Painting.

First job is to make some choices. We got Resene colour charts that Mum sent over from New Zealand to help us make some choices.
蓋房子真是一個大工程，有一堆是要忙要注意，很多小細節會被忽略掉.....
我們家的工程差不多要開始選室內油漆顏色了。
不過，建商選的虹牌油漆顏色少之又少~沒有我們想要的顏色耶.....

Then we went to B and Q to check out their selection. We have to finish the outside walls first so we choose some black for a feature wall at the very front of the house.

B and Q has cool toys for mixing paints.

Pot Plants....sort of.

The trees we got from Bello yesterday, we planted in pots today. It's too early to put them straight in the ground as too much work needs to be done beforehand to the land and they'll probably get squashed by a ditch digger or something. So we bought some pots today and will eventually use them on the third floor rooftop garden after we plant the trees in the soil.

昨天從Bello家挖來的寶貝們^^
其實老爸有說，這些樹是要在1~2個月前先在原地將根切斷，等根部受傷的部分恢復後才將樹移植是最好的，但是因為Bello家租約將在5月底到期，所以我們能挖多少算多少。
為了不讓我們辛辛苦苦挖來的樹死掉，我們買了好幾個大盆子先將這些樹種在盆子裡，希望他們可以活的好好的，等之後房子完工、整地整好，這些樹就會種在我們的土地上了。

Today we moved trees. Our good friends Bello and Vanni are moving from their house and their landlord said that any trees not moved will be cut down so he offered them to us. Digging up trees and moving them is a bitch. But at least we saved some trees.
感謝Bello和Vanni提供這麼多美麗的植物給我們的新家，因為他們承租的房子在這個月底租約就要到期了，特地選了這個周六去他家挖樹。圖片裡蹲下來包樹的阿貝是我親愛的阿爸，也感謝他的大力幫忙，隨然他3點就落跑，不過還是提供了我們很好用的工具。
樹木移植的工作真的很累人，大部分的樹還蠻好處理的，但這棵像棕梠樹的是最難挖的一棵，別看他葉子很像軟軟的，他的根是往下生長的，花了我們最久的時間。

That's Bello and Mini Lee hard at work.

That's Shakir, Bello's third, and a pick up full of trees. He was little help with digging up trees but is excellent at fetching beers from the Seven Eleven.
Bello和Vanni可愛的小朋友們和整車的植物，這還不是全部勒

One of the trees we had to put straight in the ground at the new place. That's Cobus and Bello and me.
這棵鳳凰樹是我們今天挖到最大的一棵，因為太大了，所以要先種在新家，這是我們第一棵植入新家的樹喔^^，未來，我們還有大約10棵樹可以種在我們的院子裡呢，突然覺得我們的新家好像不夠大耶

It's a phoenix tree. It is a bit bare at this point as we had to trim it severely before the move but will come back quickly I hope.
謝謝大家辛苦的幫忙

Finished concertina door.

Throughout this project we've tried to be careful with costs and stay within budget. And we've been pretty good about it. Except for this door. This has been the one and only (so far) extravagance in the whole house. But no regrets whatsoever. We both can't wait to move in and open it up on a summer day for drinks on the patio.
今天一早跟老公一起到新家看看摺疊門完工的樣子
喔ㄏㄏㄏ...是不是很酷啊
這樣看跟洛地窗好像沒兩樣
因為玻璃還沒裝上
這面牆還要粉光
所以整個門框都是包起來的
等整個完工後在來拍打開的樣子 :)

Coolest thing ever.

Our concertina door arrived today from Taoyuan. These three fellas had a long drive to get here to do it. The road between Taipei and Hualien has been closed for about a week or so that meaning that the whole construction of the house has been slowed waiting for them to arrive. If you look at the photo below, you can see that the concrete work can't be finished around the door area meaning painting and other finishing work and therefore the floors can't be done until this door was finished. But now it is in but the glass won't be installed until the exterior and interior painting is done.
終於!!!
新家的重頭戲"丹頂鶴摺疊門"終於來施工安裝啦!!!!
原本預定上禮拜三來花蓮施工
但是遇到蘇花坍方
所以只好給他延了一個禮拜
千盼萬盼..........終於盼到了^^

今天安裝進度稍微有慢一點
因為延長線不夠長
所以剛開始先用手動組合
辛苦= =
之後老爸救了他們
借來很長~的延長線給他們順利施工

等待中.....

These were the only guys we could find in the country that could do this door for a reasonable price.
目前一樓地板還在打底階段
摺疊門離地的高度約7~7.5公分
當復古磚鋪上後
地板會高6公分左右
所以，我們的摺疊門只會多出1公分
這樣就不會有門檻太高的問題
視覺上還是會有開放式的感覺

That little doo dacky helped make sure it was straight. I think it is a spirit level for the 21st century.
摺疊門共有六片，每兩片一組，這個是每組的門把

That's a door handle.
先請師傅幫我裝上一組摺疊門
讓我些試試及說明注意事項
因為實在無法全程待在現場監工
明天早上去看成果
再po完整的照片^^

In total there will be six of these panels. Two open to the left and four open to the right meaning on good weather days the whole door can be completely opened blurring the line between indoors and outdoors. And that's what we were hoping for as just beyond this door will be a big patio.

