Being as I started the countdown last week I thought I better update each week now...
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| Almost finished dorm room |
There is a hell of a lot of work to be done in such a short space of time. But the good news is the dorm rooms are almost ready and looking good.
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| Dorm room with balcony |
All I have left to do in the dorms is to attach the personal fans and reading lights to each of the beds and paint them - although if I don’t get them painted straight away it wont be the end of the world. Having the high ceilings are great and the vents in the doors keep the rooms really cool, the downside to that is that you do get a bit of street noise but luckily late at night there isn’t that much.
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| Six bed dorm |
The common room is also cleaned up and ready. I have the couch and TV ready to go in, the phone company are coming this week to install the guest phone line and I have built a computer desk and book shelf for the book exchange.
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| Common Room ready for furniture |
I tiled the balcony a couple of weeks ago but did not put the picture up so here it is. I am going to put a little roof over the front balcony as if it rains hard and the wind blows hard water is coming in through the vents.
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| Tiled front Balcony |
I have started work on the dormitory rooms shared bathrooms - a job that I have been putting of on purpose as it needs a lot of work!
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| The last piece of the puzzle... |
I put the electrics in today along with the ventilation fans which was a horrible job - I thought I was finished with all the dirty jobs... I reckon it will take me about another 6 days to finish it so fingers crossed.
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| Door from bar to hostel |
Theres been a few jobs that I have been meaning to do for a while that I have also been catching up on - the back up generator for one. I bought it ages ago but have not got around to actually hooking it up - the main reason is that I have to run a 200ft wire from my laundry to the main panel. So I have the wire and will be hooking it up in the next few days. Luckily we only have around one blackout a month which is amazing compared to some other areas. I have also painted the stairway.
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| Starting the bar late in the evening |
Now in my last post I said that we would be ready to open by 1st July 2014, apart from the bar. Well the other evening I decided at around 7pm (after working all day) that I was going to build the bar!
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| Reception part of the bar |
I had picked up all the wood the other day so it was all there waiting for me. So Friday night, music and a few beers I started.
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| Getting there... |
It is not going to be a huge bar - it will mainly be for hostel guests but obviously we will allow public in. I set it up so the hostel is totally separate from the bar - I have installed a door that leads to the stairwell that will open with a guests keycard. It is good for security as no drinkers in the bar can get into the hostel area.
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| Finished framework of the bar |
I am building the bar in an L shape, the smaller part will be the check in area which will have our check in computer and info. The longer part will be the drinks service area. I didn't really have much of a plan when starting it - it just kind of evolved - obviously I knew the correct height and width etc before hand. I have built the frame of the bar out of pine but I am going to put some of the Caoba that I have from the old roof beams vertically along the front.
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| Ready for the top and Caoba front |
I was going to use it as the bar top but due to the varied sizes of the planks that I cut up it would be difficult to make a bar top. I am hoping it turns out well...
As I said going to be a huge capacity bar, I already have the pool table in one of the bar rooms - that will have a couple of high tables and stools so in the bar I am going to build two 6 seater booths, a couple of tables and have a few bar stools - all in all seating for around 25 - plenty I would say!
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| Caoba beams ready and waiting... |
So that just leaves the room behind the bar - I have a lot to fit in this room - luckily it is pretty big. So out comes the sheet rock... So there are two doorways behind the bar, the smaller one will lead into a small office, and the bigger one will actually be a shelves for all the bottles but with a hatch in I can pass all the glasses through in to the kitchen.
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| Dividing the bar toilets, office and kitchen |
The kitchen will be pretty small and I am not planning to do food at the moment - this will be one the future - but I would rather have the room there then not have it. There are also two bathrooms and a storage closet. Not a bad use of space I think! The storage closet is actually for my motorbike, it is a pain to get it all the way into the back of the property so I have set aside a cupboard just big enough for it.
So, things are really starting to move forward, I have already had a booking and enquires - even though there are no photos on my site yet so its looking good - now all I have to do is finish in time! 15 days and counting...
