Construction diary cottage 21

28.12.23

After we met Waltraud on site for the last time yesterday and received her key, the official handover took place today at 2 p.m. with our estate agent/son of the deceased house owner. Jens filled out the protocol with us in a very relaxed manner, assured us that he would pay for the heating in the attic that had been torn down by the junk removal company, and handed us the last keys.

And then we were alone in the house. We rushed home to get the obligatory bottle of champagne and the cork popped from the front door through the hallway into the living room. Through our hallway, because now we are officially homeowners. Holy shit. Because we were so motivated, we soaked the foam wallpaper in the hallway with dish soap and managed to scrape off the top layer.

30.12.23

Because we are good friends and don't have enough to do ourselves, we went to help Lukas and Laura in Elstorf with their move yesterday, warming up our muscles :-)

After we had bought everything for the Harry Potter New Year's Eve party of the century, we met up with Marc and Marie at the house at 11. After a short tour, Marie and I continued with the (not) WONDERFUL foam wallpaper in the hallway and Marc and Jan in the living room. The boys first unscrewed all the massive curtain rod boxes and then luckily discovered that the wallpaper remover from Metylan works best if you spray the wall 3-5 times until it drips and then wait 15 minutes. Marie and I somehow didn't have any luck with this method in the hallway and used a mix of steam and wallpaper remover spray to painstakingly remove even the smallest bits.

Maurice came around 3 p.m. Because we only have four spatulas, I started chipping off the black stair stringer tiles with a hammer and chisel. It's very loud, but more fun than chipping off wallpaper. By 5 p.m., thanks to our three elves, we had cleared the walls in the hallway, living room and half of the stairwell, yay!

31.12.23 - 01.01.24

Harry Potter New Year's Eve party of the century with Denis (Sirius Black), Lara (Luna Lovegood), Benni (Cedric Diggory) & Anna (Hermione Granger) at Denis and Lara's house. We were dressed as Professor Trelawney and Mad Eye Moody and all I can say is that we all looked great. We ate, drank and played games until 3 a.m. and were hungover on the 1st until Nils came in the evening.

02.01.24

Today I continued wallpapering the stairwell in a very original way, while Jan and Nils jumped in and ripped out the parquet and carpet from the living room. Then Nils helped me wallpaper the stairwell up to the hallway on the first floor, because Jan had chosen an absolutely thankless task for his next task - removing carpet adhesive residue from the floor in the living room, which was very slow and actually not really possible with the steamer. Completely exhausted from the first real day of renovation.

03.01.24

Nils and I had a setback this morning: the strange wooden wallpaper in the top floor stairwell is absolutely awful crap. Or rather the fact that it was pasted directly onto the drywall. The bottom layer of wallpaper just wouldn't separate from the cardboard layer - spoiler, today is January 9th and it's still there. Jan finally removed the last bits of glue from the carpet in the living room and then started stripping linoleum in the hallway - FUN, FUN, FUN. Super annoying, he had to scratch small strips, then direct steam at them for a long time and then hope that the strip would come off in one go. Super. Did I say super?

While Nils and I started on the DIRTY net wallpaper in the late Wilhelm's large bedroom, Jessi came over to help. The wallpapering here was done poorly and definitely led to tantrums. According to Jessi, this was because the good Kaiser Wilhelm didn't want us to take down his beautiful net wallpaper and so he made life difficult for us. In the end, we needed the whole rest of the day for one room, which was just depressing.

In the evening we noticed that the next day Jutta and Uwe were coming with a trailer to take things to the waste disposal site with us, so at 6 p.m. we spontaneously started to remove all the carpets on the first floor. Sweat was pouring, fingernails were almost falling off, screams of frustration could be heard, but it was done. The first floor was free of floor coverings.

04.01.24

Nice sado-masochistic start to the day. Nils and I removed the net wallpaper in the large children's room on the left. Luckily it was painted piggy pink, which meant that the net held together instead of constantly tearing like in Kaiser Wilhelm's room. Jan only removed two strips of linoleum in the ground floor hallway (because, as already mentioned, that is an absolutely thankless and time-consuming task) before he removed the dubious light switch for the strange outdoor lamp in Kaiser Wilhelm's room.

