Finish My Shell BLOG
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German Cottage Refurbishment – 12 Jul to 9th Sep 2021
German Country Cottage Refurbishment - 12 Jul to 9 Sep 2021 Our latest project was the refurbishment of a country cottage in the north of Germany, which we managed in 8 weeks. The 1 bedroom cottage had remained vacant for the previous 18 months and had clearly not...
Days Lots! Weeks of 9th and 16th Mar 2020 – Qala, the final post
The Final Post for this project - a busy 2 weeks which has finalised most of the build. The air conditioning has been installed as has the solar water heating system. 2 of the bathrooms are fully working and the kitchen is complete. The remainder of the work will be...
Days 179 to 183 – week of 2nd March 2020 – Qala
Days 179 to 183 - a good week in all and still very much on track for moving in by the end of March. The main jobs this week - a water meter/supply is now finally installed. All external waste water pipes have been connected and the walls rendered. The dropped...
Days 174 to 178 – week of 24th Feb 2020 – Qala
Days 174 to 178 - quite a bit achieved this week however slightly deviated from the plan. I wanted to complete connection of all external waste pipes but couldn't access the light shaft so that's been delayed. I also wanted to get water mains connected but the nice...
Days 165 to 173 – weeks of 10 & 17 Feb 2020 – Qala
Days 165 to 173 - a couple of week's since my last post so quite a bit achieved, albeit not as much as I anticipated. The terrace which I thought would take 3 or 4 days ended up taking 8, in the main due to time taken mixing concrete. I was adamant that we would...
Days 160 to 164 – week of 3rd Feb 2020 – Qala
Days 160 to 164 - This week's been mainly about the terrace and grouting. The white grouting in 2 bathrooms is complete with about half the master bedroom en-suite done. The terrace is now between 1/3rd and 1/2 done. With help from my friends Laurie, one of the...
Days 155 to 159 – week of 27th Jan 2020 – Qala
Days 155 to 159 - Quite a busy week including the application for water and electricity finally made at ARMS! The main tasks this week were painting the terrace walls, installation of the extractor fan and more work done on the kitchen ceiling and grouting which is an...
Days 150 to 154 – week of 20th Jan 2020 – Qala
Days 150 to 154 - All internal tiling (dust creation) is complete! Very happy as a consequence - just the grouting of the wall tiles to go which will be attacked next week. Apart from that this week the frame which will hold the kitchen's extractor fan was installed,...
Days 143 to 149 – week of 13th Jan 2020 – Qala
Days 143 to 149 - So this week has been all about the front bathroom (cloakroom/downstairs loo). The guest en-suite took a couple of month's to tile as I did it in bits around other jobs. This bathroom is now done, less the area around where the bathroom...
Days 137 to 142 – week of 6 Jan 2020 – Qala
Days 137 to 142 - A fab week for changes in the apartment. The main event was the delivery and installation of the kitchen (bought in Oct 2018) which looks amazing and totally goes with the floor tiles. Mon and Tue were consumed by fitting the parts of the kitchen...
Days 132 to 136 – New Year week – Qala
Days 132 to 136 - Around 4 days worked in total with new year celebrations in the middle. A week of continued tiling and installing all waste pipes in the 3 toilet areas. These were also weatherproofed when installed. Once tiled, these 3 areas are ready to have...
Days 128 to 131 – Christmas Week 2019 – Qala
Days 128 to 131 - 3.5 days worked this week and a wonderful Christmas enjoyed with family and close friends! The focus on the finishing project has been on the en-suite in the master bedroom. So, the stud wall for the shower cubicle is complete (together with the...
Days 123 to 127 – week of 16th Dec 2019 – Qala
Days 123 to 127 - I didn't think there was much to report this week until I looked back through the photo's which show that we had a fab and busy week! Monday saw a respite in the weather (wind) so Michael and I managed to get the skylight installed! We are now...
Days 118 to 122 – w/c 9th Dec 2019 – Qala
Days 118 to 122 - so this week's not been at all glamorous and has been predominantly about lights and lighting circuits. In short - all room lights, bedside lights are now wired and tested/working as are all electrical power sockets. The main bedroom en-suite build...
Days 111 to 117 – 25/26 Nov and week of 2nd Dec – Qala
Days 111 to 117 - feels like 2 week's since the last post but with a Valletta mini-break and 2 Wednesday walks only 7 productive days. Still, things are moving on. The MEPA (planning people) compliance certificate has been issued so the main work currently is getting...
