The demolition continues ...

I went over to France again a couple of weeks ago to see the progress of the renovation and also to start the process of finding a kitchen - when the time comes to decide on the kitchen, I want to be ready! Dad came over with me and we spent some time in a couple of kitchen showrooms talking about the kind of look I am planning to go for. There’s so much choice it’s hard to know where to begin! However I do know that I want a modern kitchen, with a traditional feel that ties it to the exterior style of the house which is très provençal. After browsing the showrooms and chatting with the assistants there, they both suggested arranging a meeting for the next time I’m in France to look over the plans together and talk through exactly what I want so that they can create a design for me (at least I hope that’s what’s going to happen, as I had to chat to both mostly in French so we’ll see!)

At the house, progress had slowed down a little and not very much had changed since my previous visit in January (it still looked like a building site with a lot of rubble). This slower progress mainly seemed to be because the builders had found concrete above the three bedrooms that they hadn’t expected. It’s likely the concrete was there in preparation for a second storey that the previous owners had planned but never created (that part of the house was an extension added by the previous owners). So it took the builders some extra time to take all the concrete down. It looked strange to see that part of the house with no roof at all. The blue tiles from the old bathroom were still hanging on the wall, the only link left to how it used to look inside!

The back wall of the house that leads onto the terrace had been removed completely and new concrete pillars were in the process of being created for the new sliding doors. The builders had just started removing the roof on the far side of the house too.

The window spaces were all finished (including the ones just in front of the wisteria) and Anthony spent some time measuring them all to make sure they were correct, which they were. Everything had been done exactly according to the plans so we were happy with the work completed so far. According to Statev (the builder), everything is on schedule and the demolition work should be completed by the end of March, ready for the rebuild to begin in April.

One unexpected issue that’s come up is that the bricks that form the external wall are full of holes and Statev is very insistent that they should all be filled to create a better seal and prevent air moving from the outside to the inside. This is the code of practice for new builds and although it’s not necessary for renovations we decided to go ahead as it would make it much easier to install the insulation and plasterboard on a perfectly smooth surface, and in the long run it will reduce heating and air conditioning costs too.

Since returning home from France, work has picked up speed again; the whole roof is nearly off and the builders are preparing for the elevation of the roof. The boxes for the rolling shutters over the large sliding doors at the back of the house have been installed and the concrete pillars have been added for the car port.

Although it's a little scary seeing it in this state, I can envisage how it will look so I'm holding onto that! I’m really looking forward to going over again in May as the rebuild will be about 5-6 weeks in and so it should look very different.