Diary of a house build near Munich

So having gone looking for a specific shade of blue carpet for most of yesterday - we ended up with green.

Wife now texted me that this has since changed this morning to "mauve"? Would I like to see?

So folks - there is nothing wrong with building a house, but clearly decorating the damn thing is gonna be a drama.

Esp. with all those different colors.. No offence,but your wife sounds like she's color blind
(Or can't color coordinate)

Have never had a house designed for me but i did buy a Barrett box off plan and went through all the carpet / fires / kitchen appliance stuff that you are doing now JE.

I too put my foot down firmly as a real man and caved in on every single disagreement, a quiet life is worth way more than pride or being right

You've got the light fittings and curtains to come next sir

Light fittings and curtains should be easy.

Lights were chosen and ordered a long time ago, and we will have no curtains.

Yesterday's other wee hiccup was in the cellar. We have spent 4 weeks trying to dry out the thick screed, and now have a dehumidifier running 24 hours a day down there.

The guys came round to lay the rest of the screed in the garage and needed some water. So they plugged a hose into the only tap that works in the cellar.

Obviously the hose became detached, they did not notice, and flooded the cellar. All good fun!

What is screed?

Its the smooth layer of floor above the concrete. Problem is with underfloor heating it needs to cover all the pipes and is therefore about 5cm thick, whereas back in the UK it would only be a few mm.

So takes forever to dry!

Maybe it's time to give up on the drying out JE and just settle for an indoor pool ?

Well as you can see from the shot below it is looking like a house. The wife has got the painters in!

Still waiting for the basement to finish drying, but bathrooms are being tiled, garage doors are in, kitchen is ordered, carpet is ordered, heating is working etc. Need to also fit internal doors, a staircase, one more window, finish the electrics, tile all the ground floor, fit wardrobes etc.

So should really be finished around end if June, although I don't expect to move in until mid July really.

Architect has been brilliant, workers have been efficient, project has been technically on budget (except for us upgrading stuff like tiles etc). Has been zero stress for me so far, and as it is 90% done I am not expecting too many problems now.

Damn! I'm so jealous of your attached two car garage!!
I don't understand why Germans always build the garage like 25 meters away from the house. It almost defeats the whole purpose of having a garage - so you don't get wet unloading groceries from the car and bringing them into the house!
Duh!

you have underfloor heating in the cellar!

very enjoyable read JE

Indeed! For boys this is VERY important. As it happens the garage is very deep as well, plus it dog-legs to the left behind the house so is 65sq metres. Then at the rear is another garage door, with extra hard standing behind so we can add an extra carport later if needed. We however chose NOT to have a door directly from the house because we felt this could allow stinky petrol/oil type fumes into the house - but as you can see the front door is very close.


Nope - the cellar is a "living" cellar with extra height rooms, air circulation system, but with standard UK style hot water radiators not underfloor heating. So it has been proving slower to dry out, but we are getting there now.

Ahh but did you build a pit into your garage?

Guess thats not important for bikes or modern cars really

Underfloor heating in the garage, sir ?

Essential to keep the tyres warmed up.

No pit in the garage - I have no interest in messing with the underneath of cars thank you very much.

But the garage is networked so I can have my music blasting whilst fondling my spanners etc.

When we were looking to buy a while ago, I couldn't beleive the garages and cellars in most German houses, they were more like operating theatres, all tools pristine and laid out in straight lines, spotlessly clean, boilers polished etc ...Very impressed (and embarassed at the state of ours)

Looks very nice..

Do all houses take this long to building in Germany though? In Australia, a house is normally built in less than 6 weeks. The quality of houses in Australia is crap compared to here in Europe, but still it seems quite a lot faster. I guess they couldn't do any work over winter..

Winter did in effect stop all work for about 4 months, but would still take 7 months regardless I think.

Obviously depends on your construction technique. They have wooden framed houses over here which arrive on the lorry and are erected in 3 days or something silly like that.

Making some proper progress now. Might be finished in about 4 weeks I think. They only really need to fit the kitchen (which is ready to go), finish fitting the bathrooms, fit some carpets, doors, electric sockets etc. In theory stuff they could do in a week, but in reality will be 4-5 weeks 'cos waiting for a kitchen sink or some other inane excuses.

Wife is starting to get crabby over it now. She is bored with sorting out tedious issues.

Looking good Mr. English, I especially like the crosser friendly landscaping.