Jutta and Uwe arrived with the trailer at around 12. Jan and Uwe drove three trailer loads with sacks full of old wallpaper, parquet, carpet, doors and other bulky waste to the waste collection point. While the boys drove back and forth, Jutta thankfully knocked the remaining mortar off the stair stringer and Nils and I scraped off the remaining wallpaper in the large children's room. And hallelujah, this room was not painted shit brown like Wilhelm's under the wallpaper, but white. This will now be my construction site Zen room. White, clean and empty.

05.01.24

It was with a heavy heart that I let Nils go. Mom had to go to her parents in Karlsruhe because Grandma was released from the hospital after she broke her neck on December 24th (Merry Christmas, I'll just say). In the morning we asked about the missing trades and looked through the heating offer. We finally went over around midday and Jessi came to help. I then removed wallpaper from the right-hand children's room with her, while Jan finished removing the linoleum from the hallway downstairs.

In the evening, Mo and his tiler came (because of the screed in the bathroom) and Niko and his brother Roman (actually a heating engineer, who we just asked questions). We had a big discussion about what we should do now and how. I think the bottom line is that we're going to tear down two walls in the bathroom and build something bigger and hang the ceiling on the ground floor because we have hot water on the wrong side of the house (because the heating is currently in the kitchen and later in the utility room). On the one hand, it felt like a starting signal because it was the first time that we had to deal specifically with pipe routing and so on. But at the same time, it felt like a very good reason to panic.

06.01.24

Jan and Maurice took out the kitchen first thing in the morning and carried it into the garage (the plan is theoretically to sell the thing on eBay classifieds). In the process, Jan met various neighbors who probably all knew who we were through word of mouth. But everyone seemed nice according to him :-) In the same time (about 3.5 hours), I removed the woodchip wallpaper from the smallest ceiling on the first floor (hallway). This revealed brown drywall panels which I think we will plaster over and paint. So hopefully it will be that easy, but I have no idea. But what I have now: a large collection of bruises on my thighs. Remember, jamming your leg between the top step of a ladder and the ladder shelf for 3.5 hours to feel safer has consequences.

Then Marc, Denis and Lara showed up around midday and we tore down the wooden panels on the wall in the attic. We didn't really want to, but there were all these helpers there that we couldn't really use effectively. Denis also looked at the leaky roof - but it's probably just condensation. We'll see what we can do there, probably replace the entire roof insulation before we rebuild it with drywall panels. Shortly before the end (because with 6 people everything goes very quickly) Denis taught me how to pry out the interior door frames with a crowbar - you feel like the Hulk :D

It was a short day, and with so many helpers we were somehow overwhelmed. But it was enough after 6 days, we needed a break.

08.01.24

Yesterday's break definitely did us good. After the first day back at work, we spent two hours over there. I removed the interior door frames on the first floor (I feel powerful with a crowbar) and Jan got all the linoleum out of the utility room and some of the kitchen.

Yesterday Jan wrote down all the to-dos, room by room. The list is long and you immediately felt overwhelmed when you saw it all. At the weekend we want to sit down with Jessi and create a construction schedule/construction timetable, maybe that will help to sort out the chaos in my head.

09.01.24

After work I had a brief impulse and thought I should just scrape off the wallpaper in the kitchen. No way. A) starting in the dark at night, knowing that you could be back in bed in two hours, is not really motivating. B) we have to take the plaster off the kitchen anyway, as the tiles and thick-bed mortar have left a nice edge on the plaster that we won't be able to smooth over easily.

So after an hour of depressing scratching, it was finally time to call it a day.

12.01.24

You learn from your mistakes - you don't do any big things in the house after work, nothing will happen anyway. Instead, Jessi came by after work today and, in her role as construction manager, drew up a nice construction schedule for us in MS Project. A few things popped up again, rat tails became apparent, and somehow it was all pretty sobering. As a reward, the gourmet friends got sushi and I got a gag-inducing fishy smell.

13.01.24

Saturdays are construction days! Jan, with his senile bed-evasion, went over first thing in the morning to remove more linoleum in the kitchen. I was still in bed at the time. After I tore my sports leggings last week, I cycled off to get some work trousers. They make you feel like you know 150% more about everything.

At 12, Marc and Marie came over. With Marie, I (for once) scraped off the wallpaper in the utility room super easily and quickly and then exposed the first cracks. So, following the YouTube instructions, I cut/expanded it in a V shape, swept it out and painted it with a deep primer. Marc and Jan started to chisel out the bathroom. Not only did they build up so much pressure that the plaster in the bedroom legitimately flaked off the brickwork, but Marc actually hit a pipe. I only noticed this because Jan came running into the utility room with the words "GET AWAY, AWAY, TAP OUT OF THE WAY". Well, we turned off the water and sent Marc and Marie home.