I am gonna go back to the house tomorrow morning to get some more pics. Ivy couldn't stay all afternoon to see the job completed as she had to get back to work.

Waterproofing

The dark area around the edge here is for waterproofing on the rooftop balcony. Ivy is a bit worried that the whole floor is supposed to be waterproofed and not just the edge so is currently on the phone with her Dad to ask. Then again, Ivy tends to worry about a lot of things about this house. Hopefully the tiles for the area will be laid some time this week.

Undercoats

The painters have been in today to put an undercoat on all the walls. It's very white but makes it look a little bit more like home.

We're still choosing what colours we'll eventually use and have some ideas. Plus lots of advice from fam and friends.
房子漆上水泥漆後，整個空間頓時覺得比之前寬敞許多，
我跟老公都覺得已經可以搬進去住了哩。^^

 Downstairs kitchen and living room.

 Office looking at the stairs.

 First floor spare bedroom.

 Our bedroom.

Walk in wardrobe.

Better bathroom pics

Today was a better day to take some pics of the bathroom. You can get a better idea of the finished result from here.

Forgotten

Looks like somebody forgot something.

There was supposed to be an electrical socket in the middle of the living floor for Ivy's movie projector. Ah well. We won't notice this once the floor is put down.

First floor toilet.

The same chap fixed the gaps between the tiles downstairs too. I really like the finished result of this one.

More bathrooms

 The master bedroom en suite is really coming together. We're not entirely thrilled about the white lines between the tiles or the fat white line on the edge of the bathtub and we'll look at ways to get rid of that. Bit concerned that those plastic lines will go along the top of the bathtub as well. Have a meeting with the builder tomorrow morn so hopefully can get that straightened out.
我不要白線啦!!! 滾地中....

 This chap's job is just to fill in the gaps between tiles. And then wipe them down. He had three houses worth of gaps to deal with today.

It's really hard to get a picture to show the general size of this bathroom. So....come visit!

Master Bedroom Ensuite

Work is coming along nicely on our bathroom. We choose a really dark charcoal grey tile for the walls and bathtub. The room will be quite dark but there are a few windows too so not too bad. Ivy and I will go back tomorrow and hopefully get some pictures of the finished results.
以灰色板岩磚為主體的浴室，全灰喔

 

 

Anyway. That's where things are at this point.
不過...........美中不足的是.....有條白色倒角在左邊那面牆= =

The C Bomb

Ivy dropped the C bomb today. It's kind of a long story but the price quoted to us for our Spanish tiles for the first floor was a lot cheaper than the price on the bill with the tiles when they arrived. Ivy called the boss to ask what was going on and he spat the dummy saying there was no way he would quote such a price. Anyway, he got really worked up and behaved like a C and then refused to sell us the tiles even after Ivy said we would pay the difference.
從房子開始建造到現在，我們跟建商跟廠商也已經有很多次誤會跟爭吵
還好，事情都有圓滿解決，也算是按照我們的計劃走


這次又再次去挑地磚，是因為磁磚老闆跟建商的報價有誤(當然建商報的比較多)
當我電話訊問磁磚老闆時，老闆態度差勁，直說這不是他報的價，
說我們一定是問別間(心裡有鬼)
還說價格有疑問的話，大不了他退掉磁磚.....奇怪，這年頭不是消費者最大嗎
心裡想說算了，且我也跑去別家詢問過價格，應該是老闆當初報太便宜...
well...但是....不知道那個老闆是到底有多不爽
還真的把我們的地磚退掉了= =
所以我們只好到建商介紹的另一間看地磚...
但沒想到.....
我們挑到更便宜的復古磚，也是進口的
還不用補錢給建商耶(原本挑的復古磚要補貼建商將近4萬元)
只能給個讚啦!!!!




Upshot of it all was that we had to go to another tile store today to find new Spanish tiles. And what do you know? We found something very similar for about half the price! So we decided to celebrate by choosing something completely ridiculous for our front porch. See below:
這是我們前門的樓梯磚，也順便挑了
有點馬戲團風喔
我覺得我家完成後
應該會很怪
因為.....
外觀牆地用水泥粉光+潑水漆+部分漆黑色的油漆，但是形狀並不是級簡風格.....
室內一樓走鄉村復古
入口處又有馬戲團風格
應該六月底會完成
6¯▽¯ 

It's a little expensive, but is only for a small area of the house. And if it looks like crap, we can use it for a chess board or a picnic blanket.

If anyone wants to know where not to buy tiles in Hualien, please let me know. I know a complete C that will not sell them to you!

