New house build - Luxembourg
Discussion
I received a call from the kitchen suppliers, Moebel Martin, Konz, Germany, yesterday. Now they have the measurements from the fitting contractor, there was an issue with the granite worktop/upstand/sill. Where the worktop has a 4cm granite upstand against the wall behind the sink, and we wanted a matching granite sill, too, there was an infill needed that was only 1.2cm high, but 2cm thick. It was going to prove tricky.
We resolved it today by whizzing quickly to Germany, and agreed to raise the planned work top level to cover the difference, so the sill sits directly on top of the worktop. It means the base unit plinths will be 12cm high instead of 10cm originally planned.
Oh, the kitchen won't be ready to fit until the last full week of October, rather later than we'd planned or hoped for.
Bummer.
We resolved it today by whizzing quickly to Germany, and agreed to raise the planned work top level to cover the difference, so the sill sits directly on top of the worktop. It means the base unit plinths will be 12cm high instead of 10cm originally planned.
Oh, the kitchen won't be ready to fit until the last full week of October, rather later than we'd planned or hoped for.
Bummer.
Monkey: Konz is only 30 miles away. Nowhere is far from Luxembourg. I can be in either Belgium, France or Germany in 20 minutes from where we live. 
Pvapour: yeah, the summer holidays, although the decorators could have carried on working, meant they haven't. I was shocked the kitchen would take so long to be delivered and fitted, but there's nothing we can do about that.
I may have stretched the car's legs on the way home.... For a big vehicle, it gets to 240km/h quite quickly. Surprised a Scirocco R driver when I whooshed past him.
Pvapour: yeah, the summer holidays, although the decorators could have carried on working, meant they haven't. I was shocked the kitchen would take so long to be delivered and fitted, but there's nothing we can do about that.
I may have stretched the car's legs on the way home.... For a big vehicle, it gets to 240km/h quite quickly. Surprised a Scirocco R driver when I whooshed past him.
Well the site's been reopened for 2 weeks. What's happened to my house in that time?
Fook all.
I emailed the contractor last night and he's responded this morning that the decorators are on holiday now (FFS! They didn't do anything whilst the builders were off, but could have!), but they're starting on our house on Monday.
Keys handover, I'm now told, will be towards the end of November, maybe early December. I'm rather disappointed, to be honest, given how much has been done before the Summer holidays and now the EASY bits are left it'll still take, they reckon, another 3 months!
Checking my calendar this will cause all sorts of problems. We can't have the kitchen fitted until we have the keys; the kitchen's ready to go in at the end of October - the keys, for the moment, only a month after that.
Gutted. I shall pursue this further.....
Fook all.
I emailed the contractor last night and he's responded this morning that the decorators are on holiday now (FFS! They didn't do anything whilst the builders were off, but could have!), but they're starting on our house on Monday.
Keys handover, I'm now told, will be towards the end of November, maybe early December. I'm rather disappointed, to be honest, given how much has been done before the Summer holidays and now the EASY bits are left it'll still take, they reckon, another 3 months!
Checking my calendar this will cause all sorts of problems. We can't have the kitchen fitted until we have the keys; the kitchen's ready to go in at the end of October - the keys, for the moment, only a month after that.
Gutted. I shall pursue this further.....
The final instalment of the construction cost is payable when the keys are handed over. Officially, by the contract, the house isn't really "mine" until then.
There are contractual clauses for not permitting sub-contractors on site until the keys are handed over, but, there's a precedent case with the house at the other end of the row of 4, so I'm pushing on that basis now. That house is set up as a ground floor apartment with a duplex above (same family), but the kichens were fitted whilst the decoration was still being finished, so I'm playing on that now.
Depending on their response to my email now, and if I have to, I'll offer to pay more to get another 2 decorators in and they can 'HTFU' so the 2nd fix can crack on.
There are contractual clauses for not permitting sub-contractors on site until the keys are handed over, but, there's a precedent case with the house at the other end of the row of 4, so I'm pushing on that basis now. That house is set up as a ground floor apartment with a duplex above (same family), but the kichens were fitted whilst the decoration was still being finished, so I'm playing on that now.
Depending on their response to my email now, and if I have to, I'll offer to pay more to get another 2 decorators in and they can 'HTFU' so the 2nd fix can crack on.
Thanks, Nick.
Yes, it's frustrating to be oh so close, then still apparently 3 months away. The main contractor hasn't responded to my 2nd email sent on Friday. I commented there about decorators wasting 3 weeks doing nothing, so if they hire more...etc. Let's see.
