November 2009 and work has started again

With the builders about to start again, Marc and Nigel spent the beginning of November sealing all the concrete before the roof goes on and the earth gets pushed back against the walls.

As you can see, I'd already done my bit - deciding how high the balustrades should be around the balcony.




Apparently it was very hard work, but they did manage to fit in some social life, including a couple of parties and a trip to Albania

They had to fly back via Athens, which was just as well or we wouldn't have this picture of Nigel looking like Sean Connery!

Now Yannis is back with his digger moving earth around and starting on the underground water tank and the sceptic tank - one on each side of the house.

Inside walls finished in April

April 2009 - before work stopped for the summer

Bedrooms

Living Room

George the Builder

At last some good weather

Corfu has had the worst winter that most of our local friends can remember - rain, hail, ice, and storms. Progress on the house has been slow but we are in no hurry, especially as the weakness of sterling together with the rising cost of everything, is making our budget a little tight.

We flew out for a week on 1st April and took the good weather with us We had the most amazing weather and I got my first real view of the structure that will be Mia Mera.

We are back again in just over a week when we hope to have some internal walls in place

It doesn't look big - it is big!

"It doesn't look big - it is big!" - this was Thanassis' reply to my reaction to the latest photographs. The house itself will not be much bigger than Tortoise Villa but now that it's sitting on top of the concrete box, it seems to dwarf the house below. We are hopeful that, once it is all painted and the ground landscaped and planted, it will blend into the hillside.

With the concrete ceiling on, the main structure is finished!

Starting the final structure

Marc left for Corfu today - last heard of at Athens airport having missed his connecting flight!

He plans to finalise the positions of pillars, posts and pipes and if he remembers he will be sowing some grass seed in the garden of Tortoise Villa.

He's also going to a wedding and a festival so should have a great time.

I'm expecting some good photographs to come my way.

Starting on the top tier

The builders are now working on the highest tier of our land.


Yannis was back with his digger to level the gound so that they can create a single, level concrete slab running from the front of the 'box' to the back of the final house.



We have acquired quite a mountain of earth that we will need to move somewhere.

With the ground levelled it was time for more wooden shuttering to form the shape of the house .

It looks huge but the top of the 'box' is nearly all patio

And then the first layer of concrete.

This is the view from Thanassis' home - with the concrete being poured on the top tier and the lower house poking through the trees.

How to build a concrete box

Step 1.
After making a concrete base, build a wooden framework in the shape of the box.


Step 2. Pour the concrete into the
framework


Step 3. Leave to dry

Step 4. Remove the wooden framework













Step 5. Build a wooden framework for the roof



















The 'roof' will form the patio for our house so now we have an idea of the view we will get. We think it will do!!