So near yet so far...

Ok, it has been a while since my last post. I realized the other day that it is getting close to a year that I started work on this project - time really does fly. When I started I targeted a very optimistic 6 - 8 months completion time - obviously that was not even close but hey. It did get my ass in gear though, I have set a date of two more months to finish.

Finishing off front rooms

The finishing details take a lot of time to complete - just because a room has walls, plumbing and power does not mean its finished. My mum who has been helping over the last 5 months is leaving tomorrow and she was determined to finish all the painting - which see did!

painted and almost tilied

She has done an awesome job, the walls are one thing but the ceilings were very time consuming!

Downstairs ceilings

It has turned out great, I am so pleased with the final results. I have just one and a half rooms to finish tiling down stairs and that means the downstairs floors will be finished. I realized when looking through my blog the other day that all the photos were of the back part of the property, well finally we have a few here of the main rooms.

A lot of mess - but all painted

There were two rooms in the house that I have been leaving till the end - two upstairs bathrooms. I didnt have any intention of touching these until I had finished everywhere else as I hadn't even finished the plumbing. However I finally got around to finishing them - the plumbing and floors at least. All ready for tiling!

Two of the upstairs bathrooms - plumbing installed

Now, against my preference UNESCO made me install a wooden floor in the main house which has been on my list to finish for a while now. I was having a bit of a dilemma about how to fill the gaps between the boards - ended up going for slivers of wood which you hammer and glue in.

Upstairs front room

Due to not being able to find a floor sander in this country I have completed about half of it just using power tools - a pain and very time consuming but needs to be done. Stain plus oil and they are starting to look good.

oiled floor

I have been completing lots of little jobs in between doing the floors such as the drainage in the garden. When it rained really hard my two inch pipe I installed for the overflow of my infiltration system was just not enough and would start to create a little pond in the garden. It has been one of those little jobs that I kept on saying I would get around to... So I finally started it, new bigger pipe getting installed - I really do not like changing work that has already been completed but this needed to be done. Even Katherine was helping...

A helping hand

I even got around to finishing the laundry - almost. Roof is on and the washing machine and sink are installed.

Laundry

Storage has been a bit of an issue as we have been finishing rooms so as the laundry roof was so high I built in an attic room to store all my building tools and materials.

laundry attic

We have started a sign post tree in the garden for guests and people that have visited so far. Not many up at the moment but it will soon grow.

Sign posts

I havent actually explained on here what I will be doing with the property yet so my next post will explain all! Until next time...

The end is near...

I thought I would sit down and update my blog tonight thinking I would have loads to update on - I am absolutely shattered after the last couple of weeks working on the project but I am sitting here thinking it doesn't look like we have done much! I know thats not the case but it feels like it sometimes.

View of the back

So my task was to get some smaller roofs finished over the balcony, outdoor seating area and laundry - I have finished two out of the three so cant complain that much. The roof over the outdoor seating area didn't seem that big when I started but actually took quite a bit of time.

Clay Roof

I like the finished product - now when it rains all the water goes into the garden rather than in the seating area. The other roof was a bit more of a task, I already had the frame up but decided against the clay roof tiles which I have on my other roofs - they look really good but I was a little worried about the weight of them plus the time factor of actually installing them let alone carrying them up to the roof.

Balcony floor

The deciding factor was the fact that no one will actually see this roof as its over the second floor balcony so I went with the roof sheeting - doesn't look to bad though. We had some floor bricks left over from the walkway downstairs so decided to put them down on the balcony floor and sun deck upstairs. almost finished!

Sun Deck

Whilst the flooring and roofing has been in the process of being completed my mum has been painting the upstairs rooms - it is a time consuming job as the walls are huge and the ceilings are high. I forgot to take a photo so I will add it on the next post - however she has started doing the ceiling downstairs and it looks pretty awesome.

Main house downstairs ceiling 

I decided to go green for the hot water for the house and decided to buy a solar hot water heater - it has been sitting downstairs for a while so I had a proactive day and decided to get it up on the roof... it was not easy! But we got it up there - so we should have hot water soon, when I get the time to hook it up that is.