Joking apart - I got my 950 stuck in the sand and shingles last night!! Rear wheel spun itself a dirty great hole. It seems to be OK if you stick to where the trucks have been for 9 months - but don't venture "offroad"!!!

It looks delightful. I hope that when you've moved in all the stress and agro will be left outside the doors.

I've heard that, KTM's are tuned for austrian sand or something.

Well I would like to do that. But we have been together 15 years so it does seem a bit harsh?

Just been to the house, and I found a species of "Northern Monkey" squatting on the roof. I assume he was trying to nick my satellite aerial, or the roof tiles etc...

Looking fab, JE
So when's the party?

btw, your house looks great.

So what's the guy on the roof protesting about ?

Good question - methinks late August for zee party. I will need "assistance" from TTers to show the locals how to have a decent party. Been to a couple of 40th parties over here that have been seriously hard work (no music, people drinking orange juice etc).

Obviously it is a fair old hike for those in central Munich, but the nearest local hotel is here:

http://www.lechpark-hotel.de/preise.html and I will arrange to seriously kick them up the arse for better rates on the night.

Obviously we can also make space for people to doss down - I guess just depends on numbers etc. Plus we will probably still have our old rented house around the corner...which has loads of space (not many actual beds however!!).

If the party is good enough beds will not be an issue. I've been to parties where I was so tiired I slept on the lawn.

You do have a lawn, don't you ?

fantabulous
ooo - we could maybe combine it with a little lingerie shopping trip for the more generously proportioned among us

I was rather hoping we could get some of the girls pissed and drugged enough to get an impromptu show?

I'll bring the lingerie...

I'll bring my camera then.

(Actually that was supposed to be a reply to Topsy,but seems to fit with your post as well, JE.)

*resolves to not drink too much*

Lesson 1: The dangers of over-delegation.

So they are fitting the new kitchen at the moment, which I had never seen before. I don't like it. It's all browns and creams, and not at all what I would have chosen. Wife assures me it will nice when completed - but I am not convinced.

But I guess as long as there is a fridge for beer, and a microwave to reheat the pizza...

Mr English, sir. That is the womans domain.. I am sure Mrs English will get just as pissed of with you if you start fiddling with her Kitchen just as you will if she starts to play pool, Darts, Car racing,x-boxing etc in your Playroom!

Women...Know your place!

Make it before the 19th August, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze! I promise not to join the impromptu show!

Did you really just write that? That is so not true - at our house, the formers owner's wife designed the entire house with her brother EXCEPT the kitchen - he had control over the kitchen. Even the counter tops are a few inches higher than normal because he was very tall and wanted it that way - which is good for my boyfriend because he is the only one who ever cooks in our house!!

My wife and I are to cooking, as Inflateablewoman is to ballet dancing.

Yes i did just write that.. did think it was written by someone else using my log-in details.. I bet you are American, Arent you?

i bought my kitchen about a year ago. now i would chose a different one, but it is too late...
good things is, the your wife chose brown and beige. the sales assistant who sold me my kitchen said after i asked what kitchens she likes, that seeing the different kitchens at work every day, the natural colour ones (including black adn white) are the ones she can still look after a year of display...

Well, I guess that's good news for me - our kitchen is gray and stainless steel. We've had to add a few things to liven it up a bit.

So it is nearly the end of the project, and predictably the wife has started caving in on the stress front. She wants to move, but there are a whole bunch of "manana" jobs to complete.

I think we are currently awaiting:

1. Glass top in kitchen (busted in transit). Plastic splashback (cut too short).
2. Door in kitchen, door to 1 bedroom.
3. Server cabinet for networking
4. Shower doors and shower enclosure.
5. Sink in bathroom
6. Final grouting
7. Driveway
8. Final carpet finishing
9. Some Light fittings (scarily sounds like might be my job)
10. Fireplace

After 25 rows this week she accepted we cannot move in this weekend. Its all toffee 'cos we have the rented place until 31st August so are under no pressure to actually move. Current rented house of course looks like a bombsite due to packing, and we cannot be arsed to tidy anything up.

I am still relaxed about it all - doesnt bother me - but wife is not seeing stuff quite the same way, so I will be glad when it is finished although can see issues dragging on for months and months.

One word...

HUNTCREST

The kitchen:





This was predicatbly quite expensive. Not finished yet. It is OK, but I just think its a bit "safe" bordering on the dull, but maybe that is better than something funky that will get on yer nerves after 12 months. But not what I would have chosen I think.

I am thinking this wiring is not quite "Euro" standard:

Cut the red wire !