Aaargh ...

As we approach the end of May, winter is settling in along with more rain and more damage to the leaking roof!  I am so frustrated that I could scream.  The waterproofing company who installed the skylights have been out to take a look and double check their work even though they insist that the leak is coming from elsewhere.  The builder has not bothered to come and look even though he has said he would.  So back and forth we go between the builder and the waterproofing company.  If the job had been contracted strictly to the waterproofing company as agreed then this could get sorted out but the way it is going now, I don't foresee it being resolved.  I imagine that we will have to contract another company to come and fix it at our expense.  "Whatever" is the word that comes to mind.  Actually, a few other choice words come to mind but I will continue to behave like a lady!

The bathroom is also still not complete.  Who would believe that a custom vanity could cause so much trouble.  Friends of ours practically had a mansion built (and completed) faster than our silly little renovation.

I would love to finish the second half of this reno but I am scared.  Yes, I have learned a few lessons but the whole idea of doing this again is frightning.  

It has taken me this long just to get over myself.  

Update

Have you been wondering what is happening at our home?  Well, here we are in March 2011 already and the builder has not been back.  It is most unfortunate that by the end of the renovation we had both pretty much had enough of each other and communication and trust had broken down.  We retained a very small amount of money as there were still some issues with the front door as well as all the internal door handles. It is just as well that we did even though it is not nearly enough to have these jobs completed.  Ideally, we would like the builder to come back but since it would appear that he is not going to contact us we are moving forward.  Tomorrow I have an independant company coming in to repair our front door and correct all the internal door handles.  This is a minor job but it has been a major irritation as our brand new front door has taken a bit a damage due to the fact that we can barely get it open and closed.  Apparently the solution is simple - the frame needs to be properly secured as it is loose.  The problem is that this simple problem is going to turn out to be an expensive problem as there are now loads of repairs to be done on both the frame and the door due to the fact that we have been forcing it open and closed for the past 3 months.  It looks good though and once it is fixed we can close the door on that issue (at least I am getting my sense of humour back).

The other major problem is the leaking roof in the entertainment area.  Luckily the sun is still shining in Cape Town and we are not anticipating rain but this is going to have to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

We also having the kitchen company coming back tomorrow to do a few minor repairs and adjustments. As you can see, we still do not have any splash backs in the kitchen but have decided that we will be installing glass splash backs on the wall by the sink and on the wall by stove.  I still need to decide on the colour but I have some time since it is not in our immediate budget (knew that was coming).  Remember what it looked like before?  here is a before / after picture:

Here is a view from inside the kitchen looking out to the open plan lounge and dining area.  Due to the size of our space we have kept all the finishes the same.  I think it creates a great feeling of continuity.  We need to get some personal effects back into the space and we will consider adding some interest with wallpaper on a feauture wall later on but for now this works for us.  

We would love to replace the kitchen door now with a modern aluminium version and our old fridge and dishwasher really look out of place now.  The good news is that the fridge is on the blink so that sleek new stainless stell number might just be finding it's way into our home sooner than we have budgeted for.

We absolutely love the new tiles and I have to say that it really is worth it spending whatever your budget will stretch to on a decent tile / flooring.  They feel fantastic, cool and make the space look much larger.

I am looking forward to finishing the kitchen off with the glass splash backs and am looking for something interesting to put on the wall where the "broom" cupboard used to be.  We never planned to renovate the kitchen originally and I have to say that it was one of the biggest expenses.  I am glad that we have such a small kitchen because it allowed us to go with quality finishes at the end of the day.  Again, spend your money wisely!  New appliances can wait. put your money into the basics and add the final finishes as your budget allows.  It is a little disappointing when you get to the end and you can't add the little things but they will come and you won't be left feeling "I wish we had just spent the money on the wood instead of the veneer".

That is it from me today.  I will be back to show you the rest of it soon.  

Day 88 (I think)

Can it really be?  A 30 day renovation and here we are 88 days later!  Okay so some days no one pitched and some of those days have been spent doing the same thing over and over and over again but anyway, here we are.  Isabel and Kaeli this is for you.  I cannot photograph the kitchen right now but I thought I would take a few minutes to do a quick post and show you the view from my office (future family room).

