Measure, consider, demarcate

It looks like nothing is happening. The summer holidays are over, kids are back in school and work and the building preps recommence. While I am working in Rijswijk, Luís is constantly busy in Vilar. Negotiations, options, quotations, alternatives, networking, a million questions and learning an awful lot of new things. Even new words in Portuguese.

Choices, choices

There is a distance of more than 2.000 km and a time difference of an hour, with me being in the Netherlands and him in Vilar. But we have to communicate and discuss options and possibilities constantly. It is rather strange to choose kitchen appliances and bathroom equipment for a house that at this moment only exists on paper. But some things must be chosen now because of their impact on other things, on measurements, budgetary decisions etcetera. And considerations lead to new ideas, to alternative solutions, new discussions. It is worth the effort to compare and negotiate endlessly. Let alone that everybody knows somebody who can possibly give a better option…. and so on!

Nices and needs

The budget is leading, we can spend our money only once. This means we have a lot of considerations about ‘need to have’ and ‘nice to have’. Is it a true problem when the roof spanning the verandas gets two extra columns? From an architectonical point of view it might be a show stopper, but for us it creates a cheaper roof construction. The money we save here will be used for a more comfortable quality of flooring. This is more of a need to have for this woman with cold feet.

On the building site the men are laying down beams, lines, and signs. These indicate where the floor levels are going to be. Where the foundation of the building will be. And where the men who are going to build a stone wall are not allowed to come. I am very happy topographers exist. And specialist builders who carry out their measurements very neatly.

Next up: a fence! With rain!