Back to Work

Welcome to September. I have come to recognise this period of the year, from September when everyone gets back from their summer holidays until Christmas, as a very productive time in France. Things change and stuff happens. Our house is no exception. Work has picked up again and we are back to a regular schedule of site meetings with the project manager and tradespeople.

Despite the relatively short amount of work time since our last visit, there was a lot to see. The metal framing for all our internal walls is up, so we got to see the full internal layout for the first time. It was a lot of fun to walk around all the rooms and get a feel for the spaces. I am actually surprised at how unsurprised I am at most of the rooms. From the beginning of the project, Graham has maintained a model of the house and it has worked so well, that most of the house is just as I imagined. Sometimes better.

The top question on our list for the project manager this week was what to do about the walls around the fireplace. We have been concerned recently about the position of the wood-burning stove and its proximity to the wall beside it. Happily, they are a step ahead of us and have already installed pink plasterboard around it. The pink plasterboard is fireproof, and it dramatically expands our options for wood burners. It is these little touches from our builder that I really appreciate.

The electrician was preparing to start work while we were there. All the time we have poured into deciding where to put switches and power points is coming to fruition. The process has been enormously time-consuming and stressful. Admittedly, most of that time and stress was self-inflicted. We worried a lot about getting those choices right, and then documenting our choices so the electrician can implement them as we want. It is a relief to have the decision-making stage reach an end, and hopefully the implementation will go smoothly because of it. On the up side, we have been over the electrics so many times, that we are fairly comfortable with our decisions now.

Watch the video for this visit.