We then quickly went over to the hardware store, where I had a moment of enlightenment. As a woman in dirty work trousers and safety shoes, you are taken much more seriously at Toom than in jeans. I was suddenly a person to be taken seriously and not a blonde with no clue. We spent a lot of money on sealing sleeves, filler and battens for the substructure in the attic.

We quickly patched up the hole. Unfortunately, when we turned on the water, we noticed that Marc had hit the pipe in two places. So I carefully exposed the damage with a hammer and chisel, while Jan got the next sealing clamp from Toom. The parts cost 20 euros, hey. Two clamps were now in place, but then water started spraying out of the wall at tap height. WHAT IS THAT? We turned the water off again and philosophized, it could only have been the vibrations from the chiseling. So we carefully tried to chisel it up to the top, but we quickly realized that our strength and nerves were used up by 8 p.m. in the evening. The water was turned off and we called it a day.

14.01.24

Today we had Philipp and Steffi over for breakfast and to look around the house from 9.30 - 11.30. Jan and I decided not to continue to open up the bathroom because it was Sunday and we were too loud and we didn't really feel like dealing with the issue. Jan finally got the last of the linoleum out of the kitchen (now all that's missing is the Potter's room under the stairs) and I filled in the settlement cracks in the utility room for the first time. Unfortunately, that didn't go perfectly. It was my first time, but I still felt the pressure to do it well. My mood was accordingly bad when I inspected everything at the end. The first two layers of fabric tape are now on, but I need to fill in the area again, thicker and smoother. Luckily I "only" started in the utility room, we'll see how it turns out in the end...

In the evening, Jan had to light the fire bowl he had just bought and burn the wood paneling from the kitchen ceiling. Denis and Lara came over for a fire, beer and mulled wine. And even though I thought the world was coming to an end and all the neighbors were going to report us for the bad smell and flying sparks, nothing happened and it was a lovely evening.

15.01.24

Today after work we were going to have a DIY party instead of trying to spend another two hours tinkering around the house. We spent a lot of money on a construction vacuum cleaner, a new outdoor light with a motion detector, other plastering, and various little things that really drove up the bill.

After that we went over there for a short while, Jan cut the pipes and used the new plugs to seal the broken pipes again. The water in the house can be turned on again :-)

16.01.24

Our home office day today was peppered with short visits from companies who actually wanted to look at the house before submitting an offer. We haven't had one yet and therefore don't have any really reliable offers yet. Elektro Latzel, Buntrock Heizung and CS Elektro were there, all seemed very competent and the new offers should come in next week. Buntrock gave us hope, experience has shown that the grant notifications for the funding currently take 6-8 weeks and then you can place the order. The electricians made us both rather unhappy, the old flat cables (which are fortunately already 3-phase) are 100% no longer permitted and would have to be replaced. We're talking about every cable, every socket, every light switch and every lamp. Jan is, as always, wildly optimistic and thinks that everything will be fine and the cables can stay in place. There will probably be some discussions about that after all.

So that we can still get something tangible done today, we spontaneously install the new outdoor lamp in the dark. It finally has a motion detector and we are happy that we no longer have to search for the keyhole with the flashlight on our cell phones.

19.01.2024

Uwe fought his way through the snowstorm with the trailer all the way from Hanover to us. Unfortunately, he and Jan were only able to bring one trailer to Ardestorf, but at least. In the meantime, I filled the walls in the utility room again. And what can I say, the extra fine painter's filler from SG Weber can do more than the interior filler from Toom's own brand. It definitely looked much better when I was finished. I would say it can stay that way.

In preparation for tomorrow, Jan and Uwe dismantled the radiator in the bathroom and sealed it with plug-in fittings. We went to bed early today - the big renovation party is tomorrow.

20.01.2024

Denis and Lara were there on time at 10. Benni and Anna had to stay at Ikea for a while, so there were "only" five of us starting the race. And what can I say, that was the hardest Saturday so far.

