The Adventures of Snowy - Week 194
How to Buy Land and Build a House in Greece
194. Budget
The backfilling continued this week.
Soft Touch happens to be on the Petrovouni Road alongside our land site at the precise moment a car pulls in to the end of our drive. A woman climbs out, accompanied by a young boy. They greet a labourer who is walking at speed down the drive. He picks the boy up and lifts him into the cabin of the small excavator so he’s sitting on the lap of the man operating the machinery. Everyone is smiling, grinning, pointing, and laughing as the excavator continues its collection of stone chippings, now being operated by what can only be a father and son duo. The proud mother takes out her phone and starts shooting video as do the other labourers (This family-fun-day-out will have gone viral before sundown! Glad we could oblige!)
And to make up for days lost last week, the backfilling continues through Sunday. Much to our amazement there are no complaints! Then we find out why… The pool bar, further down the Petrovouni Road is a hive of local gossip and information. Apparently, Nightmare Neighbour was in Athens for a long weekend and only came back on Monday evening (Who worked and made a noise on the ‘day of rest’??? We’re zipped!)
And at the start of the week, before heading off to Kalamata for a day of errands, we take a detour in Four Wheels. We check that the backfilling is continuing and then head back down the Petrovouni Road to start our trip to the city. Because of the gradient, nearing the end, there’s a birds eye view of the junction with the main village street. In front of us is a van and a car, the usual mix of parked up cars lining one side of the road, and at the bottom two cars coming up and a massive lorry trying to navigate the sharp corner (OMG – its gridlocked chaos!)
The colossal lorry is full of pale grey stone chippings (It’s another delivery of backfilling material) But its blocking the main village street where cars are piling up in both directions. The vehicles in front of us can’t continue down the Petrovouni Road and the cars in front of them can’t move up. It’s bedlam! Four Wheels turns off into an unmade up small space where a few cars are parked. A couple of cars squeeze into the private parking bay of a guest house. The cars coming up the road manage to make it through, and the truck turns the corner and starts its slow and laboured ascent.
But the vehicles lining the road make it too narrow to accommodate the wide girth of the truck. There’s furious slamming of doors, shouting, and grinding of gears as owners leave their homes to move parked cars. Finally, the lorry gains access. We leave our ‘hiding place’ and make our way at speed through the village, wishing Four Wheels was painted a less conspicuous colour than bright red (LOL!)
Despite the drama, the backfilling goes to plan. It’s a half day on Thursday and then the crane gets packed up – its long-sectioned arm folding in, back on itself, and down, to rest on the flatbed. The truck reverses down the drive and leaves. The small excavator cleans up, scraping stone chippings to the sides of the drive and generally making good. In the afternoon a vehicle arrives to collect it, and off they rattle down the Petrovouni Road and away on the main village street.
Left behind is silence. The whole site has a powdery off-white coating of fine dust – the fallout of moving and pouring stone.
Nothing looks very different from the drive because you can only look up at the property. But inside the house where you can look out and down its very different. The house is now grounded and solid – no longer is it surrounded by a several meter deep ‘moat’. And the area between the pool and the house is now filled, flat, and even, in a continuous, tightly packed, stone-chipping surface. The level is not as high as the ground floor of the house because there will be steps from the pool to the top terrace area, but it joins the built elements together.
There’s a square shape carved out of stone chippings between the Cut-and-Cover Rental Unit and the swimming pool for the sunken seating area that is an extension of the pool.
And the space at the back of the house, around the top of the Cour Anglaise, and the foundations at the far end, are all infilled and solid.
Similarly, the space beyond the Studio Unit, behind the retaining wall, next to the garage entrance, is no longer a gaping, very deep hole.
Our Engineer confirms there will be a small delivery of concrete to make good the end of Nightmare Neighbour’s drive. The government employees had to dig this area up to bury our mains water pipe. What’s left is an area of flattened earth between the road and the end of the drive where before there was a rough and ready but made-up surface. We have to cover the cost of making good which the Old Folks are less than pleased about.
Then we hear the concrete delivery is postponed until September. Why? Its too hot! And it is. The day time high has been fierce this week and over 30 degrees by 8.00am. The mercury continues to climb through the day reaching its maximum reading around 4.00pm. There have been ‘severe high temperature warnings’ for days and it doesn’t look like abating anytime soon.
We are concerned for our next delivery of concrete – there’s the terrace to complete along with the walls of both Cour Anglaise areas… Our Engineer will track the forecast looking for rogue days when it may be cool enough to pour the grey stuff…
But other works can be progressed. An onsite meeting with the Drywall System Builders takes place for the construction of internal walls. It is priced by the square meter using the Architectural plans. When it’s finished the actual wall surface is measured and any price adjustments made. Apparently, the company can start building in September (Yay!)
And next week there is an onsite meeting scheduled with the stone cladding company. They will use the stone that has been delivered back to site to build some samples on the façade of the house. Once we agree the colorway the contractor will provide a square meter price. Like the internal walls, the outside surfaces will be measured when completed and necessary cost adjustments made.
Our Architects confirm they are also waiting on quotes for roof insulation and tiling, A/C and underfloor heating systems, and all remaining Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (that’s MEP) works (Finally!)
Without knowing the major infrastructure costs the Old Folks have been struggling to make decisions around bathroom fittings. We know we have to so the plumbing works can be planned and progressed, but as with most things you can spend a small or large amount on an item that has the same functionality but differs in design and credentials. We need an accurate budget for the whole fit-out, so we know where to invest and where to cut corners.
We source a bath that is made of natural minerals and bio-based resins. It has high resilience and durability and can be repaired using a sanding sponge and repair kit. And it’s 100% recyclable. Due to the formula and low chemical emissions of the material it is certified Gold by the leading standard for energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable building products (It’s a must, even though I’ll be staying well away from it!)
We attend an event at our Lawyer’s café Two Doors Down in the Old Town. Its Tango night! Tango is a passionate and dramatic dance which originated in the nineteenth century. It’s highly emotional and known to explore themes of love, loss, and longing. There are two professional dancers who have been working together for years, and it shows. They have an intimacy and unspoken knowledge of each other and how they move – It’s terrific. But at the table they occupy between dances is an older man who looks grumpy. Apparently, he’s the jealous husband of the female dancer and displeased to see his wife in the embrace of another man!
I’d be practicing my moves if I could only find a dance partner.
It’s been another week where sitings of the Enormous Amber have been scarce.
He’s still upstairs with the AC cranked to max and refusing to go outside!