, the new owner was happy, and got a bargain.... but, needs must. Still, a tear in the eye happened. More 'me' at 45 rather than 60. And better than money in the bank.... just.

So the sale of the Lotus will pay for a kitchen with white goods, a bathroom and most likely the flooring for the house - as long as I am reasonably frugal and don't go mad on 'name brands'.

The other major costs of the house are the decoration, inside and out and the balusters. The balusters are integral to the look and feel of the house. My intention is to fit glass panels to the main deck and the inside mezzanine. I may have to be selective with this feature....

However... if funds get tight, this may have to be reconsidered and instead 'ranch' style balusters fitted. It would be a shame though. However, on a positive note, Soren's build uses ranch style and they do look great at his property.

Meanwhile the build....

The project manager got back to me quickly regarding the slabs of metal on the side of the house (a mystery to me) - they are in fact 'shuttering' used to contain the concrete when the re-inforced pillars are poured. Duh.

The pillars then join into the block-work providing an incredibly strong bond and tying everything together. Once the concrete has set, the shuttering is removed. So mystery solved.

Here we can see that some of the pillars have been poured (using the shuttering). The pillars 'tie' the block work together, as the concrete poured joins into the bricks and forms an incredibly strong structure.

I had another couple of questions to the project manager last week, not mentioned on the blog:

First, it looked as though the under-stairs area was 'sealed in' and unusable - this was the case, so access will be provided to use the under stairs storage area, by providing a door. Second question was regarding the bathroom shower wall - difficult to explain, but the picture showed that there wouldn't be an end wall to the shower - this was explained: There is a sliding door to the bathroom, so this will be built later using plaster board, and not block work.

Here we can see the stairs - a door will be cut later to allow access - it's quite a big and useful area and could well provide a place for a de-humidifier, or just a general storage area for things such as broom, vacuum and cleaning products.

These issues highlight the importance and value of the project managers weekly photos - it means that if I have questions or see issues then we can move quickly, with either an adjustment or an explanation.

So, expect to see even more progress next week, now we have the licence and a full team back on site. As I mentioned - I am over there soon, so it will be great to have a walk-around of the build. Lots of photos then!

Next Up - The Full Monty