Our Little Project
Our Little Project
We had worked with builders in the US. We had bought a 1950’s fixer-upper and lived in it during the renovation (80% of which we did ourselves). We even flipped two homes in Florida. So we thought we knew what we were getting into. But no…on my goodness, no!
If you are considering renovating a property in Portugal, permit me to suggest that you read each and every one of the posts below! If that doesn’t dissuade you, then grab your favorite adult beverage … buckle up … and if you don’t enjoy the adventure, I truly hope you enjoy the outcome.
And if along the way, you ever have any questions…don’t hesitate to contact me.
Let’s start at the beginning:
In October 2021, we bought a 100-year-old union hall.
If you are unfamiliar with buying real estate in Portugal, can I also recommend you read this post (Buyer Beware)… if you need financing, please read this.
In November of 2021, we asked our readers to Grab Their Graph Paper,
We also shared what we considered Weird Building Regs.
In December, when we returned to look at what we bought, we had a bit of buyer’s remorse…Did the Building Shrink?
But we forged on…some times there was both Progress and Disappointment.
Often we Didn't Know all the Questions to ask.
By April 2022 we were getting bids from contractors as our paperwork moved through the câmara.
Often we felt like we were Swimming in Mayonaise.
It took until the fall of 2022 to get most of the demolition done. There was a lot of digging and removal of dirt. Through this process, we made some interesting discoveries.
Now it was time to actually build something, and we found the house did shrink!
Kitchens & Baths were the first of a hundred decisions we had to make.
And throughout the process, we often found You Can't Always Get What You Want.
But we forged on. We are starting to see progress…and as of February 2023, we have a Renovation Timeline that has us in the house by mid-June.
And while things don’t always go as planned, we are seeing progress.
And then the progress SLOWED! Spoiler alert, we weren’t in by mid-June.
We didn’t make the end of June either….
In late July we were screaming “Reinaldo, Reinaldo, Reinaldo” (and we weren’t referring to the futball player.
However, we did move in and are very happy with the result! I posted some photos of the finished project here.
You might think that that is the end of the story. But during a recent reader survey, the most requested topic was “more construction stories”. So stay tuned…