Construction diary cottage 21 - construction (Jun. 24 - ?))

30.06.24

The short break after demolition is over. Buntrock will be back from vacation in mid-July and theoretically plans to lay the new drinking water pipes for us. Until then, however, we are still waiting for the offer from PKH - a "can do anything" company that Obi recommended to us when we were planning the bathroom. Buntrock, together with Elements, wants €13k just for the bathroom and toilet objects, we hope that Obi will be cheaper. Then we just have to persuade N. Buntrock to delete some of the rough installation from the contract.

But that's exactly what motivates us, to have the leveling compound in as much of the place as possible before we start installing the water. In the hallway on the first floor we'll probably only have the building protection mats until the wall is up against which we can pour. So we've been over there every now and then over the last few days and done the remaining work.

The gas connection is finally gone, the municipal utility company came and cut the pipe outside. Then Jan was able to cut through the thick pipe, first by hand and then with the angle grinder.

I've already filled most of the craters in the Poroton bricks and old cracks in the kitchen, and removed the last door frames in the attic and in the toilet. I always feel like the Hulk with the chisel.

We no longer have water in the house, all pipes in the kitchen and bathrooms have been cut off, so after a bit of discussion we also disconnected the main pipe (so that no one can turn anything on by accident). We then closed the floor in the kitchen - we now have a closed screed area for the first time!

Oh, and we also have a blooming garden and kilos of almost ripe blueberries!

02.07.24

I'm not just a hobby bricklayer now, but also a mini-plumber! Because something came up for Jan, I spent 5 hours alone and highly motivated working in the house today. It turns out that the demolition wasn't quite finished yet... I've been saying it all along, but the toilet tiles! Just ignored them :D

So without further ado, I dismantled the sink and cistern and swung the chisel hammer.

But shorthand isn't true either, it took a while, was exhausting and even more exhausting. But I definitely screamed out every kind of anger I've ever had inside me while I tried to get the tiles off with my tiny arm muscles. So it worked and I'm really proud, but my body feels like jelly now.

Then I quickly pulled the old electrical cables out of the wall because I really wanted to take a dust bath. This powdered plaster is supposed to be very good for your skin and hair.

10.07.24

Today I was lying dead on the sofa from the effects of a stomach ulcer (yay me), but Jan had peace and quiet in the house. He smoothed out the screed patches in the kitchen, cleaned and primed the living room and kitchen. Everything is ready for the leveling compound tomorrow!

11.07.24

It was super warm today, but it was going to throw a wrench in our plans later. After work today we were unusually motivated and actually poured leveling compound into the living room and kitchen. The usual division of labor: I mix it until there are no lumps, Jan smooths it out.

Because of the heat (if you can read you have a clear advantage here, don't use it at temperatures above 25 degrees...) the soup thickened SO quickly that we had a hard time keeping up. The surface turned out accordingly bad, with quite a few bumps. We discussed it and will not add another layer, following the motto, it's fine.

And there was cautious information that the geothermal drilling would take place on August 8, 2024. Let's see if that works out...

13.07.24

Productivity streak continues.

This morning we quickly did the silicone joints in the storage room and utility room and applied primer before we finally put the underfloor heating to rest here too.

We panicked for a moment when we realised that the filler had to go under the door leaf, but there was enough air and it worked. Today it was much cooler than yesterday, which we noticed when we put the filler on the beautiful Spiegelsee. That's the romance of a construction site.

But the few hours when we had to leave the patio door open until the mass had dried enough to go through the front door were scary. To calm ourselves down, we spontaneously bought the tiles for the utility room at the hardware store - they have to go in early so that Buntrock can put the 300kg heat pump on top. After that, there's no moving them. AND we got a bargain. A lovely 7-piece display piece of garden furniture for €300 instead of €790. We took it home straight away - Jan is good at being spontaneous.

14.07.24

Carry on cheerfully! Today the HWR received its leveling compound. We calculated it down to the last detail and two bags were just about enough.

Jan pulled a few cables and I gave the rest of the sloping roof a second coat of white paint. Only the small part of the straight ceiling is still missing, but after a few days it was all a lot of work.

15.07.24

Today after work we actually had the discussion about our second loan - it's going well, this time we just have to make a separate appointment with the notary for the land register entry.

Afterwards, we had a short crisis meeting in the house. The electrical planning in the kitchen was a bit more complex than we expected and we realized that you can't put five cables in a simple slot. But we've already done the basics and can enlarge the slots if necessary.

In the utility room, I dismantled the old sink and pulled out a long section of old cable until we realized that we didn't have to do the work. We're cutting new holes in the house anyway and we want to lay the cables on the plaster in the utility room. So I just cut it off and thought to myself, we'll just plaster over it somehow. We'll see.