I've a few long haul business trips coming up in October/November, each for 1 week, so I'd planned, as much as I could, to be home and off work to move house around those trips. My wife and daughters did loads in readiness for our move to the rental as I was travelling for work then too. We really don't want to be moving over Christmas and I don't want to be in the rental then either.
After a Summer holiday 'break' from business travel, I'm in Dublin tomorrow, then to Laaandon early on Tuesday for the day.
Yes, it's frustrating to be oh so close, then still apparently 3 months away. The main contractor hasn't responded to my 2nd email sent on Friday. I commented there about decorators wasting 3 weeks doing nothing, so if they hire more...etc. Let's see.
I've a few long haul business trips coming up in October/November, each for 1 week, so I'd planned, as much as I could, to be home and off work to move house around those trips. My wife and daughters did loads in readiness for our move to the rental as I was travelling for work then too. We really don't want to be moving over Christmas and I don't want to be in the rental then either.
After a Summer holiday 'break' from business travel, I'm in Dublin tomorrow, then to Laaandon early on Tuesday for the day.
Thanks, Muncher.
To be fair, the builders have cracked on, but the last bits are rather time consuming, and to me it just seemed like the end was oh so close....then so very far away. They want to be sure that once the blower/smoke test is completed, they have NO issues to fix before they officially hand over the keys. They have to be sure they deliver a house that matches the A rated EPC that's in our contract.
Our rental's close by to the new house, and whilst it's a huge place, not having all our stuff unpacked kind of feels odd.
The interior decoration's started and should be about another 2 weeks to complete. There's a kind of lining paper covering all the walls on the ground floor, and also in the 'master suite' so far. As the entire house is "eco" (we won't go into how much travelling, transportation and general non-eco friendly practices have been involved in the making of....
) the lining paper is made of recycled materials. It's really quite tough to simply grab a piece of the lining paper and tear it. This stuff was recommended, at a supplementary cost, of course (!), as a 'flat finish' alternative to the usual and free spec glassfibre wall coverings used here. The previous house (also a new build) simply had emulsioned plastered walls, but we always had very small cracks appearing in the plasterwork. This lining paper will stop those from showing.
There's a small wooden 'fillet' that goes at the top of the wall as the joint with the ceilings, instead of coving/architrave, which we don't personally like.
The whole lot will be painted, in eco friendly paint - naturally - in a single colour for the entire house, a kind of very light grey/off white tone on all the walls, and brilliant white, matt ceilings. We can decide on final colours in the coming years.
(Previous place was cream/beige from top to bottom - so we want to avoid having the same again!)
I'll post up some pics to bore you with in the coming days....
To be fair, the builders have cracked on, but the last bits are rather time consuming, and to me it just seemed like the end was oh so close....then so very far away. They want to be sure that once the blower/smoke test is completed, they have NO issues to fix before they officially hand over the keys. They have to be sure they deliver a house that matches the A rated EPC that's in our contract.
Our rental's close by to the new house, and whilst it's a huge place, not having all our stuff unpacked kind of feels odd.
The interior decoration's started and should be about another 2 weeks to complete. There's a kind of lining paper covering all the walls on the ground floor, and also in the 'master suite' so far. As the entire house is "eco" (we won't go into how much travelling, transportation and general non-eco friendly practices have been involved in the making of....
) the lining paper is made of recycled materials. It's really quite tough to simply grab a piece of the lining paper and tear it. This stuff was recommended, at a supplementary cost, of course (!), as a 'flat finish' alternative to the usual and free spec glassfibre wall coverings used here. The previous house (also a new build) simply had emulsioned plastered walls, but we always had very small cracks appearing in the plasterwork. This lining paper will stop those from showing.There's a small wooden 'fillet' that goes at the top of the wall as the joint with the ceilings, instead of coving/architrave, which we don't personally like.
The whole lot will be painted, in eco friendly paint - naturally
- in a single colour for the entire house, a kind of very light grey/off white tone on all the walls, and brilliant white, matt ceilings. We can decide on final colours in the coming years.(Previous place was cream/beige from top to bottom - so we want to avoid having the same again!)
I'll post up some pics to bore you with in the coming days....
I had a cheeky nose at what the guys have done, and they are motoring on with the lining paper and wooden fillet trim....
