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!

A happy new year!

I would like to wish everyone a happy new year and hope you all had a great Christmas. Speaking of the new year one of my new years resolutions is to keep up with my blog on a weekly basis... but then again new years resolutions are there to be broken! But I will try my best.

Outside furniture

I have just realized it has been a few weeks from my last post and lots of things have been happening. Good and bad! Lets start with the good. It was our turn to host our family xmas party and even though it is still a bit of a building site we had two weeks to prepare and get the essentials finished for xmas eve. 

Outside Lights

The first thing was to sort the outside out - at this point we didn’t even have any lights in the garden. So I fitted all the outside lights and added ceiling fans in the undercover outside area. Finally I can put away the work lights we were using to see at night outside.

I had a friend come and stay which is awesome as I have another helping hand. He is a tiler from the states so with his help things will start moving a lot quicker. He has been finishing off a lot of the jobs that I haven’t had time for. 

Decking 

The old roof beams that I had cut up into planks last month have been amazing. Not only has it saved me money but the mahogany looks great and of course it is very strong. I needed a decking built over my water shut offs and clean outs so he threw this together one afternoon. It still needs sanding and finishing but it looks great.

Almost finished decking

I bought some bamboo chairs for the undercover area and my mum made the cushions for them so we now have somewhere to sit outside. We also finished off the outside kitchen - well I say finished the floor and tiling needs to be completed but at least it is fully functional now.

Outside Kitchen

If you remember last time I was in the process of making the front door - again from the old roof beams (I love using this up on the features for the house). I thought it was about time we took off the broken gates from the front of the house and at least had one front door for the party.

Our first front door!

It may sound crazy but having a front door is a big step! I am very excited. I have all the wood lined up ready to make the other three. So I started work on putting up the other three door frames so I can make the door. Now this is where the not so good part about this month comes up....

Finished the last downstairs room at the back

So again in my recycling mode I decided to use the bars from one of my big front gates that was on the property and build it in to the door frame. Now this thing is heavy - it took four of us just to lift it off the hinges. Its made from 3/4 inch steel. 

Front door frame and grill

So I measure it out and started cutting it up with my grinder - which took a long time. I started using a sanding block attachment for the grinder - its kind of like a heavy rock that takes the bars back down to bare metal. So there I am grinding away and the block decides to explode on the end of the grinder and smashes in to my foot.... ouch. You might not want to look at the next photo...

My black and blue foot

I don’t think it is broken but I am going to be hobbling for the next week or so. It hurt a lot. Now this is an advertisement for safety at work - probably not the best idea to wear sneakers when doing this type of work, they did not offer much protection. So my first job was to buy a pair of new work shoes online. You live, you learn and it could of been worse.

Set up for our Xmas party

So back to a better photo - the xmas party, I have to say the place looked amazing all lit up at night. This photo kind of gives you an idea of what the finished property will look like.

Lindas new cage

So after an enjoyable xmas party I decided to give Linda (my pet parrot) her xmas present - a big new cage for outside. So after buying this cage I decided to use the wood (yet again) from the roof beams to build a table for it to go on. 

Caoba table

I was practicing on this table as I plan to make a lot more for the furniture around the property. Not bad for a first attempt a furniture making - I love the way the wood looks.

Almost finished guest room

So after a lot of fun finishing off certain areas for the party it is back to the upstairs rooms. We decided to finish the back upstairs before we make a start on the front main part of the house. So my friend has been tiling floors and my mum has been painting. It is really going to move on fast now.

Until next time...

Last week I had started to build the outside kitchen and I am happy to say it is now 99% finished. I had a bit of a problem with the roof tiles leaking which involved me having to remove them all (breaking a lot in the process) and having to re lay them but at least it is complete. I think it looks pretty good for an idea that started at just a BBQ!

Outside Kitchen

I thought it was about time to do something with all the caoba roof beams that i saved from the original roof and floor. So I had them all cut up into planks - the idea is to build furniture and use it around the house. I have about 200 of them so it looks like I have a lot of work coming up. 

Painted garden

Now that the outside kitchen is finished my next priority is the front doors. I have searched around but due to the size of my front doors the cost was prohibitive. So I decided to give it a go and make them myself. I have used the Caoba that I cut up and made my first door. I just need to insert the glass and get some bars put in and I will finally have a front door!

Almost finished front door

It has been a god send having my mum here to help. She has basically painted the whole outside so far and is still going strong. We have decided to finish the garden first - I know its usually the last thing left in a restoration project however the being as I have no rear access I didnt want to be taking debris and materials through a decorated front of house. So it makes sense to get all the messy work out of the way first.

Inside laundry

I am in the process of finishing the last section of building work - the laundry. Its exciting as its the last part of brickwork and plastering I need to do. I had to build the back wall up quite high to cover the unsightly side of a neighbors house so it was a bit more work than expected but I am only a few days away from completion.

Laundry under construction

Until next time...

All moved in!