Days 106 to 110 – Week of 18th Nov 19 – Qala
Days 106 to 110 - another busy week - no work Wednesday and half a day today but quite a bit done. The tiling of the rear balcony is complete bar for grouting (next week). The tiling of the guest en-suite has continued and is looking great. I've done some carpentry...
Days 102 to 105 – 11/12 & 14/15 Nov 19 – Qala
Days 102 to 105 - An interesting week with force 8/9 gales and no windows! Only 4 days worked due to me walking on Wednesday and a guest. However, a busy week. Last weekend we visited the window builder and saw the windows and rear balcony railing. The windows,...
Days 92 to 96 – 28 Oct to 2 Nov 19 – Qala
Days 92 to 96 - I took Wednesday off to join the Gozo Wednesday Walkers - something I'll try and do more frequently going forward. Another busy week in the flat - the weather didn't permit any further work on the roof so the focus was on getting the floors in the 3...
Days 87 to 91 – 21 to 25 Oct 19 – Qala
Days 87 to 91 - a busy week - not too much change visibly but I'm very happy with progress. So, completed this week - the roof has been primed ready for the liquid membrane to be applied in a couple of week's time, probably 90% of the floor area has been grouted, the...
Days 85 & 86 – 17 & 18 Oct 19 – Qala
Days 85 & 86 - I should call this post "the evolution of a roof" which has finally been done . The crew turned up a bit late but clearly didn't party on Wednesday night! The concrete pour was complete in about 4 hours after which the power float and finishing...
Days 80 to 84 – 10 to 16 Oct 19 – Qala
Days 80 to 84 - Quite a busy few days albeit not much visible change in the apartment - apologies for not blogging sooner. The roof panels arrived last Thursday so with help from my friend Ulf, we managed to get these up to the roof. Also took delivery of a bunch of...
Days 77 to 79 – 7 to 9 Oct 19 – Qala
Days 77 to 79 - more tiling done - starting to see the end now. The hallway and kitchen corner have been completed, together with the guest bedroom and I've just placed the first few tiles in the guest bedroom en-suite. The developer has levelled a few tonnes of sand...
Days 74 to 76 – 4 to 6 Oct 19 – Qala
Days 74 to 76 - More tiling done! The front door area is now complete together with the TV corner in the sitting room. Bedroom 3 is done apart from the edges which will be done this week. I also managed to build and install a bigger, better and clear plastic cover...
Days 71 to 73 – 1 to 3 Oct 19 – Qala
Days 71 to 73 - Quite a productive 3 day period including building 5 temporary windows to protect the apartment from the rain! Installed 2nd Oct - rain bucketed down that night - not a drop of rain got into the flat. All window sills are now in place and tiling is...
Days 68 to 70 – 26 to 28 Sep 19 – Qala
Days 68 to 70 - A really quick post to end a productive week! Tiles now reach all the way to the terrace step, right down the hallway and the master bedroom (driftwood effect tiles) has been started. The focus next week (which for me starts on Tuesday) will be on...
Days 65 to 67 – 23 to 25 Sep 19 – Qala
Days 65 to 67 - So the last 3 days have been all about tiling and now the kitchen, dining room and sitting room areas are almost complete with a few tiles also starting to make their way down the hallway. The next few days will be dedicated to collecting and...
Days 60 to 64 – 16 to 20 Sep 19 – Qala
Days 60 to 64 - We are plastered! The plastering indoors is now done and rendering on the roof terrace area also done. The difference plaster makes is extraordinary! The terrace step has been increased in height to accommodate the sliding doors that will be...
Days 56 to 59 – 9 to 12 Sep 19 – Qala
Days 56 to 59 - So, back from our break and batteries recharged - no more hitting pause until completion! Not much visible has been achieved these last 4 days however a lot has gone on. The skylight in the hallway has been covered to protect against rain - good job...
Days 53 – 55, 18 to 20 Aug 2019 – Qala
Days 53 to 55 - The last post until mid September. The floor screed is complete so no UFH piping visible anymore, the terrace doorstep has been renewed and raised, the master bedroom doorstep is almost complete and some cementing around the kitchen and bathroom areas...
Days 50 to 52 – 15 to 17 Aug 2019 – Qala
Days 50 to 52 - All change on the floor as the screed is laid. The focus this week is all about the floor, the UFH parts of which will be completed tomorrow (Sunday!). The remaining bits will be done with normal cement screed on Monday before the cement mixer...
Days 47 to 49 – 12 to 14 Aug 2019 – Qala
Days 47 to 49 - Very productive 3 days. On Monday 5 pallets of "stuff" and a cement mixer were craned up to the terrace (thank you so much Kipper for your help with that) and I started laying underfloor heating (UFH) pipe. On Tuesday my new unpaid employee Petra...
