We realized why they give you the “built” dimensions and then the “living space” dimensions. They build to extraordinary earthquake standards. When every room has 4” thick walls, the rooms do indeed shrink!
Yes you are brave 😊 and I am sure it will be great when finished. About the walls, we lost 60 square meters in walls in our project as they include also the outer walls in there building area😢
Again, you have confirmed our idea that we will NEVER do a major project like that! Glad that it sounds like things are finally coming together - can't wait to see the final project. Our goal is to buy something for which someone else has put in the blood sweat and tears of remodeling. :-) Thanks for sharing your cautionary tales.
Thanks for sharing your experience! We are thoroughly enjoying the highs and lows of your incredible journey. We purchased a home that only needed minor remodeling which has been an enormous learning curve with moments of incredulous disbelief! So can only imagine how building your home must be. Looking forward to the next update and to seeing the finished work one day.
Hey Nancy - it's great to read your posts each week - I write one on living Off-Grid and Ignorant in Alentejo and we're just entering the phase of our build where we have to choose where to put sockets and lights etc. We're doing three new buildings for a tourism...but unlike you we've never done anything like this before (I used to be a BBC foreign correspondent and my wife Ana was a diplomat). It'd be great to chat to you at some point to get your thoughts and advice as I think you're a little bit ahead of us! Cheers, Al
Why on earth do they cover interior walls with bricks? It makes no sense. In your apartments, were the walls all brick? How do you paint, hang pictures, hook up curtain rods? Really weird.
Nancy, thank you for this insider view of renovation in Portugal! As a fellow former CA resident, I have to ask - are there seismic building regulations in Portugal as well? Are the new hollow masonry blocks tied to the existing walls? Or are they constructed so that they become their own reinforced box, independent of the outside walls?
My spouse and I are headed to Portugal next week - alas, we are sticking to Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon (no car), or we would invite you and Denise to dinner!
I am so thankful you are sharing your experiences with the new home. I'm about to sign for a new build and while I won't need to worry about accounting for curved walls, I will have some input into the project as it currently exists only on paper. And your tips on furnishing it are already bookmarked for later.
It will be gorgeous! Once you’ve painted and the light streams in, it will seem much bigger!!!
Don’t forget a niche or bench for shaving your legs.
We realized why they give you the “built” dimensions and then the “living space” dimensions. They build to extraordinary earthquake standards. When every room has 4” thick walls, the rooms do indeed shrink!
Maybe the additional 'insulation' will reduce the Placa noise?!
Yes you are brave 😊 and I am sure it will be great when finished. About the walls, we lost 60 square meters in walls in our project as they include also the outer walls in there building area😢
Again, you have confirmed our idea that we will NEVER do a major project like that! Glad that it sounds like things are finally coming together - can't wait to see the final project. Our goal is to buy something for which someone else has put in the blood sweat and tears of remodeling. :-) Thanks for sharing your cautionary tales.
Thanks for sharing your experience! We are thoroughly enjoying the highs and lows of your incredible journey. We purchased a home that only needed minor remodeling which has been an enormous learning curve with moments of incredulous disbelief! So can only imagine how building your home must be. Looking forward to the next update and to seeing the finished work one day.
Hey Nancy - it's great to read your posts each week - I write one on living Off-Grid and Ignorant in Alentejo and we're just entering the phase of our build where we have to choose where to put sockets and lights etc. We're doing three new buildings for a tourism...but unlike you we've never done anything like this before (I used to be a BBC foreign correspondent and my wife Ana was a diplomat). It'd be great to chat to you at some point to get your thoughts and advice as I think you're a little bit ahead of us! Cheers, Al
Why on earth do they cover interior walls with bricks? It makes no sense. In your apartments, were the walls all brick? How do you paint, hang pictures, hook up curtain rods? Really weird.
U have nerves of steel -what else csn I say!
Nancy, thank you for this insider view of renovation in Portugal! As a fellow former CA resident, I have to ask - are there seismic building regulations in Portugal as well? Are the new hollow masonry blocks tied to the existing walls? Or are they constructed so that they become their own reinforced box, independent of the outside walls?
My spouse and I are headed to Portugal next week - alas, we are sticking to Porto, Coimbra and Lisbon (no car), or we would invite you and Denise to dinner!
I am so thankful you are sharing your experiences with the new home. I'm about to sign for a new build and while I won't need to worry about accounting for curved walls, I will have some input into the project as it currently exists only on paper. And your tips on furnishing it are already bookmarked for later.