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Post by tod2 on Jan 30, 2016 5:32:52 GMT
Definitely Kerouac! The more power points the better. I have one next to my computer and ditto for Mr.Tod BUT the amount of printers, and cables needed for every function have caused havoc in my study. I keep complaining but nothing ever gets done. I have even gone out and bought a 'cable tidy' thingy. It's still in the box.
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Post by htmb on Jan 30, 2016 5:36:03 GMT
Nicely done, Mark.
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Post by onlyMark on Jan 30, 2016 8:14:09 GMT
With having a house that purely runs from solar power we deliberately restricted the amount of power points in each room so we weren't tempted to overload the system. The kitchen has four, which is the most, any other room has a maximum of two set virtually at opposite corners. Our bedroom has one either side of the bed but no others. The bedrooms have one by where the bed would be and another across the room. My workshop even only has one power point. If I could have it different I would, but when quoted 40,000 euros to connect to the mains, we opted for a different solution that doesn't give us any bills but does restirct us somewhat.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 30, 2016 11:15:43 GMT
Mark, we are going your route soon with solar power ( but also the alternative to switch back to mainstream electricity at times). There are numerous problems with power supply here. My home has a very large MCB capability because of all the aircons and underfloor heating and water geysers. On Monday we are installing two water tanks to hold the rainwater running off the roof. This will be for the garden only. We use very little in the house for cooking and bathing and washing machine. I wish we could be entirely self-sufficient but its not possible.
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Post by onlyMark on Jan 30, 2016 14:29:29 GMT
I originally wanted a system that had solar and mains so we could 'feed in' to the mains and reduce the bills. Alas, no. True self sufficiency is quite hard.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 1, 2016 11:49:36 GMT
I always thought this house thing was finished. Then I remembered. Ooops, we've still not done anything to one side of the house. How can you forget that I hear you asking? Well, it's the side we rarely see because the pool and access is on the other side and it is one of those things we kept thinking we'd do another time. Then other things cropped up and it just got left. This is what it looks like today - Bottom right is one of the kitchen windows, bottom left is our bathroom window and as expected, the top ones are bedroom windows, including the very small one right at the top. It is the window to the largest bedroom that has the bed on a balcony. You can also see top right the device, like a small satellite dish, that connects me to the internet. It isn't focused on a satellite but to a transmission mast on a hill a looooong way away across a valley. Not the best way to be connected but it functions for now well enough. If we were staying here we would now get a different method which has become available but wasn't so when we originally went into it. The workers will be coming on Monday, 8am they say, to sort the façade out. I've been told it will take eight to ten working days. We'll see how accurate that is. It always takes longer but as the builder has costed it to just take that long, and as it is a fixed price, it's no skin off my nose how long it takes. Just to keep my hand in it had been decided by a power greater than mine (Mrs M) that the kitchen table needed sorting. It's been there a few years, originally it was to be an outside table but we never found one for a reasonable price that we liked for inside. So it stayed in the kitchen. After having lots of family and friends around since we bought it, it is now quite chipped and the coating I gave it is wearing off. This is what it looks like now. I've given it a coat of varnish/paint remover and I'll strip it down to bare wood, then it'll be stained to look not much different, but newer. That is my project for the next day or so. As we are leaving and won't be back for some time I have a lot of spare wood sitting in the workshop. None of it is particularly good and mainly off-cuts or extra bits I didn't use. I have a plan for some of that as well. One last thing for now - the pool has a small weeping water leak on one side. Luckily I can get at this part of outside as it is in one of the outhouses. I'm going to have half an hour chipping the render away to have a look.
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Post by Kimby on Oct 1, 2016 13:47:12 GMT
Lovely to see this place again. Even if it is just "the side you never look at".
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 1, 2016 15:47:24 GMT
I'll be looking closely at it Kimby for the next couple of weeks. Making sure they do a good job. A bit more from today - The paint/varnish stripper was lathered on quite thickly as it is about the consistency of honey. Left for half an hour and then scraped off with a scraper. You can then see the bits you've missed and re-apply the stripper. Wait again and then scrape that off as well - When you've finished with that, best thing to do is get oodles of warm soapy water and give the whole thing a bloody good wash down. Then do it again to make sure. Run your fingers around the edges and if it still feels slippery because of the goo, rinse that properly as well. Needless to say, you must at all times wear protective gloves, protective goggles, not use heavy machinery at the same time nor drink and/or do drugs and strip. Condoms can also be supplied if you still feel extra protection is necessary. Me being me I wore a pair of shorts and a T shirt and was bare foot. I'll leave it overnight to dry and give it a coat or two of stain/varnish tomorrow - Now the pool - It's empty, obviously. The builders said to drop the water level down to 50cm below where the leak is. As the leak is only 45cm from the bottom, this necessitated the whole lot coming out. I had covered it in preparation for the winter but it looks like I'll have to do it again when it is repaired and re-filled. You can't leave a pool empty for any length of time as it affects the concrete by drying it out and it will crack. Plus the weight of the water helps the concrete keep its shape. A level down, where the side of the pool is, is an outhouse. This is where the electrics for the pool pump is (are?). Looking through the doorway - I've chipped the render away and you can now see the side of the pool. The black oval near the top is where it is weeping. You can see how the chlorinated water and concrete have discoloured the white covering. This is what first drew my attention to it, I saw where a dirty mark was forming. You can also just about make out in the bottom third of where I've chipped out, the concrete that is the thickness of the bottom of the pool. The pipe to the left is where, inside the pool, I connect the pool vacuum to clean it when the pump is operated. The pipe goes down and further to the left to connect with the rest of the plumbing by the filter and pump - I'll keep you updated. I'm sure you are on tenterhooks.