Days 45/46 – 8 & 9 Aug 2019 – Qala
Days 45 & 46 - the whole floor now has a membrane on it, ready for heating pipe to start being run out on Monday. I’ve also cemented (with a dry mortar) the terrace door step and the kitchen island area, just to ensure we don’t staple pipe in those areas. Next...
Days 42 to 44 – 5 to 7 Jul 2019 – Qala
Days 42 to 44 - not quite as planned this week, Monday and Tuesday being spent insulating (against noise) the main bathroom and 3rd bedroom, fitting fibreglass mesh and rendering. Today was spent doing 'finicky' jobs - terrace and front door areas, kitchen and island...
Days 39 to 41 – 31 Jul to 2 Aug 19 – Qala
Days 39 to 41 - 3 days working away on floor insulation in the open plan area, bathroom and guest bedroom en-suite. Next week, the membrane will go down (Mon/Tue), the manifold loosely fitted the the wall and we’ll start running out underfloor heating pipe probably in...
Days 37 & 38 – 29/30 Jul 19 – Qala
Days 37 & 38 - So yesterday half the tiles arrived and my good friend Laurie Xuereb helped me lifting them onto the terrace. Continued and completed the guest bedroom and today completed the 3rd bedroom and worked on the floor in the kitchen and sitting room...
Days 34 to 36 – 24 to 26 Jul 19 – Qala
Days 34 to 36 - The last 3 days have been all about the floor - from getting a mountain of sand delivered to laying the floor insulation ontop of which the underfloor heating pipes will sit. The hallway and main bedrooms are now complete - the guest bedroom about...
Days 32 & 33 – 22/23 Jul 19 – Qala
Days 32 & 33 - 2 busy days switching focus to plumbing and the floor. Had a great meeting with a friend plumber yesterday who will help when the time comes. So, all areas that need chasing for taps and water drainage have been done and I've put in the washing...
Days 30 & 31 – 19/20 Jul 19 – Qala
Days 30 & 31 - Fibreglass mesh and rendering is complete over all insulation so yesterday and today I completed the master bedroom, guest bedroom & en-suite, main bathroom and hallway. I also started filling over the conduit going to the consumer unit and...
Days 28 & 29 – 17/18 Jul 19 – Qala
Days 28 and 29 - Aircon preparation complete in 5 locations and the open plan living/dining/kitchen area is rendered/fibreglass meshed. Only a small bit of render left to do in the master bedroom and then I'll start the haul down the hallway. The electricians were...
Days 26 & 27 – 15/16 Jul 19 – Qala
Days 26 and 27 - Quite long days but ....... the wiring is complete!! I guess we've installed around 2km of wiring of all sorts throughout the penthouse. Still to be done will be the stuff on the roof (Solar water, heat pump and water pump) when they;re installed. ...
Day 25 – 12 Jul 19 – Qala
Day 24 and 25 - Two days spent on the consumer unit - yesterday chasing a zillion channels in the wall and today fitting the conduits and running the wiring through to the unit - end result in the images below. 2 days off now before starting again on Monday. A bit...
Day 23 – 10 Jul 19 – Qala
Day 23 - One of those days where, despite working hard all day, not a lot to show for it! All NeoStat back boxes are now in, the Main Bedroom air condition prep is underway and I spent a lot of time on the floor making multiple holes in walls for conduit and plumbing...
Day 22 – 9 Jul 19 – Qala
Day 22 - Today the kitchen had it's fibreglass/render coat applied, 3 back boxes were installed for neoStat thermostats (part of the underfloor heating system), and I cut out a chunk of wall to relocate the consumer unit (distribution box) to another part of the...
Day 21 – 8 Jul 19 – Qala
Day 21 - I've had all those light socket back boxes looking at me empty for the last week or so ....... so today I thought I'd do something about it. All light switches and fittings are now wired! Slightly harder than wiring the socket points as I had to spend a...
Day 20 – 5 Jul 19 – Qala
Day 20 - So today I installed the light and socket fittings on the terrace where I cut the holes for yesterday, stuck up some more fibreglass mesh with render adhesive (getting quite good at that) and ran a couple more cables for lights. Another really hot day today...
Day 19 – 4 Jul 19 – Qala
Day 19 - Happy US Independence Day!! Hottest day working on site since the start of this project! Today I got the terrace ready for installation of light fittings (7 lights), 1 double waterproof socket and also managed to pull some cable through one more light...