Living room from dining room end:
Wooden fillet in the wall/ceiling joint. It will be painted the same as the ceilings everywhere:
This photo's from July. I didn't like the fact that the angled plasterboard infill below the window slopes downwards at a varying angle to the right hand end:
It seems the decorators noticed that too, and they've unpicked what the plasterers did to straighten it. It's a BIT better:
ETA: New furniture we'd ordered has arrived at the store and they're itching to deliver it so it's not at risk of getting damaged in their warehouse. It's arrived much sooner than expected so we're collecting that with the store's van on Saturday. At least we know we don't have to move the existing TV shelves, dining table, sideboard, etc., to the new house
Living room from dining room end:
Wooden fillet in the wall/ceiling joint. It will be painted the same as the ceilings everywhere:
This photo's from July. I didn't like the fact that the angled plasterboard infill below the window slopes downwards at a varying angle to the right hand end:
It seems the decorators noticed that too, and they've unpicked what the plasterers did to straighten it. It's a BIT better:
ETA: New furniture we'd ordered has arrived at the store and they're itching to deliver it so it's not at risk of getting damaged in their warehouse. It's arrived much sooner than expected so we're collecting that with the store's van on Saturday. At least we know we don't have to move the existing TV shelves, dining table, sideboard, etc., to the new house
Edited by 5potTurbo on Tuesday 10th September 11:25
Decorators have papered the ground and 1st floors and primed all the ceilings on those floors too, except the office area and 'technical room'. The garage interior walls and ceiling are also painted.
The tiling I originally omitted to order and have fitted in the ground floor WC is now also completed.
The tiling I originally omitted to order and have fitted in the ground floor WC is now also completed.
Sparks, decorators and plumbers have all been busy in the last week, and all working at the same time, so I can not doubt the project planning of the main contractors, despite me giving them a hard time to deliver before the summer holidays.
Consumer unit and server cabinet are up in the (painted) garage, as are the 2x2 fluorescent lights and power for the garage door opener. Sparks have also got on with as much 2nd fix in the rooms around the decorators as they can, so there are no more loose wires hanging out of the walls.
Plumbers started fitting sanitary ware on Thu: V&B Subway 2.0 suspended toilets, V&B Subway 2.0 basins with matching furniture (600mm in daughters shower room, 800mm in bathroom, 1000mm in en suite), Grohe taps and shower fittings, Sanijura cabinets or mirrors with LED inset lights and 1/3 Hueppe shower screens in place.
I expect to see quite a difference on Thu when I'll next be able to visit the site as I'm working in Laaandon next Mon-Wed.
Consumer unit and server cabinet are up in the (painted) garage, as are the 2x2 fluorescent lights and power for the garage door opener. Sparks have also got on with as much 2nd fix in the rooms around the decorators as they can, so there are no more loose wires hanging out of the walls.
Plumbers started fitting sanitary ware on Thu: V&B Subway 2.0 suspended toilets, V&B Subway 2.0 basins with matching furniture (600mm in daughters shower room, 800mm in bathroom, 1000mm in en suite), Grohe taps and shower fittings, Sanijura cabinets or mirrors with LED inset lights and 1/3 Hueppe shower screens in place.
I expect to see quite a difference on Thu when I'll next be able to visit the site as I'm working in Laaandon next Mon-Wed.
Pics taken on Thu, although when I visited on Sat much more had been completed.
Bathroom basin and furniture, From Villeroy & Boch "Subway 2.0" range, cabinet in grey oak:
And for pvapour the cabling in the garage is much, much tidier now!
Main consumer unit cabinet on the left (the door's been removed to make the sparks' life easier), and on the right, the network cabinet. That cabinet houses all the network connections for the house, plus the internet router, which LuxP&T have now upgraded to Fritz!Box, which work very well.
Wifi on each floor will be provided by Apple Airport.
Bathroom basin and furniture, From Villeroy & Boch "Subway 2.0" range, cabinet in grey oak:
And for pvapour
the cabling in the garage is much, much tidier now!Main consumer unit cabinet on the left (the door's been removed to make the sparks' life easier), and on the right, the network cabinet. That cabinet houses all the network connections for the house, plus the internet router, which LuxP&T have now upgraded to Fritz!Box, which work very well.
Wifi on each floor will be provided by Apple Airport.
Thanks, ZBC, not sure that info's necessary, but useful to know it's possible.
Since I've been working in London much of this week, I've not seen the interior of the house in daylight since last weekend.
I'm looking forward to seeing progress this weekend. My wife popped there this morning and said the interior decoration's now almost finished, as is the sanitary ware installation.