I don't like to say but, ja, it is a braai room.  There are still a few small issues to be dealt with here but this was the actual reason for our renovation.  We really needed an entertainment area.  I, however, have never really been a great fan of the indoor braai. There it stands in all it's black glory though.  I would have loved a sleek stainless steel baby but that simply was not in the budget (she says as that Abba song replays itself in my head over and over again Money, money, money ...).  We need to get some doors put on under the "barbeque" but unfortunately we cannot get anyone to do anything in Cape Town at this time of the year.  So, the opening shall remain until the new year along with a list of other odds and ends.  The shutters are from American Shutters and are aluminium security shutters.  The idea was not to enclose the room completely so we can open them up and still enjoy the beautiful view of the vibracrete (mooi) and fresh air.  Hold on, I will open them up and take another photograph.

What we would like to do is have that vibracrete wall "plastered" and maybe put a water feature or some modern benches there for extra seating.

Here is a view of the room from the lounge.  The blinds are a temporary solution.  The sliding door that they are covering will eventually lead into our main bedroom.

I need to decide how to place the table and tomorrow we are having chairs delivered (if I can decide on the colour before then).  The finish on the table is a little more rustic than our normal choice but we wanted something that would be durable and could withstand the braai rituals.  If you are South African you will understand this.  It has been very hard to find chairs but we have finally decided on a poly wicker chair that should be very durable and resistant to the sunlight, etc.  The chairs pictured above normally grace our dining table and I would have been happy to purchase new dining chairs and use those outside but they are a bit wide and we would like to put at least 8 chairs around the table.  I was hopig that we would be able to fit a small corner sofa into that room in the same poly wicker as the chairs but I don't think that is going to happen.  This is the chair I have ordered.

I really wanted the one with arms but they were also too wide if we wanted 8 chairs so this is the one it is going to be.  I don't like that tie on the cushion but I am sure we can find a solution for that.  The hard part is picking the colour.  When I ordered them they did not have the colour pictured here (Mocha) so I ordered the Grey.

Now I am not sure which colour to take.  Help.  I would love to have some input here.  I always know what I want so this is killing me.  I have to decide before they close today. Actually, that lounger could be the prefect "bench" outside (think out loud).

Day 65

Okay, I should really change the description of this blog.  It started as a day-to-day account of our home renovation, quickly turned into a week-to-week account and is starting to head toward a month-to-month account of what is happening.  Officially I can refer to this as day 65 since our renovation is still not complete.  At this stage I am beyond it.  Really, does this always happen?  It seems that finishing is the part where it starts to turn a little sour.  I understand that I am a little pedantic or OCD (depending on your point of view) but here is the current situation.

The builder and his team have not been on site for about a week now.  As far as they are concerned they are finished with the exception of the bathroom.  We are cutting them a little slack here since we are having the vanity custom made.  It is costing us alot more than we intended to spend but it is being done through a very reputable company.  Or is it?  The Ceasarstone tops and the basin should have been installed this morning so that the plumber could come in and complete the bathroom.  An hour after the installation was scheduled I sent the company a polite but stern email stating that this was the second time that they had not arrived as scheduled and it was not acceptable.  An hour after the email I received a call from the owner of the company to say that the representative we had been dealing with had been dismissed from the company and it would seem that there was a problem!  Although our quotation specifies the custom vanity as discussed with the ceasarstone tops (even the color is stated) he is saying that their company has nothing to do with installation or the tops.  Parden me?  I am not too concerned as it is in writing and will be hard to dispute and my partner is a lawyer (smug grin).  The bottom line though is that we have not had a functional bathroom for weeks now and we want to finalise the renovation so that we can start settling in.  My gosh, is anyone out there even interested in all of this?

I am going to presume that someone is and continue anyway.  This is what the bathroom looks like at this stage:

It is hard to photograph this room but I am very happy with the choices we made.  When the vanity was installed on Saturday I had this panicked feeling that I had indeed made it too big but I think it is because we have been looking at an empty bathroom for weeks.  I hope that it holds once the tops are on.  They actually went straight through the wall into the kitchen when they put the bolts in the wall (something else to sort out).

The wooden blind was installed in the bathroom this morning but I have had to phone them already to come and look at the color and to adjust the bottom.  As you can see it is catching at the bottom.  We chose the same color as the existing wooden blinds in our living area and although we were warned that there would be a slight color variation I am not happy with the color at all.  We chose Walnut and the blinds which went in this morning look like a deep Mahogany or Cherry wood.  

I am hoping that the vanity drama will be sorted out today and that we can get this room finished off.  Our little en-suite was not designed to be used by a family of 5.  

Day 54

Aaargh!  I have been feeling far too angry and frustrated to post but after some therapy here I am.  Everything is moving at a snails pace over here and despite the fact that I promised myself that I would not get irritable and impatient, I am losing it. In fact, I am starting to wonder if I have a touch of split personality or bipolar.  This phase of the renovation should have been finished but unfortunately we still do not have a functional home.  We are crawling over furniture to get into bed, we have not had use of our kitchen or main bathroom for a month and there seems to be no end to it.  This is what our living area looks like:

This is what our bedroom looks like!  I am not feeling the joy right now.  I want to but it is just not coming to me.