Day 18 – 3 Jul 19 – Qala
Day 18 - Went and collected all the cables this morning and spent the day running cables through the conduit. All sockets now have cable in them (bar the one's which will run direct to the consumer unit) and the bathroom light has it's cable in place. Really pleased...
Day 17 – 2 Jul 19 – Qala
Day 17 - I went to the hardware store first thing to buy the electrical cable only to find that I wanted more than they stocked. So that's ordered for collection tomorrow morning. I decided to make a start applying the insulation's top coat of fibre glass mesh and...
Day 16 – 1 Jul 19 – Qala
Day 16 - So, between half a day Saturday and today, all internal electrical back boxes are now complete - just one double waterproof socket and lights on the terrace to go. Tomorrow - off to the shops for around 500 metres of electrical cable and then I'll start...
Day 14 – 28 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 14 - A day of 8 double sockets, 1 single socket, 1 junction box and 1 light switch + conduit for the coax cable from the internet provider and bedroom RJ45 high speed internet cables - one of the best days so far in productivity terms. Tomorrow just a half day...
Day 13 – 27 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 13 - Completed the sockets and switched in the kitchen area today plus the bathroom light switch. Also managed to mount the (empty as yet) consumer unit where it can be subsequently hidden by a strategically positioned painting. Tomorrow onto the bathroom (shaver...
Day 12 – 26 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 12 - Focussed on the kitchen today to take a bare wall to one having 3 double sockets (above the kitchen worktop), 2 single sockets (up high for Sonos speaker and kitchen cabinet LED lights) and the main kitchen light switch. Tough day as everything needed cutting...
Day 11 – 25 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 11 - Worked to 8pm yesterday so didn't blog but happy to report that all electrical socket and switch preparation and conduits to the 3 bedrooms and hallway are now complete. Never in the history of Gozo have so many sockets been installed in bedrooms. The main...
Day 9 – 22 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 9 - Quite a good day apart from the untimely demise of my chaser however I seem to be OK with my trusty angle grinder - German (Bosch) reliability! All chasing is complete in the bedrooms and where there were holes yesterday there's now (in most cases) conduit and...
Day 8 – 21 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 8 - not a huge amount achieved today - had to get finished early for another appointment. Working in bedroom 2, I channelled in a couple of sockets, light switches and light fittings and managed to get another prepared for tomorrow. Slightly time consuming when...
Day 7 – 20 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 7 - Continued with the electrics today. I got the 3rd bedroom done and finished off (details) the master bedroom. Installed a socket high up on the wall in the hallway for a speaker and wi-fi extender. The beauty of finished a shell is that you can build in...
Day 6 – 19 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 6 - as promised, cracked on with the electrics today. Got most of the master bedroom's sockets done + a couple of others as a bonus. It's quite hard work chasing into breeze blocks - very different from limestone as they're hollow and tend to fall apart. Just...
Day 5 – 18 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 5 - not much to report today apart from the spare bedroom and en-suite and the main bathroom are now insulated and I can crack on with electrical trunking tomorrow. Frustrating day - waited around for 2 people scheduled to meet and "no-show". Still the project...
Day 4 – 13 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 4 - and the insulation's almost done!! The master bedroom is complete (apart from a couple of bottom panels - waiting for the plumbing to go in). The developer's boys are getting on with the rendering in the list shafts - doing a good job too. Next jobs - finish...
Day 3 – 12 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 2 - great weather again with that lovely breeze again today for more "insulation sticking". So today I managed to complete the long hallway and get the first panel up in the master bedroom, spend a bit of time with "Michael the Window Guy" talking quotes and took...
Day 2 – 11 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 2 - beautiful weather with an amazing breeze flowing through the apartment. Just continuing on with sticking on insulation panels and buying all the electrical gear (for next week). Biggest challenge is that I have the most amazing view all day which can be quite...
Day 1 – 10 Jun 19 – Qala
Day 1 - a bit of a test to see if we could get 2 deliveries and a lifter arriving as planned and promised! The insulation was to arrive at 09:30am, followed by the bags of adhesive and lifter at 11:00am. Out of the 3, Noel Vella from J&N Lifting Services was...
From Pallet to Wine Rack
A left over pallet and a desire for a 16 bottle wine rack and you get the finished article below. The project took a couple of days in total, finished in coffee stain and Gozitan beeswax with some chalk paint to the sides. I think it looks great .....
Il-Mithna, Qala – 31 May 19
So, the builders have stated that the 'shell' should be complete by end of next week so I'm gearing up to start work on this penthouse from 10th June 2019. I've put a few marks on the walls for sockets and switches, although the first job that will be done will be...