Author: Peter

Before we could start putting the tiles in, I had to get a mixer tool, as I could not find it, so it might be still in the Netherlands. So a quick strip to ABC. There we found out there was another 25% discount weekend, so we decided to also bring switches and plugs for the floor heated part of the house. That should keep me out of trouble for a bit longer.

Back home I first connected the earthing wire to the earthing pin as it will be covered and then we started tiling. The tiling went pretty good, although we used much more glue then what the package suggested. Oh well, at least it came out very smooth with the special adjusters I got.

After the hallway was in done we moved to the bathroom to make the tiles to fit there. As we noticed the glue was setting pretty fast, we decided it would be best to glue the entire bathroom at once, but first we need to get everything straight, which was not as easy as in the hallway, as the corners where not as straight as in the hallway. But we got pretty far. In the mean time I figured we would have some more time then expected as the heater will be in back order, so it might take a few weeks to get here.

• 

• 

• 

Since now all of a sudden the heating system will be placed, there is a priority to put in the floor tiles. The hallway and the toilet will be first, but to be able to leave the house (and lock the door behind me) I first have to replace the lock of the old door in the boiler room. Good thing there is a lock left over in the old front door.

The front door lock is bigger then the old lock in the backdoor, so the hole in the door needs to be made deeper. I am lucky as the long snake drill I bought to drill the pipes through the wall fits exactly.

After more work then it seems, the lock has been replaced (I needed to open it up to reverse it as well) and I can start to make the tiles to fit the toilet and hallway. The tile cutter is just big enough for the 60 cm tiles we got and works great for the non straight cut the angle grinder with a diamond blade and a bit of patience works fine. And before we knew it the day was over. So, we’ll glue tomorrow.

• 

• 

• 

• 

After I came in this morning, I started on finishing the water piping. The warm water pipes to be a bit more precise. I created a setup where the warm water system can be fed from two devices, the electrical boiler that was still in the house (and was bought very shortly before we bought the house) and the buffer that will be connected to the central heating, with some valves to switch between the two.

When I was done I put the system under pressure with the help of Jeff who is still working on his camper. One of the plugs had not been screwed on properly, but apart from that all was good. Another good step forward!

In the mean time Uve finally replied with some numbers for the central heating and he can start next week. He stopped by to discuss some things. The upcoming weekend will be busy getting some last stuff ready for the system.

After he left, Jeff and I went to get some plaster plate for the walls and I put in the wall in the hallway. Already motivated for the weekend!

• 

• 

As the grass and other garden plant have been growing lushly for the past weeks, Mo thought it would be a good idea to at least cut part of the grass.

With the house came a lawn mower, but we had no idea in what shape it was, so after work I took it out and had a look. One wheel was a bit broken, one wheel was loose, but the air filter, oil and blade looked pretty good. So after a bit of tinkering, I got some gasoline and tried to start it. Instant success. I tried a test run through the tall grass and it seemed to work fine.

The next day we got back to actually do some mowing, but after it had been running for a few minutes, it started to run a bit more irregular. So Jeff and I took apart the carburetor and quickly found the problem, contamination in the carburetor. So soon it ran smooth again and Mo and I mowed about the first 10 meters of grass. This seemed plenty to us. Time for some food, this time I took out the dutch oven and put it on the fire to make a nice chili.

• 

• 

New day, new help. Today Matthijs came over to help out. Shortly after he arrived Jeff arrived with his camper van, as he needed a place to replace the clutch and the second gear synchro ring. The space in front of the garage seemed perfect for that, especially with the weather forecast for this week.

It turned out that the camper on it’s last scraps of clutch does not maneuver as easy through the garden as my Land Cruiser, so we had a bit of fun to get it on it’s place.
Matthijs started on dismantling the old front door, while I got some missing parts for the water piping and finished the cold water part. Then I joined him in placing the new front door. Nice work if you are patient. But the result looks great.

Time for another barbecue.

• 

• 

• 

To start with the end sprint we organized another BYOT like party, as the weather looked promising we made it a Build-BQ party. Kaspar came to dig again and he did an awesome job digging a trance of 1m60 deep. Marc took care of the top floor in the old living room.

Mo and me cleaned up the attic above the bathroom area and I installed the boiler for the warm water system. Around 19:00 we started the fire for the BBQ and had a nice evening together.

• 

• 

• 

Today Jeff came to help me. I decided it would be good to take out the walls and floors from the former living room, to get them in the same state as the new living room.

I came in pretty early this morning and started by cleaning out the room. When Jeff came in we took out the big furniture and then Jeff started on the wall. I started to take down the fireplace, as Mo and I decided it was not nice or useful at it’s location. After we took of the concrete top part off together I could literally take apart the fireplace block by block with my bare hands. Only towards the end I needed some tools. Mostly to take out the other concrete tops.

When I was cleaning the debris of on the last concrete plate, I found a pen in a plastic bag, when I showed it to Jeff, I noticed there where to little things with it in the bag. Then Jeff realized what it was. We checked it out, made pictures and started searching the internet. His idea was correct, we had in deed found a pen gun! What an exciting find! Together with the money we found three months ago, our imagination took off while we finished our work for today.

In the early evening Pille stopped by with some meat we could put on the grill and Mo came to join this spontaneous grill meal.

• 

• 

• 

Last week we went to check out tiles. We found some nice floor tiles we both liked remarkably fast. Today we went to get them. We also got some wall tiles, bit for that we need to get something to break the wall. Let’s see what we will find.

The trip home was great, the extra heavy spring set of the Land Cruiser really did it’s job and ride was less bumpy as usual. Taking out all the tiles was a pretty big job, but looking forward to the moment I can start putting in the floor!

With the electricity mostly done, today was the day to start on the water pipes. Before I could start I needed to decide if I wanted to invest in the expensive crimping wrench or use screw type connectors for the pex-al-pex pipes I decided to use.

So first I made a drawing of the pipes I need to install in the house. Then I discussed some details with my uncle on the phone. And then I went to Espak to check the price of the wrench there as well. I ended up getting it at ABC, as their 25% discount made the price most interesting. I also got fittings and pipe. Later on we also bought another door, so we can replace the front door with a similar door as our new back door.

The installation of the water pipes went very smooth and after crimping a few connections I was sure I made the right decision in getting the right tools for the job. I made a nice start with the water piping.

• 

• 

After the hard start on Wednesday, today the connecting of the electricity went smoother. Mo helped and in between went to buy some more electrical wire and check out K-Rauta, a construction store I had not checked out so far, as someone had told me they would have glass fiber wall covering and in deed they had. Finally a place in Estonia where they have some choice and large roles!

Towards the end of the day all wires where done in the bathroom, sauna and washing-room. The washing-room even had a (hardwired) light, which turned out to be very good value for money. Maybe we will get the bigger brother for the bathroom later on.

•