Getting the solar water heater on the roof

We had some helpers this weekend as Katherines cousins decided to volunteer for some painting - our garden walls now have fresh paint along with our laundry. Awesome job girls.

Happy helpers

Ok, just before I go its time for another trip pic! This week it was Samana to meet some friends from Pennsylvania that were on a cruise and stopped at Samana for the day. We couldn’t miss seeing them so we headed up to Cayo Levantado for the day. It was awesome catching up drinking beer, rum and cocktails while eating fresh fish. A great day.

Samana with friends

A garden view...

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks... It has mostly been finishing touches which is the best part.

Hot tub tiles

The hot tub is now complete! Well when I say complete I have not filled it with water yet or connected the pump but I have to say it looks pretty good. This was a part of the project I wasn't sure that would happen due to budget constraints but I thought if we didn't do it now then it would never happen.

Almost complete

Most of the work has been focused in the back of the house at present as I wanted to get all the dirty jobs out of the way first. First thing was to get the grass bedded in - It totally transforms the garden, I never thought I would see it at this this stage.

Adding the grass

With most of the plants in it is starting to look like a proper garden now.

There was one big job upstairs that I had been putting off for a while which was the roof over the upstairs balcony - not that it was difficult or time consuming but just one I wasn't looking forward to.

Setting the pillars

First of all I had to set the Mahogany beams that I had left over from the old roof which wasn't the easiest of jobs. Then it was to put up the frame.

Balcony roof frame

You have to have a little fun when doing jobs like this.

Health and safety in DR

Like the garden this really changes the look of the back of the house and obviously has the practical benefits of not getting wet when you walk out of a room in the rain.

Upstairs balcony and railings

The main part of the house is also coming along. I have had massive trouble trying to find a floor sander for rent to start the 160sqm wooden floor. So I have started doing it using hand tools - this may take a while...

Upstairs floor

I have been sorting a lot of other bits and pieces such as we now have a solar hot water heater - not on the roof yet but it will be by the end of the week and I also have picked up a diesel generator for when the power goes out. We are actually pretty lucky as the power only goes off about twice a month here in the Colonial Zone; however with all the work happening in the Zone at the moment it has started to get more frequent as the government are putting the power lines underground. So it should come in very useful.

Rear view

As always I like to end on a happy note. Yesterday we got ourselves a new puppy! A pure breed German Shepherd who is so cute. He is only 5 weeks old and is a bit of a handful - I slept about two hours last night as he cannot stand to be alone. We have called him Jenson - after Jenson Button the Formula 1 driver. I thought that would go well with Enzo our Rottie. He hasn't taken to him completely yet as he isnt sure what to make of him - its funny watching this little five pound puppy chasing a huge Enzo around the garden.

Our future guard dog

Until next time...

Time does fly...

I know I know... It has been a while but we have been getting lots completed. We had started the hot tub in the last post and now all the building work is complete and is just waiting to be tiled.

Hot Tub under construction

It was a bit interesting building the hot tub as I have never done it before but I think I have it all connected right :-)

Starting to take shape

A while ago I was walking out my house and this girl came up to me and said how ugly my house was. At first I was offended but then I actually stepped back and looked at it and thought she was right. So I decided that would be my next job. I had the doors all made so I started to fit them - which was not an easy job at all! All the doors were made out of my old mahogany roof beams which look good but were not easy to get straight and fit. There was ALOT of cursing fitting those ******* doors but I finally got them hanging.

Just waiting to be tiled

The next job was to make the steps and take off the all the board from the front. It was a great feeling after 8 months of work to finally see the front getting finished off.

Opening the front 

Then it was the painting - I decided on white - I know it will get very dirty fast but for the time being I just wanted to get it painted.

Doors and steps finished

I am so happy with the front - I still have the lights to get up and the door frames to finish painting (along with the upstairs doors and railings). But at least I am getting good compliments now.

Front of house starting to take shape

I had friends coming to stay for a week so I wanted to get an ensuite room finished for them to stay. 