So yet again I have to apologize for the long wait between posts. I was working 16 hour days to finish our area so we could move in. I had a deadline as my mum was coming to stay and we only just made it. We moved in the day before - it was a bit of a mad rush to say the least but we moved in. The last couple weeks have consisted of me finishing off the little details in our place whilst the guys finish off other parts.

Our finished bedroom

The day we moved in I had only just connected the water pressure tank so I was a little nervous that as soon as I connected it I would spring leaks everywhere but thank god it all worked fine.

Living room

It took a lot longer than expected to complete the finishing touches but I am so happy that we have finally moved in.

Ceiling fan

We were lucky enough to have been given a bath and shower unit by a fellow expat that no longer needed it so I would like to thank him on here.

In my last post I hadn't even finished all the doors let alone the windows but luckily I finished it all in time. The windows were a bit of a pain to say the least but I am happy with the results.

Windows installed

I have gone down to just two workers now as I only have a few jobs left for them. We have decided to finish the garden first as we didnt want to finish the front of the property and then have to bring materials through the finished rooms. So work has begun on the outdoor kitchen and Jacuzzi. I have also finish the pump room walls which I will be adding a roof in the next few days.

Outdoor kitchen

I am putting a BBQ, fridge and sink in the outdoor kitchen with a bar that I can put a few chairs up against.

I almost forgot how to say about the front of the house... finally we have finished the panete on the front. As soon as I finish off our place I will get to work on the doors for the font.

Front of property

I am really excited for the next few weeks. I plan to get the garden finished and the front of the house complete. It should go a lot faster now that we are living here.

Until next time...

Busy times...

Yes, again, I have let the blog slip but the good thing is with this update I have lots to report. Good and bad/frustrating. So where do I start... well I will continue from last time. The garden wall is now finished, which was a lot bigger project than expected but now I have a nice tall garden wall. I have kept a couple areas of open of the original bricks but a lot of it I had to cover up as the wall was in a really bad condition.

New garden wall

I have also started building the room to house my water tanks and pumps, it is half completed but got sidetracked (as always) with other tasks. So one of the next things I really had to sort out was the power. When I bought the house it had no wiring at all but there was a wire coming in the house that ‘borrowed’ power. I do have a generator that I have been using but thought it was about time to get the power officially connected as I want to move in next week. 

Pump house (soon to be completed)

So simple, went to the electricity company signed a form and they sad I would have power in 5 days... ohhh but wait a minute I forgot - doesn’t quite work like that like that here. After 3 weeks and about 8 hours in total spent waiting in the office I finally got the guys out to put my meter up.

Connecting the power

So power is connected, I have only connected a few outlets at present but I will connect the others as I progress through the house. Next on the list for this very frustrating month was front of the house. Now I have purposely left the front so it looks run down so no one thinks there is anything worth stealing inside. However there is a permit issue with doing this... I have all the permits to renovate the house but I found out that you are not allowed to use the sidewalk without getting a permit.

Preparing the front of the house

I thought that I was finished with all this permit b*****t but yet again I found myself in Ayuntamiento. Simple they said... write a letter requesting use of the sidewalk and you will get permission in two days... so yes a week later I had no permits - then after calling about 4 different departments (none that know what the official process is) I get told that I need to pay for the permit which is 15000 pesos! 

Starting the panete

So I decided to do what everyone else does and just work on a sunday without permits. I did get a bit of hassle from the police on the Sunday that said you are not allowed to work on Sundays... (again - havent a clue). I decided in the end however to bite the bullet and do it the proper way as it is a big job to do the front of the property and if I just do it on Sundays its going to take me a long time!

Finished door

So we managed to get through to someone that knew what they were doing and got the permits for 6000 pesos - better than 15k but still a lot. So the last few days I have been working on the front of the house and I have to say its going to look awesome. A few more days and it will be finished - then all I have to do is decide what color to paint it.

Putting in the overflow pipe

We have had a lot of rain the last few weeks and I finally decided to connect up the rainwater overflow pipe to the street. I have been putting it off as it means digging up the sidewalk to put the pipe in (which requires another permit) - its good as we had so much rain the other night that my infiltration pit filled up - overflow does its job perfectly.

Asphalting the roof

Another thing that I haven’t mentioned was about the roof. Over the last couple months cracks have started appearing in the roof. I have been told that this is due to the wooden roof beams drying out and contracting. I was told it will stop in time when it settles - however it has been a couple of months and I have spent hundreds of dollars trying fixes but in the end I decided to felt the roof. I want to start painting soon inside and I cant have the roof leaking when I am decorating. So I had to felt the roof to make the building watertight - a big dent in the budget but if it kept on going with the amount of rain we have been having it would have started to damage the walls and floors.

Hopefully will stop the little leaks

Now to the exciting part - my apartment. I will be moving in next week - I have been painting beams and rooms all week and I have to say the place is starting to look great - all I have to do is finish our bathroom and we will be able to move in,

So in my next update I should be moved in! I have been waiting a long time for this.

Bedroom