I'll get some pics up over the weekend.
Ok, zbc, your challenge..... Here's a barcode from under one of the V&B items
The code is 59/250 148 233-2
Nck, here's the main fuse board under the stairs. Rather tidy, I think, although not sure why the pic's still rotated
The cables coming in to the board have all been siliconed in, too:
Bathroom, so far:
I want to 'extend' the existing driveway to make a parking space next to it on the corner of our plot, or it'll be a rather "dead" space. Here's the area:
Has anyone laid those lattice concrete slabs that permit grass to grow through? I was thinking of using those so the area would be quite solid, but still look green. The local council wouldn't permit block work across that area as I'd already widened the driveway, added a path and extended the patio quite some way.
Things left to do on site:
- finish interior decoration
- small amount of 2nd fix sanitary ware
- 2nd fix electrics and testing
- commissioning of heating/ventilation system, and testing
- interior doors and frames
- finish tiled plinths around door frames
- install granite sills in daughters' bedrooms
- install TV distribution matrix
- install satellite dish in rear garden
- laying the garden
- smoke blower test to ensure A energy rating certification
- damned thorough cleaning before the keys are handed over to us
- THEN we can have our kitchen fitted
We still have to order,
- American fridge freezer (we've chosen a plumbed in LG with the small exterior access door within the main fridge door) can't find it cheaper than €1,599 in Auchan
- lighting from Guy at EcoLED, and install that
- a whole load of new bedroom furniture for our bedroom and both daughters' bedrooms, although most of that's 'off the shelf' from (p)Ikea
- 4 Freesat receiver/recorder boxes
- mailbox, since they go next to your driveway/pavement. We found a nice one in Belgian 'blue' (grey) stone which stands about 1.2m high. Once ordered, they're delivered in 2-3 weeks. I'll need a cement base for it, though, so that may have to wait until Spring time if the ground too solid/cold when we're ready for it
- .... I think that's about it!
The code is 59/250 148 233-2
Nck, here's the main fuse board under the stairs. Rather tidy, I think, although not sure why the pic's still rotated
The cables coming in to the board have all been siliconed in, too:
Bathroom, so far:
I want to 'extend' the existing driveway to make a parking space next to it on the corner of our plot, or it'll be a rather "dead" space. Here's the area:
Has anyone laid those lattice concrete slabs that permit grass to grow through? I was thinking of using those so the area would be quite solid, but still look green. The local council wouldn't permit block work across that area as I'd already widened the driveway, added a path and extended the patio quite some way.
Things left to do on site:
- finish interior decoration
- small amount of 2nd fix sanitary ware
- 2nd fix electrics and testing
- commissioning of heating/ventilation system, and testing
- interior doors and frames
- finish tiled plinths around door frames
- install granite sills in daughters' bedrooms
- install TV distribution matrix
- install satellite dish in rear garden
- laying the garden
- smoke blower test to ensure A energy rating certification
- damned thorough cleaning before the keys are handed over to us
- THEN we can have our kitchen fitted
We still have to order,
- American fridge freezer (we've chosen a plumbed in LG with the small exterior access door within the main fridge door) can't find it cheaper than €1,599 in Auchan
- lighting from Guy at EcoLED, and install that
- a whole load of new bedroom furniture for our bedroom and both daughters' bedrooms, although most of that's 'off the shelf' from (p)Ikea
- 4 Freesat receiver/recorder boxes
- mailbox, since they go next to your driveway/pavement. We found a nice one in Belgian 'blue' (grey) stone which stands about 1.2m high. Once ordered, they're delivered in 2-3 weeks. I'll need a cement base for it, though, so that may have to wait until Spring time if the ground too solid/cold when we're ready for it
- .... I think that's about it!
Edited by 5potTurbo on Sunday 29th September 13:25
All the interior doors are fitted. The pic's not great (Blackberry in poor light, and despite rotating it, it's still wrong!) but you get the idea:
That's the kitchen, ahead, and the understairs cupboard, right, from the entrance hall.
It also looks like the garden laying could be in the offing soon as it's all been weeded, rotivated and raked over to level it out. The conduits for the satellite dish, however, are in the wrong place. Arse.
The conduits should be closer to the road, in the foreground. I don't want to see the dish when I'm on the patio.
That's the kitchen, ahead, and the understairs cupboard, right, from the entrance hall.
It also looks like the garden laying could be in the offing soon as it's all been weeded, rotivated and raked over to level it out. The conduits for the satellite dish, however, are in the wrong place. Arse.
