Back to posting about the build after our little diversion to Tobago Cays!
The site has been a hive of activity over the last few weeks. The painting is virtually completed and the tiling is almost there too. Our tiler is a very cheery guy called Roger – so known to us as “Jolly Roger”! He is doing a grand job. He had to leave tiling yesterday as he was tasked with the unenviable job of cleaning out the cistern. This involves spending the day ankle deep in dirty water in the virtual dark with only mosquitos for company whilst he chips away loose concrete and general debris. The dirty water is then pumped out, final cleaning takes place and then it is sealed up and we wait for the rains to arrive to fill it up with nice clean water we can use for all purposes, including drinking. Bottled water is available for those who prefer it but we have never had a problem with drinking the tap water here – and Martin has just taken the UV filter up there to be fitted so our water will be particularly delectable! The rains are late this year and everyone is getting a little anxious, but the forecast for later this week suggests some is on its way, so maybe all the rain dancing is finally working!!
We now have one patio door installed and once a few more of these and the windows are installed later this week we hope (as protection from the rain – when it turns up) we can bring all our belongings out of the garage and start to construct kitchen units, wardrobes etc.
The stairs in the apartment have now been constructed by our chippy Crate, ably assisted by Wendy (nice to have another lady on site!) and it is great being able to use those rather than clamber down the outside of the apartment to get from one floor to the other.
The bathrooms are coming on well – the “blue” bathroom is the main (family) bathroom in our side of the house, and the other one pictured is the ensuite in the guest apartment.
Martin’s electrics are all working which means the guys can actually plug their tools in to the sockets rather than constantly looking for extension leads, and 2 air-conditioning units have now been installed. Jolly Roger likes to work in the cool of the evening so he can now turn the lights on and work later – and Martin and I were thrilled when we first saw the lights on in our house from our apartment down in Tyrell Bay – you have to celebrate such momentous events (usually with rum!!).
Whilst the driveway is pretty much laid, the area in front of the cistern, where we plan to put the pool, has been left untouched. We have decided to put the pool on hold until the house is completed and we can give it more detailed thought. The plus side of that is that the money not immediately required for a pool can be used to purchase a car instead. We have test driven one which was quickly ruled out as it couldn’t cope with our hill, but we have 2 or 3 more we hope to look at this week. It will certainly make life considerably easier so we are hoping we find something suitable.
So all in all, the moving in date of mid July is looking more feasible than it seemed 3 weeks ago – and we can’t wait!