Lara and I were in Kaiser Wilhelm's room all day, scraping woodchip wallpaper off the ceiling. First with a needle roller, then brushing wallpaper remover bit by bit with a ceiling brush, roughly scraping it off with a spatula, watering it again and then finally, if we were doing it well, hitting the top layer of plasterboard. We had done about 2/3 of the work by lunchtime, and from then on it was all just a mental thing. I've never had such pain in my arms/shoulders/hands. My God.

Meanwhile, Uwe used the angle grinder to cut off the bathroom wall. The idea behind it was to leave 10cm so that you would have a smooth connection for the new wall later. (Smooth in the sense that we wouldn't have been able to get the angle grinder straight onto the adjacent wall. If we do new brickwork, we'll definitely have to work on the stub in a tooth pattern. That will be a problem for later.) And holy shit, let the world know, it's SO dusty. We've heard it time and time again, but you can't imagine it until you can't see more than 2 meters ahead. We then opened the windows and I was very surprised that nobody called the fire brigade because of the cloud that was gusting out of the window.

Oh, and by the way, Jan has finally dug up the blueberry bushes! We want to move them away from the border and towards the house wall to make room for the geothermal borehole. And so that they don't die, we're letting them grow new roots in a smaller ball :-) (That's the hope and plan of my parents-in-law, who have incredibly green fingers, so it'll be fine.)

Denis, Jan and Uwe then demolished the two walls with a chisel and sledgehammer. We want to enlarge the bathroom, but we are not quite sure whether we will build the new walls using brickwork or drywall. At the moment I am leaning towards brickwork because we don't want a joint between brickwork and drywall in the shower area. But we'll see what time brings. New problems and questions often pop up, but just as often we act as if we know what we're doing and find answers.

You wouldn't know it, but tearing down a wall like that creates a lot of rubble. Jan and Uwe drove to the waste disposal site three more times today. In the meantime, Lara and I continued to scrape off wallpaper, of course, and Denis chipped off the tiles in the kitchen and plastered various cracks in the house. It turns out he's pretty good at it, much better than me. In between, he also installed the substructure for the drywall panels in the attic.

Benni and Anna arrived at half past four. Just in time, because Lara and I couldn't do anything anymore. The two of them then took the last two square meters of wallpaper off the ceiling together with Jan. Uwe also had another boost of motivation in the evening, was determined to breathe in even more dust and continued to remove tiles in the kitchen.

And after a day like that, you can treat yourself. I lit a fire bowl, grilled 30 sausages, and drank far too much beer and Aperol (today is Monday and I still have a headache, I can only say it's my own fault).

But we noticed once again how easy it is to manage the construction site when you are not alone. I am incredibly grateful for the people around us who are still motivated to help. We simply have the best crew.

17.02.2024

It was quiet on the construction site for a long time. We went skiing in Kaprun, sick and perhaps a little unmotivated. Somehow the air had gone out of us. Last week Jan theoretically wanted to get going again, but in practice all the masonry buckets were full and the trailer was still in Basche near Schriefers. So we couldn't really carry on. It's generally the same at the moment:

• We also need to remove any carpet adhesive residue from the floors, but somehow we can't find a concrete cutter to borrow.
• All electrical cables still need to be replaced, but we want to wait until the electrician has removed the old fuse box and installed a construction power distribution box for us.
• We would have to replace the drywall panels in the attic, but where do we start? Do we just double-panelize or do we take down the old panels (some of which are already damaged from plastering off the wallpaper)? If we take down the old panels, we would also have to replace the glass wool insulation, which is very harmful to our health.
• There is still linoleum on the floor in the Potter's Room, but that is also where we store our tools.
• The wall between the kitchen and the living room is still to be removed, but the heater is still there,
• The heating can only be turned off when it gets warmer.

And so it goes on and on. Before the "winter break" it was "The wall has to go, I'm tearing it down". "Wallpaper has to come down, all right". We have to find our groove again.

However, in the last three weeks we have finally received all the offers (except the one from the window manufacturer) and can now clarify the last open points before the heating construction package (geothermal drilling, underfloor heating, dismantling and reinstalling the heating) goes to the energy consultant, who will then apply for the subsidy. Then, when a window manufacturer finally comes to see us next week (the first company cancelled due to long-term illness, the second due to insolvency proceedings and the third cannot come until the end of February...) we can also submit the outer skin package (blowing-in insulation, windows, front door).

