Our New House, part 1

In The Beginning...

This was the original shell of a house that was donated to us, very kindly, by ABSA bank. All we had to do was remodel - then we would have no loan or bond payments to make! The house was literally just brick and mortar. No electric wiring, no plumbing, nothing! So, we had a long way to go!

They started by ripping out everything that was not going to fit in with our new floorplan (hence why my flat (garage on left) in the photo above has lost it's roof and walls. The photo below is of Victoria standing in our flat at this stage.

Then the fun began of plastering, flooring and putting up the roof. Our first contractors were really not fantastic and did many of the walls askew. We ended up firing them and getting someone else to come in and do the finishing. This is the staff bathroom below as a work in progress.
Once the structure was up we had a team working on the plumbing and electricity, another doing cabinets (kitchen of main house seen below) and yet another doing all of the painting and wallpapering (yes, that's right, wallpaper. Don't get me started...).
Once those were in, it was time for the baby home to move! Happily, I was safely in America for this, so the Aunties and Tiffany had to take charge. I must say, this is the fastest we have ever settled into a house. When I was here for the 2nd move there were boxes that stayed unpacked for months! Now, all we have are a few boxes of toys that have nowhere to live (the movers broke our toy and book cabinet, but they gave us a TV stand and a dining table, so we're even).

Coming next.... the volunteer/housemother flat.