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Post by htmb on Oct 1, 2016 16:28:48 GMT
The pool siding we are seeing in the rectangle is concrete?
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Post by bjd on Oct 1, 2016 16:49:03 GMT
Your big table makes me think of meals with lots of company. It's a nice table and it would have been a shame to leave it outside.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 1, 2016 17:12:19 GMT
htmb, yes. The colour is too dark in the photo but it is thick concrete.
bjd, We've squeezed quite a few round it and I agree, it is better as an inside table.
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Post by htmb on Oct 2, 2016 3:19:04 GMT
I've renovated a couple of houses and, though I'm past the point of wanting to renovate any more, I do enjoy hearing about the projects of others. This has been a very interesting thread to follow,
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 2, 2016 5:25:21 GMT
Thanks.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 2, 2016 8:10:02 GMT
What a shame the pool sprung a leak so early on in its life. Our pool is 30 plus years old and has had to be seen to several times. The problem is roots of trees - even though they can be meters away, and just simple corrosion. Our leaks normally occurs in the pipes leading under the soil to the filter unit.
Looking forward to seeing your new projects come to fruition Mark. We are still tinkering around with the beach apartment and my husband has taken on a huge building project on my son's house next door. The interior has been gutted and next week I think half of the roof comes off. I have loads of photos so will put them up for your inspection - and for Htmb too, but not right now. I've got a trip report to write first.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 2, 2016 14:26:27 GMT
Gave the table two coats of varnish this morning. It doesn't look a lot different to when I started. But all the worn away patches have gone. Also, you know how when you have a bunch of people round and invariably you are one chair short? And usually there are a couple or more kids? Well, I've solved that problem. Two of the kids can sit together at the end on the new bench. I always end up with a load of off cuts that aren't good for much other than lining them all up, sticking them all together and making a bench out of them - The workers should be here in the morning. We'll see how they get on.
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Post by bjd on Oct 2, 2016 14:39:25 GMT
Nice bench!
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 2, 2016 17:13:03 GMT
I may well have enough wood to make another one. It'll go nicely up against a wall on the front patio. I'll need to treat it really well though.
tod, if you come back to this have another look at the photos of the table. What you can just about see sitting in pots on the stone floor are two of the three fever trees. They are about a metre tall now and are ready for putting out into the soil.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 3, 2016 7:08:46 GMT
YaY! My little seeds aren't babies any longer - Nice work Mark. I'm sure they will create some if not a lot, of curiosity when their trunks are pale green with a fine powdery substance. This was thought to have caused a fever to travelers sleeping under the trees on their wagon journeys. Later to find out the had malaria.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 3, 2016 16:12:40 GMT
Update Day 1 The workers are quite reliable and turned up on time this morning. The boss, the technician and I had a walk round and looked at what needed doing. The boss then left to go for his breakfast. The two workers then set to and unloaded their wagon and started chipping out the concrete at the side of the pool. When they'd got down far enough it looked like this - The hole was washed out, left to dry and then this stuff ("....fast curing polyurethane sealant/adhesive with permanent elasticity.") - Was liberally applied - It'll need some time to dry and then I suppose, but not certain, they'll want me to fill the pool back up before they cover it with concrete and see if it leaks. In the meantime they began to erect the scaffolding - As usual they needed to do two jobs at once and realised the cement mixer was too far away. It was down on a track easily accessible to vehicles where they'd dropped it off. But, it needed to be closer to the house. So the 'lad' hopped in this little digger thingy after hooking up the mixer to the back and commenced to drag it through the olive trees. Unfortunately I think driving it is not something he had a lot of practice at - However, after a bit of a steep learning curve he mastered to controls and set off, winding his way up from the track between the trees - Eventually at his destination - He was happy now, as though he'd passed the first test of the day - After several hours of putting up the framework, in the blazing sun, they set about chipping off the old surface so there was nothing loose underneath the new render - As usual as well there is just the technician and a lad to mix stuff for him and do the majority of the labour. They started at 8am, had half an hour breakfast at 10am, another half an hour at 2pm for lunch and they keep on until they stop. When that will be I've no idea. It is now a little after 6pm, sunset is at 8pm so I expect maybe about 7pm they tool up and sod off. More tomorrow. It's exciting, isn't it?
