And the kitchen saga continues...

... and sometimes it feels a bit like the Never-ending story! Fortunately, I can see that we ARE getting closer to the end!

So, what's happened? Hmmm, let's see now:

- All new wall building completed, except for closing up the door from my parents room to their old bathroom (which is now extended and converted to a room for a maid in the future).
- Most of the new walls have been cemented over
- All hidden plumbing is in place - need to fit taps, toilets, shower heads, water heaters, etc.
- Wiring (and accompanying hacking for new wiring) is going on now.
- Reinforced concrete surface and flooring for the new kitchen cabinets, on one side of the kitchen, are almost complete
- Roof frame and tiles for the kitchen extension are in place (Forgot to check today if they are in place for the extension in my parents room!)

So, what's left?

- all plumbing FITTINGS have to be put in
- wiring has to be completed
- measurements have to be taken for all those surfaces that are going to be tiled, and tiles have to be purchased (tile designs have been selected, just have to order the right quantity once the measurements are done).
- obviously, tiling has to be done :-p
- roofing, plaster ceiling, downlights, have to be done
- fitting aircon in kitchen (taking the unused aircon from my Dad's study upstairs :-p )
- all painting has to be done
- kitchen cabinet measurements have to be taken and the cabinets done and installed (measurements can be taken only when tiling is done... sigh)
- for "my" side of the kitchen, ie, where the baking will take place (!) the granite table top has to be installed
- the "pro-range' Elba cooker (with the HUMUNGOUS oven) has to be delivered.

OK, I know, it sounds like a lot, but it should happen pretty fast! For example, measurements for purchasing of tiles will be done tomorrow. Once the tiles are delivered, the guys will have the relevant surfaces tiled pretty fast - basically, kitchen flooring, RC top and inside, new bathroom floor and walls, and the extended part of my parents bedroom. The kitchen WALLS are not going to be tiled - I prefer paint, not tiles. The cooker will have a splash-back installed behind it though, to keep the wall clean :-). Cabinets, from time of measurement will take approx 2 weeks to be built and delivered and installed. The granite top for the baking side of the kitchen will take 3 weeks...but I can handle that - as once the kitchen is done, even without the cabinets in place, at least we can USE the kitchen again!

There will be a lot of other small things to do, but once the big stuff is done and the kitchen accessible, I can live with the rest :-D. And, once all that is DONE, then the little guest bathroom/powder room downstairs has to be re-done as well. But, after we are going through now, that is going to be a piece of cake in comparison!

Anyway, here are some photos to show some of the progress made so far, and some of the mess we are still living with outside!

- Here I am standing at the new back door of the kitchen, looking to the front, and along the long (almost 3 metre) wall, with the reinforced concrete in place.

- On the left of the picture, covered with plywood, is the entrance to the kitchen (currently blocked off for obvious reasons!). On the right, you can just see the beginning of the stretch of reinforced concrete (RC)

- My soon-to-be baking area is still looking a bit strange with the toilet bowl sitting in the centre!

- Now I am standing near the kitchen entrance, looking to the back of the kitchen. You can see the kitchen back door on the right, and the entrance to the maids room next to that.

- Same position, near the kitchen entrance, looking to the back of the kitchen, where the double sinks will be (under the window) and the cooker will be (on the left)

- Better view of where the cooker will be. You can see where the RC terminates! The cooker will be slotted in between.

- This is the view down the side of the house (from half way to the front), showing the new walls of my parents extended bedroom and the new bathroom.

- And here is my messy messy messy garden - picture taken from side of house. Can you see the black cat? Sitting quite comfortably on the electricity meter box just outside the fence perimeter of the house!

- Another view of my messy garden, taken from the car porch.

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully the next post will show more 'concrete' (no pun intended) results of the renovation.

Till then, have a great day, every day!