Saturday 21 May 2016
Garden Part 6 - Finished
The is garden all planted up and the fence is finished. Now we just have to wait for the grass to grow.
Friday 20 May 2016
Garden Part 5 - Plants and Fence
The plants have arrived. We have been out with the gardeners to look where they suggest they go.
Out the front we want a tree to give some privacy through the front door window and out the back we want a natural looking hedge that will eventually hide the ugly (but necessary) fence.
As we are located within the Black Forrest Nature Park area we are advised (in the contract back when we bought the plot) what plants we should plant to ensure it fits in to the local environment so we have tried to follow this as much as we can, with a few exceptions.
As the road next to the house goes downhill our garden becomes more raised the further back it goes. Rather than using stones to support the raised garden all the way along we decided to use plants to cover this so it will eventually not be noticeable from the road that the garden is raised at all. The fence is set in to the garden by about a meter so the slope is outside the fenced part.
Out the front we want a tree to give some privacy through the front door window and out the back we want a natural looking hedge that will eventually hide the ugly (but necessary) fence.
As we are located within the Black Forrest Nature Park area we are advised (in the contract back when we bought the plot) what plants we should plant to ensure it fits in to the local environment so we have tried to follow this as much as we can, with a few exceptions.
As the road next to the house goes downhill our garden becomes more raised the further back it goes. Rather than using stones to support the raised garden all the way along we decided to use plants to cover this so it will eventually not be noticeable from the road that the garden is raised at all. The fence is set in to the garden by about a meter so the slope is outside the fenced part.
Tuesday 10 May 2016
Garden Part 4 - Topsoil Arrives
It has been a while since the front driveway and patio were completed but finally we got our topsoil delivered and the gardeners have been back to spread and level it.
Friday 22 April 2016
Garden Part 3
As we have a wooden construction (as opposed to brick) we can't allow damp to come in to contact with the walls for any long period of time. This means we need to leave a space around the walls for air to circulate. The gardeners have dealt with this by leaving a narrow trench next to the walls bordered by curbing, then having the path running along this.
The patio slabs are also in "Antique" style.
At the back where the patio will go there was rubber sheeting already in place around the bottom of the walls to protect the wood so here we can forgo the trench and build the patio right up to the doors.
The patio slabs are also in "Antique" style.
Tuesday 19 April 2016
Garden Part 2
Today the gardeners completed the driveway and path. We chose "Antique" style stones for this to fit in with the colour and style of the house. Once the sand washes off it should look good!
Friday 15 April 2016
Garden Part 1
One thing we really wanted to get finished was the garden. With a toddler, a dog and a baby on the way it is really important we have a fenced in garden with space for playing and an outdoor dining area.
We spoke to four gardeners about our ideas and requirements and their responses differed a lot. One was extremely expensive and even boasted about being so, saying that's what made him better than everyone else. The next said they would only give us a final quote after we sign a contract to say we would use them. Another never got back to us with a quote at all.
The one we went with gave us a quote, was friendly, and not too expensive so it was a fairly easy choice.
We decided to go with the tactic of outlining roughly what we wanted and where in terms of patio, parking, lawn and hedge, leaving the rest up to the gardeners as to exactly how they will achieve this.
They started at the front, raising the ground to the front door. We wanted one side to be steps to a path and the other a ramp to the parking spaces. We originally suggested a path from the front door straight to the road but the gardener suggested we run the path sideways to the other street (we are on a corner), which looks much better and gives more space for planting.
We spoke to four gardeners about our ideas and requirements and their responses differed a lot. One was extremely expensive and even boasted about being so, saying that's what made him better than everyone else. The next said they would only give us a final quote after we sign a contract to say we would use them. Another never got back to us with a quote at all.
The one we went with gave us a quote, was friendly, and not too expensive so it was a fairly easy choice.
We decided to go with the tactic of outlining roughly what we wanted and where in terms of patio, parking, lawn and hedge, leaving the rest up to the gardeners as to exactly how they will achieve this.
They started at the front, raising the ground to the front door. We wanted one side to be steps to a path and the other a ramp to the parking spaces. We originally suggested a path from the front door straight to the road but the gardener suggested we run the path sideways to the other street (we are on a corner), which looks much better and gives more space for planting.
Monday 7 March 2016
Bathroom Finally Finished
Finally the bathroom is done.
There were a few issues with the planning meaning the light switch was too close to the shelf behind the sink so we had to cut off a few mm from the plastic surrounding. The plug sockets above the sink are also not ideally placed so we had to hang the mirror over these making it higher than we would have liked.
There were a few issues with the planning meaning the light switch was too close to the shelf behind the sink so we had to cut off a few mm from the plastic surrounding. The plug sockets above the sink are also not ideally placed so we had to hang the mirror over these making it higher than we would have liked.
Sunday 28 February 2016
Our New Home
We're in!!!
It's been chaos living out of boxes and not finding anything but we're in and it's starting to feel like home.
The upstairs bathroom saga continues but finally the plumbers have reached an agreement and they are now working on completing it.
It's been chaos living out of boxes and not finding anything but we're in and it's starting to feel like home.
The upstairs bathroom saga continues but finally the plumbers have reached an agreement and they are now working on completing it.
Sunday 21 February 2016
The Day Before the Move
We can't quite believe we're moving tomorrow. After the madness of the past few weeks trying to organise the build, selling our flat and packing for the move it'S all been a bit of a blur.
We only have the bathroom downstairs ready but at least we have one. It's proving difficult getting rid of the building dust. It will take months before it's all gone.
Here's how things look the day before we move in.
Saturday 20 February 2016
Final Push to Hit the Deadline
Lot's has happened, we have doors and the laminate is down in the bedrooms.
The final tiles are going down in the hall.
The plastering is complete, except in the cellar hall.
We just need to tidy up a bit and do a deep clean to get rid of the dust... so much dust!
The final tiles are going down in the hall.
The plastering is complete, except in the cellar hall.
We just need to tidy up a bit and do a deep clean to get rid of the dust... so much dust!
Thursday 18 February 2016
Bathroom Progress
The downstairs guest bathroom is progressing well and should be ready to use when we move in on 22nd (although the BBB guys will have to give up their weekend to complete it on time, which they kindly agreed to do).
Upstairs is a different story. The drainage pipe from the shower is apparently too high so the plumber from BBB tasked with putting the shower in refuses to plumb the shower to the drainage pipe (put in by the company contracted from Allkauf) until they agree to take responsibility for any future problems with this. We now have to wait for them to organise this between them before we can proceed. There is no chance the bathroom upstairs will now be ready by our 22nd February moving date.
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