Been there, Seen it...

I've just returned from a trip to Faial; to see the build, of course, and to deal with other issues such as pricing a kitchen locally as well as specifying flooring and bathroom fittings. I've also had a holiday :)

Before travelling out I did think seriously about buying the kitchen units, bathroom fittings and flooring here in the UK and shipping it over. I know a lot of people do this if they desire a particular finish or materials. However, on balance, there are several disadvantages of doing it this way. Take the kitchen for example... I can go by the plans here, but most likely the situation is that it may be a few millimetres out and won't fit properly. With the kitchen fitted locally I am guaranteed a perfect made to measure service.... and as it happens a higher quality.

More of these purchasing decisions later..First lets take a look at a few of the photos I took of the property, its location and the surrounding area:

Heres the entrance porch. As you can see, further shuttering has been applied around the rebar above the lintels. The concrete for this was poured whilst I was on the island, as well as the concrete for the mezzanine floor*

I'm on the main deck here, or Patio as it is referred to by the locals. As I realised when I saw the size and how it flows to the main house, this is just a massive extension of the living room for warm days. To enhance this feel I've gone for one colour of tile that flows all the way through - so it brings the outside in, if you get my drift.

Here is the view from the living area through to the main patio windows and the patio beyond. This gives a fair impression of the light available and the feeling of space through to the patio.

Here I'm stood at the porch, looking up the entrance drive towards "Camiho Velho", the old path, that is the access road. It looks steep, but this is not bad compared to other properties drives. Of course, when work is completed, it will be finished in gravel or similar, sufficient to give grip in wet weather.

So you may be asking, was everything rosy and sunshine with the build? Well almost. Unfortunately a wall that is not required (or on the plan) had been built up the side of the stairs. A bit of an oversight by the builder...and to be fair I should have spotted it from the photos. But it is difficult to get a feel of everything just from photos...

So the 'extra' wall basically closed the stairs into a corridor, which as you will have seen from the renders is not the desired effect; the stairs are meant to be open into the living space so that there is a feeling of space and air.

Here's the offending wall...

As you can see, a wall has been built on the right hand side of the staircase... it's not supposed to be there and the stairs should overlook the living area via a balustrade. So the solution? The builder is cutting it down. Let there be light. After all, who would want a terrace house style stairway in a open-plan living home!

Another couple of issues presented themselves... but there is nothing that can be done now. It is what it is: * The mezzanine has been cast in concrete. Nothing wrong from a strength point of view! But freck me, this has added to the cost massively. I thought from the drawings that the mezzanine was going to be 'planks on wood beams' type of construction, the same as on Soren's plan and implemented well on his house.

Apart from the cost of the concrete, it has had another impact: cables have been run for the dining, bedroom and dressing room lights. Good......

But not so good is that recessed spotlights can not be fitted to a concrete ceiling. To fit recessed lighting will involve fitting a suspended plasterboard ceiling. Argh....so now I'm on the look out for sexy surface mounted LED lights or looking at what cost will be added by dropping the ceiling 10-15cm.

The final 'suprise', is the sheer size of the under house space... and the cost implied by supporting half the house in mid air. Now believe me that when Soren, upon seeing the space under the house, suggested a badminton court. In reply I suggested two snooker tables, and a bar. Faial gets its first snooker hall.

It is absolutely massive. A vast open space. A void... a vacuum in time and space. Or as a Geordie would say "Wheyey Man, It's Fookin Hooge".

Soren popped over on my second day there and we walked up to the house. His comment: "If we have world war three... it is the bunker". So everyone over to mine then....

Here's Soren sitting at the workmen table, where they have their lunch break etc. From this picture it's hard to get a sense of size, but it's about 10m long by 5.5m deep. Yup... 55 square meters or there abouts. It will have a concrete floor and power and water supplies... but finishing (plastering and decorating etc.) is not in the budget as far as I'm aware. After all, it is supposed to be a garage and workshop. More like a factory. Of course it could provide a fantastic space for parties when the weather turns to rain....

Well, this is the end of part one of this blog issue. Very shortly, I'll be writing up some more, since there is much to tell, both regarding the house, and regarding other issues of life on Faial.

Next Up: Living the Vida Local.