Resthof renovation - on a budget

Congratulations on the new arrival! Otherwise, I too am looking forward to news.

Thank you very much for the congratulations. :)

I had already written the text in January but never sent it because we shortly after had problems with the cistern/former slurry pit. More on that in a separate post.

Update

So, things are slowly moving forward with us now. After our craftsmen stood us up again last Monday for the floor slab, apparently due to a defect with the excavator, they resumed their work today. Thank God, our schedule is no longer as generous as planned due to the upcoming baby. At least for the noisy trades.

External service:

The first section covered around 35 m² and cost us just under 2,400 EUR for the work performed and disposal of the excavated material, excluding materials (concrete, steel, etc.). The excavation alone (concrete, earth, bricks, cups, socks, and whatever else people liked to throw in earlier) would have cost us almost 1,000 EUR for disposal in a container ourselves. Therefore, we are satisfied with the price for the shitty work.

The second section, which is currently being worked on, is more difficult: since there used to be a small calf stable here with a drainage channel and everything that goes with it, the concrete layer is much thicker than in the area of the first section that was already in residential use. That means the craftsmen have quite a bit to do – and due to the currently low ceiling heights (about 2.30 meters, with the ceiling beams even only about 2.20 meters), only a small excavator fits in the room. In the previous area, there was significantly more room with ceiling heights of 3.00 to max. 6.00 meters. This will also drive up the costs. The target clear height in this area is about 2.40 meters or just below. This only affects our living room.

I hope the craftsmen will push through quickly – there are still well over 100 m² to be done in 5 sections.

Own work:

In the meantime, we were able to move the staircase on the already new floor slab. It had to be moved to the other side of the wall, i.e., from the later kitchen area to the heating room because the space for the kitchen with kitchen island and possibly a stove would have been too small. We spent about 4 full working days on covering the old wall, installing two new drywall walls, making the ceiling cutout, relocating the staircase, and covering the staircase along with the door. The door including covering at the staircase will be removed again later, but it was necessary because we already have living spaces upstairs. Drywall, paint, etc., are not yet done; that will make sense at a later time. We also need to be patient with ordering the new staircase.

What was particularly annoying was that the floor heating, cut open at the top, just wouldn’t stop leaking. Unfortunately, the supply line didn’t close completely. Our plumber’s emergency service said to completely shut off the floor heating, and they would come tomorrow. Fortunately, we still found a new actuator and were able to solve the problem ourselves even at 9 p.m. Now, the plumber just has to reconnect the floor heating pipes. Luckily, this is possible without much effort in our case. That means we avoid having to break up the entire laminate including dry screed in the area of the floor heating circuit.

Schedule:

Goal by the end of February: floor slab finished, find craftsmen for the horizontal barrier in the masonry (unfortunately, no one is keen on that either), and complete the drywall walls for the storage rooms and the entrance area – as far as that is possible by then.

Goal by the end of March/beginning of April: raising of the intermediate ceiling (ceiling between the office upstairs and kitchen downstairs) finished, horizontal barrier finished, masonry work for the new front door and windows on the ground floor (lintels remain, window openings deepen) finished and windows and front door for the ground floor ordered.

Since we have never really been able to stick to the schedule so far, I do not expect that we will manage all trades this time either ;)

Obstacles:

My husband will have 6 wisdom teeth plus (somehow there are still very small wisdom teeth hidden in the jaw oO) removed at the beginning of February. This means a forced break for the area of own work.

Incident:

As already indicated, we had a small incident. During the excavation of the former stable, a large amount of pressurized water suddenly came in from the side. The mason called me at work and I drove home in a panic. On the way, I called my husband's uncle for support, who mostly helps us with our own work share.

However, the problem was quickly identified: the overflow of the cistern (formerly a manure tank) was not functioning for a reason that was not yet clearly determined at the time. The water backed up and still had a connection to the former stable or the soil. We suspected it was clogged. The craftsmen acted quickly and very straightforwardly and organized two submersible pumps. A small one pumped the water out of the house, the other emptied the manure tank. Unfortunately, the work was put on hold for a few days because the water had to recede first.

Later on, it turned out that during work in the garden the overflow pipe had probably slipped out of the socket. Therefore, the water could no longer drain away. We assume that this had occurred unnoticed several times before and the water had spread into the surrounding soil. Not so nice, but also not super dramatic.

Since we could no longer reach the socket without destroying large parts of the walkway, a new pipe was laid. Done.

Update

Foundation slab = Check

Horizontal barrier = We are receiving two offers

Drywall partitions = - still open -

Raise intermediate ceiling: Started gutting the office as far as necessary

Incident:

Actually, the bricklayer and the carpenter just wanted to meet to discuss the installation of the new windows and the front door. Easy. Think again.

One of our exterior walls is crooked (10 cm out of plumb), which we knew so far. However, the architect and structural engineer assessed this as not structurally relevant. The cause is suspected to be a cut middle purlin. It was simply cut off by the former owner and not re-supported. Oh well – who needs proper structural integrity :p

A master roofer friend developed a plan with us to support the load-bearing capacity. However, we will hand this over again to professional hands; my husband trained at that company, so they are squeezing us in. Lucky us. The structural engineer still has to give her “go-ahead”.

Meanwhile, both the bricklayer and the carpenter suggest various solutions for dealing with the crooked wall and the then straight windows/front door. I was completely overwhelmed trying to classify the different options. They ranged from cutting templates to demolishing and rebuilding the wall. I postponed the whole thing, contacted the architect, and wanted to arrange a meeting with all involved. Unfortunately, she was only moderately helpful and, together with the structural engineer, had no appointment before the end of March. Her suggestion: The wall remains crooked (part of the old house), “templates” should be cut for the windows. There is an offset of about 4 cm along the length. I should omit the front door there, that would be structurally difficult anyway since the wall is 15 meters long and has no interlocking cross walls. She wouldn’t separate the masonry panel any further. I can completely understand that, but I would have preferred this information much earlier (before purchase or at least floor plan design). Allegedly, she had already mentioned this earlier. But none of us can remember. We only knew that she said it would be a door with a low clear height. We were willing to accept that. No front door there is not an option.

A well-known architect took a look on site. He saw less of a problem, but would have a new lintel installed. The statement regarding the crooked wall was the same: It belongs to the charm ;)

What are we doing? We have asked the structural engineer for an appointment. She will come at the end of March. We need binding statements regarding the middle purlin, the load-bearing capacity of the crooked exterior wall, and a solution proposal for the front door (she initially suggested a lower and upper beam). Possibly, the bricklayer should also install one or two interlocking cross walls/interior supports. We can quite live with the crooked wall.

Schedule:

End of March/beginning of April: Finish raising the intermediate ceiling, start horizontal barrier including slurry sealing of the interior side of the exterior walls at least, middle purlin supported, window openings at least started.

Spelling and typing errors may be gladly ignored. We lacked the leisure for proofreading. Sorry :D

Spelling and typing errors may be gladly ignored. We lacked the time for proofreading. Sorry

For that, there was the picture with the cat staircase twice - so it's already forgiven :-)