Yesterday after work we had an appointment at the OBI kitchen studio in Harburg. We spent three long hours talking to a very competent employee and at the end we had two visualizations and an offer for €18,000 (with a 15% discount it was just under €15,000). Hopefully we'll get a comparative offer on Monday, when the next appointment is at the Porta kitchen studio in Neu Wulmstorf.

Now that we are homeowners, we also know that the breeding and nesting season runs from March 1st to September 30th every year. Accordingly, we spontaneously decided to tear out the hedge across to the neighboring property (the one that is a good 1.5 m wide and 7 m long) before March 1st. At OBI, Jan found a privacy fence that met his expectations of a very private property. And because we don't know what to do with the rubble anyway, we picked up the trailer from Jan's parents on Saturday morning and drove straight to Obi Harburg.

We then bought a 9 m privacy fence including posts and anchors for a solid €740, which of course didn't fit in the trailer. So we rented a van and off we went. The fence is now in the garden shed with the new solar modules and is waiting to be used. Jutta and Uwe want to come back up next weekend to help us with the hedge.

18.02.2024

I think yesterday's action gave me a little motivation boost. Jan went over at lunchtime to do some "small stuff". That included spraying the balcony with algae and green growth remover, putting all the rubble in the new masonry buckets on the terrace, cutting the remaining wood paneling from the attic into pieces suitable for firewood and sweeping out the house. Because only a clean construction site is a good construction site.

Two hours later I was stung by a bumblebee (is that what you call it?) and I went over to remove the remaining wallpaper from the kitchen. We somehow overlooked it. Unfortunately I didn't finish, I swear my spatula muscles have atrophied in the last 3 weeks and I was just in pain :D

In the evening we put on our bureaucratic hat, hired the electrician (CS Elektro), clarified the open questions with the heating engineer (Buntrock) and sent a carefully put-together heating installation package to the energy consultant. Hopefully he will send it straight to the state so that we can get our funding notification as quickly as possible. And when it arrives, we can finally hire the companies and make a mark on our calendar.

20.02.2024

Today was busy again. The wallpaper in the kitchen is finally off (let's ignore the small stain behind the gas boiler) and it took me almost as long to pull 7 fat dowels as it did for the wallpaper.

Jan had sprayed the balcony with algae remover at the weekend, but unfortunately it didn't help at all. I scrubbed myself to death and then gave up, annoyed. I'll have to find a tougher weapon at the hardware store.

After we have tidied everything up so nicely, here are some pictures of the current state of things:

21.02.2024

We went to Porta to plan our kitchen both on Monday and yesterday evening. It's like a Turkish bazaar. OBI is currently offering us a Burger kitchen with lacquered fronts (basically one below Nobilia, but the same hinges and drawers, only the fronts are 2 mm thinner) and Bosch appliances for €18k. Porta has now finally undercut that (after the typical "Uh, I'll have to ask the boss if anything else can be done") with €15,200 for a Nobilia kitchen with Bosch (induction hob + oven) + Amica (fridge + dishwasher) appliances.

Jan then very bluntly called OBI directly, who promptly called us in for the price negotiations tomorrow. So it remains exciting.

23.02.2024

The kitchen thriller continues. Obi made us a counter offer of €14,900 yesterday. Given the small price difference, we politely declined and opted for the Nobilia kitchen.

I called Porta in the Obi parking lot to confirm and then the bombshell dropped: "Yeah, so that was the Nobilia kitchen with the lacquered laminate, right?" Oh no? There was never any mention of veneer?

Yes, otherwise she wouldn't have come up with that price... But now she's trying to make us an express kitchen with lacquered fronts. There's nothing more to say. Or rather, yes, Jan said very maturely that he'll look at it today and then probably call OBI directly, apologize, and then sign it there.

It would be a wet dream if something were finally signed and completed.

Update:

Kitchen at Porta has been renegotiated and signed! A Nobilia kitchen with lacquered fronts and over 8 meters of worktop, exclusively Bosch appliances and a 5-year guarantee on everything, for 15,500€. We are happy

24.02.2024

Stupid idea: Friday evening with the Spangenberg family at a wine seminar (now the third in the Buxtehuder Weinkontor) and Saturday morning with Jutta, Uwe and Jan wanting to tear out a 7 meter hedge. We did it anyway.

In the morning I picked up Carsten & Annette's tow rope. The initial idea was to pull the hedge stumps out with the car. That worked with the two smallest stumps, until the gearbox died a painful death from smoke and a PING "gearbox failure". Car 0 - Hedge 1.