Library

We've tried to have different flooring on all levels of the house. So far, all three different levels have been Ivy's suggestions and I've just gone a long with things. The third floor might be a bit odd to some folk but I think it looks cool.  It's gonna be just a finished cement finish with a coating of epoxy. I'm not sure if it is completely finished yet but this is what it looks like so far.
我覺得......預售我們房子的建商應該快瘋了ˊ_>ˋ
每一層樓的地板我們都選擇不一樣的材質來施做
一樓換成復古磚(原本是拋光石英磚)
二樓是木地板(建商當然也是預計拋光石英磚)
三樓是.....Epoxy地板(........)
因為我真的好喜歡epoxy的感覺喔~好看極了
所以....建商飽受我們的折磨  ㄎㄎ


這間是三樓的房間，原本預計當倉庫，放教材用的
但是L先生覺得這個空間只放教材太浪費了
所以我們想要一半放教材，一半用成圖書館
在落地窗旁周圍釘書櫃再買張沙發床，很是舒適
如果很多朋友來拜訪，也可當作是備用客房
真是不錯的主意
這個應該是剛粉光好的地板，還沒上epoxy
期待中...


其實我正在找一面牆也要用這樣的風格
開心^^

This room is gonna be a library. We have a third floor in our current house but it is not used for anything so is a bit of a waste. So we decided by making the third floor a library it will be used more often. It will probably have a sofa bed for reading or guests to sleep on.

Stairs

The staircases are being cemented again today to give them a nicer finish which meant I couldn't use them. Had to climb up the hard way. Scaffolding.
樓梯打底了，目前無法使用中，有人只好爬鷹架上二樓照相。

Bathtub Part II

Well, the bathtub got raised one brick higher and I think it was the right choice to make. After they did that they were able to cement it.
昨天師傅切完浴缸後，我跟L先生分別做在浴缸裡想像一下水位高度大約會在我們身體的哪個位置，看看是不是夠深。我也試著跨進去裡面，看高度對我來說會不會太高不好跨。
就這樣兩個人在那裡一個坐著一個跨來跨去，後來我們決定再加一層紅磚墊高。
今天看到浴缸打底完成後，我們都很開心加高一層的決定是對的，這樣高度就剛好啦!!
等水泥乾透後，要再上防水，之後就可以貼磚嘍^^

The next step will be waterproofing and then it will be tiled.

Top

I think this is gonna be my favorite part of the house when it is done.
頂樓陽台牆壁已粉光完成，地板會貼地磚，以後這裡會放很多盆栽，看能不能抵擋些陽光直射主臥室屋頂......= =，未來...我們想在頂樓用個小花園+戶外電影院+看星星浪漫一下

The walls will remain cement but the floor will have tiles.

The tiles are in these red boxes in the front yard. Will post some pics when they get laid.

 Late edition to this post. This is the top floor balcony looking the other way.

Bathtub

The bathtub was built today. Yes, you read that correctly, built. Not installed. We decided to go for a hot spring style bathtub. So a big rectangle in the ground that can fit at least two people. We're not sure if it is quite high enough so we asked the builders to add another line of bricks.
主臥室的浴缸沏好了^^，長210寬100高60cm(大約)的超大浴缸，讓我老公平躺在浴缸裡沒問題!!預計~這禮拜到下禮拜會完工吧!!ㄎㄎ

There will be a shower cubicle in that far corner too.

Hope it's big enough!

Bathroom tiles for Mother's Day.

We didn't think the bathroom tiles would happen this quick. We chose them all quite a few weeks ago but didn't expect to see them when we went to the house today. This is from the guest bedroom on the first floor which has an en suite bathroom.
終於有新的進度啦!!，一樓廁所及客房浴室在貼壁磚了，超開心的。前幾個禮拜一直在用外牆，有點膩了說，今天帶媽媽去走蝴蝶谷步道後，回程順道去看工地，發現工人在貼壁磚啦!
我覺得挑磁磚應該是最累人的事，因為單一片的挑磚，實在很難想像貼起來後效果如何，所以我們花了很多時間在挑選磁磚，且看到後來都亂了....，還好我一直不喜歡浴室磚貼腰帶，所以我們一間浴室只用一種磚，地板牆壁都一樣，也算省了不少事。

Here's buddy hard at work on Mother's Day putting them up.
師傅正在抓水管的尺寸

Some of them get chopped a bit to make way for water pipes, dunny pipes and electrical outlets.
裁切

Those little tabs sticking out keep everything in place while the tiles set. I think.
圖片裡像黃色便條紙的東西，是用來固定每塊磁磚的間隔

This is the tile for the bathroom in the living room. It's not really a bathroom as it will only have a toilet and a sink. And that's why it got the most expensive tiles. Cos we could only afford to put them in the smallest room in the house!
這裡是樓梯下方的廁所，坪數不大但是用的應該是所有浴室裡最貴的磚

The tiles for the bathroom of our bedroom have also arrived but haven't been put up yet. Maybe some time this week it will get done. So that's Ivy, holding one up to give you an idea of how it will look. Will post finished pictures. I think before that happens though, the bathtub goes in first as the bathtub will be finished in the same tile.

這塊黑麻麻的磚是主臥室裡的浴室用的，整間都貼一樣的磚，不過地板會裁成對半貼

Closer

The front of the house is getting closer to completion. Although, this wall is the one that will be covered with pine so you won't see much of the cement here anyway.
這塊是未來我們要訂南方松的部分。