New ideas of what we want to do crop up all the time.
At present the downstairs and upstairs are not connected internally. Eventually this will change but for the present it makes a good layout with us having everything we need to live downstairs. Upstairs can be used as guest accommodation.
We now have a completed toilet and shower room upstairs which was the smallest bedroom, there is also a large bedroom and a second bedroom fitted out as a lounge with a bed settee.
Over the time we have owned the house we have fitted a new log burner downstairs.
Converted the smallest upstairs bedroom to a WC and shower room.
Working out the jigsaw of pipework needed.
Welding PVC, chiselling walls and drilling through floors and walls.
Lagging pipes until they sweat. After boxing in they were also surrounded with fibreglass insulation. Up to now, touch wood, no frozen pipes over winter. ( well... not in this room )
Levelling up the shower, this created loads of weird optical illusions until finally trusting the spirit level and tipping in some water just to watch it disappear down the plug hole with no puddle left in the tray.
Whoever plastered this room in the past did a decent job as the tiling went without a hitch. Whoever put up the ceiling however....... 50mm difference between one end and the other.
Redoing the ceiling was out of budget so, anyone who notices the wedge shape tiles is too nosey.
Boxing and more lagging.
Just about finished, working a couple of days each holiday it's taken 2 years but we're pretty pleased with it.
Tarted up the well.
Everything used to fix up the well was laying around in the barn. For zero cash and a days time it gives a much better look to the orchard area and makes a nice original Bulgarian necessity into a functional feature. The seized pump left by the previous owner was also 'renovated' with a hammer and some WD40.
Started adding weed free gravel areas which is still an ongoing project.
Never underestimate what 3 tons of gravel looks like and how long it takes to move in a wheelbarrow. Since starting we have been introduced to a villager who will do things 'the crazy English way' if requested, and the cost of his time is going to be money well spent as this project continues. As much as I want to do everything with as little outlay as possible, some jobs are definitely best left to a younger man.
Laid a patio with sun cover. This area is great in summer when the extra shade is provided by the grapevines.
The roof and timbers of the patio area came from a chicken shed we bought and dismantled, then rebuilt over the paving.
I'm always on the lookout for a bargain and sometimes you just drop onto something that can be recycled and given a new lease of life.
The hardest part was refitting the cross pieces so that the original holes in the roofing sheets matched up.
It even felt safe climbing on top to put the screws through the sheeting, and I'm not the lightest.
Getting the garden sorted is the largest ongoing project which with luck and hard work will be completed next year. Converting the large attic space is another dream project, that will get done gradually most likely.
It's a slow process trying to do jobs to get the place up to a level we want whilst also trying to enjoy our times in Bulgaria.
It's quite a big learning curve and sometimes difficult to get your head around how the original Bulgarian builders did things but, so far, no regrets with either the choice of property or the village of Radanovo.
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