The conduits should be closer to the road, in the foreground. I don't want to see the dish when I'm on the patio.
Thanks, we're a way off still for the moment, but it's now much less like an empty box.
My wife's sorted the sparks out this morning for the satellite cables and also that they've mounted the exterior lights on the rear of the house at different heights
.
The satellite cabling being moved now is just in time as the garden's being turfed today!
Is October a good time to lay turf?
It's already down to 3C-5C at night here.
ETA: Apparently early Autumn is the ideal time to lay turf.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/l...
My wife's sorted the sparks out this morning for the satellite cables and also that they've mounted the exterior lights on the rear of the house at different heights
.The satellite cabling being moved now is just in time as the garden's being turfed today!
Is October a good time to lay turf?
It's already down to 3C-5C at night here.
ETA: Apparently early Autumn is the ideal time to lay turf.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/l...
Edited by 5potTurbo on Thursday 3rd October 09:11
The grass seed's been sown, the garden's not being turfed!
Second fix sparks carries on a pace and the interior decorating's all finished.
I have noticed though that one of the interior doors, purchased at great expense, has already been damaged, so I'll be wanting the contractor to replace that.
I've a few long haul business trips coming up, so even if we were to get the keys in 2 weeks, we won't be in a position to move until the beginning of December.
My wife's been calling the kitchen fitters over the last 3 days to request a delay by a few weeks, but they've not called back yet.
Meanwhile, I'm orf to Laaandon (for the 2nd time this week) today, back tomorrow.
Second fix sparks carries on a pace and the interior decorating's all finished.
I have noticed though that one of the interior doors, purchased at great expense, has already been damaged, so I'll be wanting the contractor to replace that.
I've a few long haul business trips coming up, so even if we were to get the keys in 2 weeks, we won't be in a position to move until the beginning of December.
My wife's been calling the kitchen fitters over the last 3 days to request a delay by a few weeks, but they've not called back yet.
Meanwhile, I'm orf to Laaandon (for the 2nd time this week) today, back tomorrow.
Still chasing the kitchen guys to see if they can delay, but, having visited the house last night I wonder if that will be necessary?......
All the pipe work in the technical room, where all the new tangled heating/ventilation system is has been very tidily lagged, and the sparks have now moved the satellite cable feeds in the garden, and they've corrected the height of one of the rear wall lights as they were at different levels.
All I can see that needs to be done now is,
- silicon last short joints of tiled plinths vs. floor to door frames
- 2 toilet seats still to be installed
- door installed on warm air system cabinet
- server panel installation in server cabinet in garage
- TV distribution matrix panel installation in server cabinet
- installation of satellite dish in garden (non-streamed British TV finally reinstated after 10 years!)
- mains electrics connection (not sure if the supplier, Enovos, does that or the sparks?)
- electrical test
- heating and ventilation system switched on and tested
- blower test/draught checks for A rated EPC certification
- garden planting: border hedges
That shouldn't take another 4-6 weeks, should it? That's what I was told a couple of weeks ago. *fingers crossed*
I'm heading to NY & Chicago for work for a week on Monday 21st. You just know I'll get the call in the middle of the night to tell me the house is ready! Still, at least I'll get to see my eldest brother in the Windy City whilst I'm there.
All the pipe work in the technical room, where all the new tangled heating/ventilation system is has been very tidily lagged, and the sparks have now moved the satellite cable feeds in the garden, and they've corrected the height of one of the rear wall lights as they were at different levels.
All I can see that needs to be done now is,
- silicon last short joints of tiled plinths vs. floor to door frames
- 2 toilet seats still to be installed
- door installed on warm air system cabinet
- server panel installation in server cabinet in garage
- TV distribution matrix panel installation in server cabinet
- installation of satellite dish in garden (non-streamed British TV finally reinstated after 10 years!)
- mains electrics connection (not sure if the supplier, Enovos, does that or the sparks?)
- electrical test
- heating and ventilation system switched on and tested
- blower test/draught checks for A rated EPC certification
- garden planting: border hedges
That shouldn't take another 4-6 weeks, should it? That's what I was told a couple of weeks ago.
*fingers crossed*I'm heading to NY & Chicago for work for a week on Monday 21st. You just know I'll get the call in the middle of the night to tell me the house is ready! Still, at least I'll get to see my eldest brother in the Windy City whilst I'm there.
Edited by 5potTurbo on Saturday 12th October 08:32
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