Ensuite Room Sink

The only problem was that I had not finished the plumbing upstairs let alone the room! A week before they arrived we set to work in between everything else going on. I have to say the bathroom looks great and it gets a big job out of the way.

Bathroom

The upstairs is finally starting to take shape. I wasnt planning to finish upstairs until the downstairs was finished but my mum has started to paint all the ceiling beams and walls upstairs. Not bad for someone that is afraid of heights!

Upstairs ceiling

My Swedish friend had also finished all the beds at the months which is a massive job out of the way - and they look great - just need to paint them.

Bunk Beds

Well I always like to end a post on a fun activity - so this month being as my newly wed friends from the states were visiting we decided to go to Jarabacoa. It is about 1 hour 45 minutes from Santo Domingo and we decided to go ATV riding. It was an awesome day - we spent an hour riding through the hills and had amazing weather being as in the mountains can sometimes be a bit cloudy and rainy. 

ATV Jarabacoa

After an awesome morning we went to Jamaca de dios which is a revolving restaurant at the top of a mountain overlooking the city. A nice break before the final push to finish off the place before we open. 

Thank God for friends...

Well there is a new years resolution broken... I said I was going to blog every week, but never mind there is also next year hey. It has been a bit of an interesting couple of weeks actually - lots of work going on in different areas... where do I start?

Path in our backgarden

We decided on a brick floor paving which really goes well with the color scheme but is a pain in the ass to lay - not that I am laying it, as you can see from the title of this post I have a lot of thanks to give to people. My mate from the USA is laying the floor and in the process of grouting it which is a painstaking task to say the least - but it looks awesome and has saved me so much time from doing it myself.

The star of the Hot Tub

I also have my Hatians back after their xmas break - only for a few weeks to finish up a few areas and to build my Hot tub. I was in two minds about going ahead with the Hot tub due to budget constraints but we opted to go full ahead with it. So the day they arrived back they started to dig.

Pool drain

The hole is about 10 ft by 12ft, obviously the Jacuzzi will be smaller by the time I add the walls etc but it will still have ample room for 6 or so people. I have been meaning to sit down and plan it all out but I have been so busy I think this will be one of the day by day jobs. I have got the floor drain connected so tomorrow they will be laying the base for the tub. I think I have everything I need - jets etc so i am hoping this doesn't take much more than a week to complete.

The start of the bunk beds

Now my friend from Sweden turned up for a week or so and offered his carpentry services which has been very much appreciated. I met him in Panama on my travels - if anyone wants a good read check out - www.chrislinehamstravels.travellerspoint.com - that was my around the world blog, the sailing trip from panama to Colombia is the one to check out!

I needed bunk beds building for the upstairs rooms so he set to work. It was a job I wasn’t looking forward to myself and he has almost completed them all - so a massive thanks to him.

Almost complete

They look great and they are not even finished yet. My mum has also been racing ahead with the painting upstairs. The back part of the house is almost fully painted now - looks great.

Back balcony

My latest project was finishing the front doors - I find it hard not to swear when talking about this... I needed 2 double doors and two single doors. Not hard I thought being as I had already made one... The problem was that in my ‘trying to save money mode’ and using the caoba from the roof beams, it has taken a lot longer than expected - the wood isn't entirely straight... so it has taken me a lot longer than expected but I am almost there! 

Some of the front doors

My mate from the US has welded all the bars for them and I just have to add the glass. So I am hoping by the next post I will have all my front doors complete - downstairs at least!

Welding time

As a thanks to my generous workers I wanted to take them somewhere on our day off. I wanted to go and see the whales but I called up Kim Badell - a French lady that runs a whale watching company in Samana, I have heard good thinks about them but unfortunately the whales are a little late this year so there might have been a possibility of not seeing them - so instead I opted for a trip to Isla Saona - which is about a 1 hour 45 minute drive from Santo Domingo just past La Romana. 

Isla Saona

We got a Catamaran there and spent the day on the island... bliss!

And he told me he would never get back on a boat again after our Panama adventure!