As the contractor told me, things seem to be moving a lot faster now. Mind you, they did come every day last week and even today, Saturday, so they would move faster than they did when they didn’t come for days at a time… I think that made all the difference.

During that time, they finished the security front door – it now has a handle and trim around it.

The hole was cut for the sink. The sink is in there now, I just didn’t take a photo of it in yet.

The kitchen has a tile backsplash (using leftover tiles from the downstairs kitchen) which have been grouted as well, a new rangehood and all cabinets are placed and have shelves inside.

Here is a pre-grout photo of the kitchen layout.

The kitchen is more like a kitchenette, but it is what it is. The renters can put in a small island bench or a butcher block on wheels to give them more counter space. The entire layout is a big awkward, but its spacious with a large living room/kitchen area and a nice sized bedroom. If it wasn’t for the focal point of the fireplace it would be a lot easier to arrange furniture, but the fireplace is there so it stays there.

This is the paragraph of things left to do from last time:

So, what’s left to do? Well… tile the backsplash, tile the bathroom walls, grout all tiling, put in the bathroom fixtures, cut and place the sink in the kitchen bench, put in the cabinet with the rangehood in the kitchen, put lights in the bedroom, the entrance, the hallway and bathroom, replace the exterior banister cause its rotten and it was pointed out that it’s too low and dangerous so we need to make it higher (we should really replace the entire banister but I can’t afford that on top of it all!), finish plastering the walls, paint the whole apartment and entrance/stairwell, put a guard on the stairwell, put a divider between this apartment balcony and the next apartment, put in all plugs and light switches, remove all rubbish and sand and polish the parquet floor, replace all the little spot lights in the living room with LED spots (all 41 of them!), remove the old curtain rods cause people will apparently want to choose their own window coverings, put in the new door and frame, put handles on both bedroom and hallway door, put in the new windows, fix the little rollers under the aluminum balcony windows, put a coat rack behind the front door, paint the fire guard cause its stained (my job), put a light under the kitchen bench, service the air conditioner, clean/tidy/mend the fireplace and replace the copper engraving dad had made for the front, put in a new doorbell…

The bits crossed out have been done, the bits in the funny type are being reconsidered or being handled differently. For example, we decided to just mend/fix the banister on the balcony and not remove the curtain rods, just the curtains. That makes way more sense. And I’m not putting dad’s engraving back on the fireplace. And light globes have been ordered as they are a totally different size and shape to spots available these days…

Today the guy did the first coat of plastering (I believe its what Americans call ‘drywall’? It’s a smooth coat placed over plasterboard to prep the wall for painting.) On Monday he’ll do the second coat, then tile the bathroom walls (presumably also put in the bathroom fixtures) and prep for painting the place.

After that I’m not sure, but they’ll organise the floor guy to come and when the windows and hallway door arrive, they’ll put those in.

Meanwhile I’ll be on Paros waiting on progress updates.

Lainee, as usual, oversaw the whole process to make sure it was all done properly.

z

Well, it has progressed since the last time I was here, but not as much as I’d have hoped.

When asked, I’m told it will be finished before Easter (2 weeks), but then… we need to order the new windows and they take 3 weeks apparently. UGH.

My fault really. I’d asked my engineer to look into windows, prices etc and then I forgot to follow up. So now the contractor needs to order them, and we have to wait.

sigh.

For that I can’t blame him…

There is still a lot to be done and I’m despairing. I have no income coming in right now and I need to get it rented.

Here is what’s been done so far:

The bathroom floor has been tiled but not grouted, the shower recess has been created with a little step, the walls are being prepared for tiling, a hole awaits the new window, which is now smaller and square and no longer arched. I hate arches.

Yes. The window is in the shower. I’ve never understood that reasoning, but in Greece its very common. Makes no sense to me, but here it’s, like, everywhere! Hence the window we’re ordering will be PVC.

The arched doorway and the swinging doors are a thing of the past. Now. We hadn’t decided whether to get rid of the doors or not. Today I decided they had to go. Now we need a frame and proper door for there. Have I mentioned I hate archways?

You can see the new cupboard in the back of the little hallway (bathroom to the left). Lainee inspected it and approved.

The little hallway has the same tiles as the bathroom, waiting to be grouted.

The little bookcase to the side of the fireplace is ready, I didn’t take a photo of it after the knob was put on the door at the bottom, but you get the idea.

The ceiling in the bedroom has been plastered, covering the timber ceiling. Mainly cause there was no way to isolate the spot-lighting from the entire living room. So, a simple light fitting will go in there.

This is the living room ceiling. Dad had a passionate love affair with timber. It’s too much for me personally, but it was too beautiful to destroy.

The bedroom wardrobe has all its new handles (this pic was taken in the morning before the ceiling went up).

So, what’s left to do? Well… tile the backsplash, tile the bathroom walls, grout all tiling, put in the bathroom fixtures, cut and place the sink in the kitchen bench, put in the cabinet with the rangehood in the kitchen, put lights in the bedroom, the entrance, the hallway and bathroom, replace the exterior banister cause its rotten and it was pointed out that it’s too low and dangerous so we need to make it higher (we should really replace the entire banister but I can’t afford that on top of it all!), finish plastering the walls, paint the whole apartment and entrance/stairwell, put a guard on the stairwell, put a divider between this apartment balcony and the next apartment, put in all plugs and light switches, remove all rubbish and sand and polish the parquet floor, replace all the little spot lights in the living room with LED spots (all 41 of them!), remove the old curtain rods cause people will apparently want to choose their own window coverings, put in the new door and frame, put handles on both bedroom and hallway door, put in the new windows, fix the little rollers under the aluminum balcony windows, put a coat rack behind the front door, paint the fire guard cause its stained (my job), put a light under the kitchen bench, service the air conditioner, clean/tidy/mend the fireplace and replace the copper engraving dad had made for the front, put in a new doorbell…

I’m sure there’s more I forgot.

I’m broke.

And I have another apartment to renovate… And I’m too old for a sugar daddy…

z