So we dug up the remaining 3 stumps by hand and what can I say, the roots of a 30-year-old yew hedge go deep. The four of us spent the whole day digging up the root balls. I'm not sure which task I find worse, doing this today or scraping woodchip wallpaper off the ceiling.

Because the work was terribly depressing, I tidied up and trimmed some of the "front garden" in between. It almost looks homely, doesn't it :D

As soon as the stumps from hell were all removed, we had to move kilos of earth from A to B to level the ground somewhat. Of course, that wasn't enough because of the missing cubic meters of root mass, so I went to the hardware store on Monday after work to get some earth. But we actually managed to lay the first two foundations for the fence!

25.02.2024

Mo came over today to help. Which was a good thing, because the 1.80 m high fence elements were too heavy for my sparrow muscles. The three of us measured the posts, screwed on hinges and laid two more foundations. At the end of the day, we had two elements. If things continue at this pace, we'll have to take two weeks off work for the long front facing the parking lot.

But the bottom line is that the hedge has taken up an enormous amount of space and we now have to weigh up whether the effort is worth the space we gained. In a way, yes, but Jesus, it was exhausting.

27.02.2024

Yesterday after work I only had time to buy potting soil to fill the fence. But physically it is enough to lug 7 bags of 40 liters of soil into the car.

Today we laid the last missing foundations. Divided into different types, Jan dug in the ground as a civil engineer and I measured the hinges, drilled holes and screwed them in.

During the lunch break, a window builder we had asked for FINALLY came by. He is now offering to replace the kitchen windows, living room fronts and the two elements in the children's rooms, plus maintenance on the remaining windows. We are excited to see how much we will fall off our chairs.

At the end of the day, Maurice came to help and the three of us were able to attach the last two elements to the fence posts. In the neighbouring garden we did everything neatly again and spontaneously tried to level the ground at home. It was more or less bad in the evening at dusk, but for now we are happy and satisfied. Tomorrow, when it is light, we will put some grass seed on it and then it will be fine.

Just before we were about to go over, the lights in the house next door actually came on and I was able to say hello for the first time. Alina is our age and is just moving into her late grandmother's house - yay for us to have a young and seemingly relaxed neighbor :-)

02.03.2024

It was another super productive Saturday. Jan continued to remove tiles in the bathroom and finished two walls before his arms got tired.

In the meantime, I dug up half the garden to move the blueberry bushes from the property boundary to the new fence. When the geothermal drilling comes in the summer, the two would have been in the way. During our lunch break, we spontaneously drove to Obi. There we found red, black and white currants, a few bellflowers as ground cover for under the blueberries, a new Thuja plant for the hedge and, believe it or not, our first lawn mower.

At home we planted, removed the moss from the lawn, sowed new seeds and spontaneously put up a privacy fence next to the terrace. We still had one last element and since the last few days of the construction site were clearly marked by curious eyes, we created some privacy for ourselves. The feeling of standing undisturbed on your own terrace is phenomenal.

In the meantime, Jan tried in vain to pressure wash the balcony - the stains will probably remain. The balcony restoration will generally wait until next spring.

In the evening I quickly started wallpapering the guest toilet. I had completely forgotten that there was still something hanging on the walls. But I didn't get very far - screw woodchip wallpaper, hey.

03.03.2024

Today Jan started pulling the old electrical cables back into the children's room. There should be more or less the same plus more new sockets. The wall chaser is also ready - with a rental fee of €50 per day, we bought one for €100. We're pretty sure it will take us longer than two days.

Meanwhile, I was recovering from my hangover in the garden in the sun (quietly behind my new blockade fence). Eventually I was fine again and the rest of the wallpaper in the guest toilet had to go. I was even able to remove a good part of the ceiling while it was dry (well, the ceiling was dry, and so was I, but that could be misleading after the hangover comment). Gives me hope for the woodchip wallpaper on the living room ceiling. I'm still avoiding that :-)

05.03.2024

Today I quickly removed the rest of the woodchip wallpaper from the guest bathroom and started in the living room. Unfortunately, it didn't go as well as it did in the bathroom, so I gave up pretty quickly. Perseverance is overrated.

And because it's never too early to get used to the new floor, we've already put a selection of colors in the living room.

