Onze Verbouwingsreis

 It would be impossibly difficult to live in the house during all this work! This qualifies as a whole-house renovation, even if we aren't actually touching EVERY surface in the house. Work complete as of today: Insulation retaining walls in 3 rooms on 2e verdieping (middle floor) Steel beam has arrived and will be installed this week Plumbing for sinks added to WCs In other news, our building-fund (renovation mortgage) seems to be working -- I submitted several claims and the bank app shows they are paid (though I don't see the money in our cash account yet). Our workers have a small microwave and tea-kettle in the dining-room, for morning and afternoon tea. Some photos below of the treacherous territory and work-in-progress!

Day three and it really begins -- the revealing of what's underneath, the "known unknowns" showing themselves. The bathroom pot-lights didn't work, when we first saw the house. We asked the contractor to look into it. They can't find the transformer! So they will be tearing out the ceiling and replacing the lights completely. Cost: TBD. A major aspect of this reno is to add insulation on the exterior walls. Today we were informed that 2 sloped walls, which we thought had insulation, in fact do not. Cost: €3750. One of the main reasons we are doing this is because we know these changes cost quite a bit of money. So most people either can't, or won't. But we can, so we will. Our goal is to bring the house up from Energielabel D to either B or A!

Our massive renovation project begins this week on Thursday, 15-September. We have waited July, August, and half of September, and we are so excited to get started! There are several parts to this reno: A brand-new kitchen, without gas. We are opening the kitchen to the dining room, so it is not a 2x3m closet of a room, but is instead the heart of our home. Energy improvements. We are adding wall insulation, and replacing the gas boiler with an electric one. Hopefully also a solar water heater. A new staircase to the top floor. The current stairs are barely more than a ladder and are a safety hazard. New WCs. The current ones have no sinks in them (!!!). To add sinks, everything must be torn out to get to the plumbing, so we are redoing the entire (very small) rooms. Relocating laundry machines from top floor to middle floor (where the bedrooms and bathroom are).