Saturday, February 14, 2009
Seven years of renovation
About seven years ago we initiated a project that has taken all too long now. The concept of our house was what we call a bel-etage
. In our case it meant the ground floor was just a garage and storage, while the living part was on the first floor. That contained the kitchen, living rooms and bedrooms.
That's all fine when it's just the two of you. But when the children came, we thought it would be nice to have access to the garden - at that time only concrete. So we looked around to see what we could do. Alternatives were to buy a new house, or to rebuild the one we were living in.
Finally we made the decision to have professionals redo the house, to get a living area with kitchen downstairs, and bedrooms on the first floor. An architect drafted the plans, and a renovation company started the work. Later stages included the terrace and the façades.
But one thing was done very badly. The floor on which we wanted to have the parquet done, was of very poor quality, as is evident from the picture.
It seemed the wrong materials were used. Unfortunately, the contractor did not want to continue and fix this, so we had to sue him, so at least we had financial compensation for that.
For some reasons, the other projects like the terrace and façade took priority. Probabaly also because it was easier to live with this floor than with a muddy space behind the back door. Another reason was that it is actually not easy to find somebody with the necessary skills. You don't need somebody that does floors only, nor do you need somebody that does parquet only. He has to do both.
But in November, we finally found somebody, and we had hopes the project would be finished by the end of last year. Unfortunately, the contractor got sick, so we had to wait. Then, when things finally were back on again, we went into some other trouble. The director of my bank seems to have the intelligent capabilities of an oyster. Whatever you ask him to do, even when it's written in plain Dutch, without using three-syllable words, he manages to screw up.
Now I'm not saying that it is symptomatic for that bank - although now I come to think of it, there must be a reason for their share being worth close to nothing - but I do seriously consider changing banks. At least I'm going to another branch, but it is a good time to change everything. We'll see.
Anyway, because of his latest screw-up, it means we have another week of delay. And that one week is rather crucial, since it means we can't use the holidays (Krokusvakantie) to clean up. To be honest, it is not only the bank who screwed up, our new contractors did too. But at least they were fair enough to recognise their mistake, and now we can finally start.
On Monday - if all goes well - the first stage kicks off. Then they'll be removing the sandy underground. After that, a new soil must be poured. And once that's dry, and according to schedule that should be next Monday, when the holiday starts, they can start putting the parquet.
Let's keep our fingers crossed! And of course, I'll keep you posted.
posted by Vince | 10:21 PM
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