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Post by mossie on Oct 3, 2016 18:32:41 GMT
Stay well clear of the scaffolding, that base would have the elfin safety monkey jumping up and down and gibbering.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 3, 2016 18:37:23 GMT
I shall not go anywhere near it. I never do when they erect it.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 5, 2016 16:21:39 GMT
Update Day 3 They've been at it a couple of days and nearly finished putting on a base layer of cement. There's just the top right to do. That'll be finished of in the morning and then they can start slapping on the white render. My pool is still empty, the boss says maybe tomorrow I can start filling it to test the repair. The problem is it takes about three days or so to fill but I'm away this weekend so it might be I won't start until Monday. They are on target so far anyway -
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2016 21:02:05 GMT
I have to admit that I was a bit shocked after seeing all of your beautiful renovations that you had hidden the ugly back side of the house. But I must commend you for finally showing that you are doing something about it. I hope that the pool will not leak anymore.
Any idea how long before you return once you have started your Zambian adventure?
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Post by mich64 on Oct 5, 2016 22:46:17 GMT
Fabulous work on the table and bench Mark! I need a bench for my kitchen as well and an armoire for our new entrance. My brother-in-law will start work on them very soon.
The work being done on the pool leak looks what we would do to repair our house foundation if we had a weeping tile issue. I think that is why we do not see many concrete pools in the region I live in, the cold winters would cause frequent cracks. The pools here are mostly made of fiberglass. Hopefully this sealant will repair the leaks and they can close it up while finishing the back of the house.
Anxious to see the finished work on the back of the house!
We are in the middle of a new kitchen, which hopefully will be our last renovation. While installing the dry wall, the high alarm on the septic pump went off causing my husband an afternoon between the kitchen and on the phone taking instructions from our plumber. Thankfully the pump did not need to be replaced, just a minor repair and now back to kitchen. Sanding begins tomorrow, hopefully I am picking paint colors this weekend to begin next week. Then the floor goes back down, the cupboards have arrived and will be installed next with the final step being the counter tops being measured, cut and installed. I am hoping this is all done by the end of the month.
Will you be returning to Spain when the children are on their summer break next year?
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 6, 2016 5:58:41 GMT
The "ugly back side of the house" had a charm all of its own. So I'm told. But I may have left it had it been weatherproof just as a counterpoint to the rest being modernised. In answer to both of you, The earliest I will be back is next Easter, more realistically it will be next year in the late spring.
Mich, we have a sceptic tank but no pump. What is the pump for?
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Post by mich64 on Oct 6, 2016 18:51:25 GMT
The pump is inside the original tank and when it fills it pumps to a second septic tank up our hillside where the new septic bed had to be located. When homes were first built on the lake, the by-laws allowed for septic beds to be 50 feet from the lake, the by-law is now 100 feet.
Mark will you have a maintenance company that checks on the house and property? Have you thought of renting it out?
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 6, 2016 20:16:38 GMT
I have two tanks, but the second one is lower than the first one. So it just syphons out when needs be.
Not going to rent it out, nope. Firstly to do so we need to go through a large number of legal hoops which have actually in the last year become even more complicated. Secondly, we luckily don't need to rely on any money that would come from that, thirdly we are usually many thousands of kilometres away and would need to employ a management company to sort it all out including maintenance etc but, most importantly fourthly, it's my house and I don't want anyone else living there.
We pay a local couple who come to look at it while we are away. They are linked with our builder and the local service suppliers if they need them for some reason.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 7, 2016 16:54:59 GMT
Our old system was a gravity fed system that most people have out here on our hillside, however most of us have been in the situation where improvements had to be made and when that happens you have to move the septic bed which for all of us meant putting in pumps. After our plumber was here the other day we had a conversation about wondering when he might retire as he is the only one in town who still does this kind of work. Less and less trades people these days. My husband and brother-in-law are in the kitchen right now doing the dry wall, we had hoped to hire this job out, but could not find anyone available.
I would not want to rent out either. When my in-laws no longer need our condo, we will sell as soon as possible, not interested in being a landlord.
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Post by tod2 on Oct 8, 2016 10:35:04 GMT
I totally agree with you Mark about not renting out your property - it will be regrettable at best. I'm not so sure about Mich64 wanting to sell their condo one day. Remember you can only sell once but leasing it out could bring in a steady income for years to come. Of course you have to have the right tenant and that could be difficult. We have leased out our warehouse to a shoe company for many years and it has brought us a steady income plus the fact the property itself has trippled in value. In our current property where our business is located we lease out at least 10 shops and offices. This is our old age pension you could say.
Then I have this new idea. I want to lease out the sepperate section on our home which is a duplex. It has everything including BBQ fascilities in an upper level and a private courtyard directly outside the bedroom. The reason is the cash would be used for holiday travel. It costs a fortune to go to Europe at our exchange rate. Here there is ready cash to be had but again, I need to find the right tenant - strictly no loud music or partying. Is there an old gent or lady wanting a super little apartment?
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 8, 2016 13:34:08 GMT
Is there an old gent or lady wanting a super little apartment? I fit the first part but not the second part.
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