09.03.2024

Saturday is construction day. Today I pulled out the old electrical cables in the bedroom, which wasn't as easy as Jan made it out to be. In the corners, the cables were covered with 5-6 cm of plaster, which is why I had to keep helping out by hand with a hammer and chisel. Corrosive rubbish.

I'm very proud of it - I did some lifting for the first time today. I finally got the courage to let Jan explain the jackhammer to me and hey presto, I can also remove tiles from the wall. Due to a lack of muscle mass, however, it turned into a full-body effort and oh my God, I'm sore everywhere.

Meanwhile, Jan has already started cutting holes in the left children's room with our new toy, the wall chaser. And apart from the smoke alarm going off, it works perfectly. We've now finally removed the smoke alarm :D

18.03.2024

Somehow the air has gone out of it again. We know that the heating will be removed at the beginning of April and the underfloor heating milling machine will arrive at the beginning of May. But there is still so much to do before then that the mountain is too big for us to carry on.

In the meantime, Jan just removed the rest of the bathroom wall today.

01.04.2024

After celebrating my 30th birthday in the house on Good Friday, we have now spent three days tidying up and preparing. Tomorrow Buntrock is actually coming and dismantling the gas heating file :-) Then this week we want to dismantle the old radiators, sand the screed and paint the ceiling in the attic together with Nils (who is visiting from March 28th to April 8th). Let's see what we can manage.

Today, between the rain showers, we set up my birthday present on a freshly paved area!

02.04.2024

While I'm back to work today, Jan and Nils have been busy over in the house. Buntrock came in the morning to dismantle the old gas heater. The municipal utility company wants to come by "in the near future" to cut our connection to the main line, then the remaining stub of the gas line in the kitchen can be removed.

The boys dismantled all the remaining radiators today (our garden now looks like a junkyard), cleared most of the floors in preparation for tomorrow and scraped off the remaining woodchip wallpaper in the bathroom. A successful start to the week!

03.04.2024

This morning Jan and Nils went to Harburg to pick up the concrete milling machine, the carpet adhesive still needs to be removed. Jan has successfully exposed the perfect screed on the first floor and in the living room, but unfortunately failed in the kitchen and hallway. They must have used a terrible concrete adhesive, they milled away the screed UNDER the adhesive rather than the top layer. The massacre will stay like this for now. Nordwärme wanted to come by again before they come to mill in May, so we can have a nice discussion about whether it can stay like this.

Meanwhile, Nils was also successful and cleared the kitchen of the remaining tiles. Great jackhammer party.

04.04.2024

The milling machine had to go back to Harburg this morning, and one day was expensive enough in terms of the rental fees. After yesterday's tough day, the guys relaxed a bit today. Nils cut open the floors around the remaining heating pipes and cut the pipes below the screed. Jan was then able to carefully lay foil on the polystyrene between the screed and the base and pour new screed. And tadaa, where there used to be a heater, there is now a smooth floor :-)

05.04.2024

That's it for electricity. CS Elektro came this morning and removed the old fuse box. Yes, they also left us a construction power distributor, but now it's really more of a shell than anything else. No heating, only construction power, oh, but the water is still running. But not for long, the drinking water pipes are being replaced too. In any case, it's a good feeling to be almost finished with the demolition.

Not much more happened today because my parents arrived at lunchtime.

06.04.2024

The five of us got a lot done on the construction site today!

Jan has filled the last heating pipe holes on the upper floor with screed.

Dad pulled out all the old power cables in the living room and hallway and Nils did the kitchen. When he was freeing up the water pipes, Nils did the Marc thing and dampened the kitchen a bit, but luckily we're well-equipped professionals now. Just put a clamp on it and it's all good for now.

Mom, Nils and I then painted the wooden ceiling in the attic white (Toom Premium White, in case I wonder later what it was), but at least one more coat is needed. But the room is already a thousand times brighter and more beautiful than with the dark orange wood glaze.

In between, I went to the garden center with my mom and we got herbs for the house wall. There wasn't enough to do inside, so we spent hours weeding and planting a small new bed. Now I can sit on my new garden bench among lavender, thyme, etc., like a real grandma.

Meanwhile, Nils has started to remove the tiles in the toilet, so we are still missing three walls and the floor. This has to be done before May so that the underfloor heating can be milled.

Jan and Dad finally took down the old outdoor lamp (on the very dubious wooden ladder from our garage) and pulled the cable back. The facade finally looks as good as new.