On a more positive note, the kitchen tops went in and the Hanstone looks great.  The walls are bare since I was unable to decide how I wanted to finish them.  Initially I wanted a pure white glass splashback behind the extractor fan but now I think it may look too clinical to finish with white.  Also, I would love to have a glass splashback which fits the entire wall and another on the wall by the kitchen sink.  We may need to do this later as the budget has been blown.

It all comes down to finishing right now.  It seems that just as one item is ticked off the list another two are added.  I know it is all coming together now but I really want our home back.

Day 41

I can officially refer to this as day 41 (even though it is a Saturday) since there is a team of tilers here today.  All the tiling should be complete by Monday.  It has been a big week this week.  The roof lights and patio doors are finally in.  The ceiling boards are up in the patio.  On Monday they will skim the ceiling and put the cornices up in preparation to paint.  

So, last week I was going to tell you about the bathroom.  This little room has given us the biggest headache.  The first problem being it is little.  The second problem being my big ideas.  Well, I think they are totally realistic but it seems to be causing one small problem after the other.  Here it is as it looked last week:

You can see how small the room is.  The photo below was taken after the bath and the Geberit system went in.  We had to build that small wall to accommodate the Geberit. Seems like a silly thing to do as we are trying to make the room appear more spacious but hopefully the desired effect will be achieved.

And here it is starting to take shape.  The wall tiles were cut down to even pieces to cover the wall which is housing the Geberit system.  I tormented myself over whether or not we should use that stainless steel trim detail for days as the tiler seemed a little hesitant about how neatly it would come together.  The tiles are not grouted yet but I think it is going to look good.    

The vanity is still an issue.  We had a great carpenter who was able to do the job within our budget but due to a family crisis he had to cancel all his current jobs.  After what feels like hundreds of quotes, opinions and disappointments we have decided to go with a engineered stone top with kiaat veneer doors and drawers.  The basin is rather large and the vanity is just over 1,6 meters long.  Yes, in that small space!  We are going to have to be a little more patient over the bathroom renovation.

Patience is something we seem to be running short of this week.

Day After Day 35

I can't exactly call it day 36 since it is not officially a working day.  It is however, the first opportunity I have had to post what is happening in our home.

This week started badly.  On Monday I had to call the kitchen company and ask them to delay the installation until Tuesday because in my opinion the kitchen was not ready. The tiler and the electrician were meant to have worked last Saturday but nobody pitched so Monday came around and the kitchen tiles were not grouted and the electrical issues were not dealt with.  It was also pouring with rain and I could only imagine that it was going to be chaos if the kitchen company arrived and needed to start building units inside while the tiler was finishing off the tiling and grouting.  The plumber was also meant to arrive to install the Geberit system. 

On Tuesday the kitchen company arrived on schedule and started to assemble our kitchen.  Now, this was the part I was looking forward to the most ...  seeing it all start coming together, at last.  It is far from finished but I love it already.  Final measurements were taken for the Hanstone tops and hopefully they will be installed within 2 weeks.  

I like the addition of those top cupboards above the fridge and sink.  Now if I could just convince Mr. Money Bags that we really need a sleek new stainless steel fridge and dishwasher!

There was a small hiccup in the kitchen which I only noticed on Wednesday when the cabinets started getting fixed. The short "island" was extending into the dining area a lot more than before and while this made the kitchen bigger it stole place from the dining area.  Luckily the kitchen company and the installer were both very accommodating and together they made a plan.  The drawers next to the oven have all been sent back to the factory to be made smaller (luckily they were longer than standard) and the "island" depth has been adapted.  The counter tops were not effected as the final measurements were only done on Thursday so they will be cut accordingly. Be warned, this could have been a potential disaster (for me anyway).  When you sign your contract with the kitchen company check the floor plan diagram very carefully.  I only looked at the design drawings (see below) and never thought to check measurements.

I was so caught up in finialising the finishes and position of drawers, etc and it never occured to me to scrutinize the detailed plan.  Normally, I go over evry little detail with a fine combed tooth but ...  It was a easy mistake to have made.  

Other elements of the renovation have been less than rewarding this week.  The plumber never arrived on Monday, or Tuesday and by Wednesday we were feeling a little frustrated.  After a conversation with the builder another plumber was appointed and work in the bathroom is also underway.  Just as well since I have big plans for that small room.  More about that later.