After two months of hard graft, the house in Pego is finally becoming liveable (well, kind of). We have hot water from the shower, no leaks that we are aware of, and a selection of English plug sockets which are strategically placed to run the all important coffee machine and fan whilst at the same time provide minimal electrocution (the wiring is too bad to prevent every shock). The toilet still needs flushing with a bucket….
For the most part of our first two months working on Project Pego, Darren and I have been replacing the very old, and slightly leaky roof. 1500 tiles have been removed, together with what has felt like 100 tonnes of concrete and reed. I wish I had a pedometer to keep track of the steps I took, up and down three flights of stairs. It would have been interesting to know how many calories I *might* have lost, should I not have supplemented the excess exercise with white bread, olive oil and cava. I also wonder if there is such an app for counting the brush strokes needed to cover 250 flats of wood, twice per side…..
I’ve lost count how many trips to the tip we made, but we are now pretty good friends with the man in charge, and we can hold fairly basic conversations with him in Spanish. Better still, we don’t need to bribe him with a twenty pound note like the chaps at the Southampton tips, and he even helps us unload!
Fortunately for us all, we also made friends with Pippa, a lovely lady who lives a few doors down. She and her husband are currently building themselves a casita, and it needs a roof. Our tiles were perfect for the job. It saved us hours of time and energy – we just left the tiles outside the front door, and as if by magic they disappeared within the hour.
Replacing the roof has been a difficult job. Pego was getting steadily warmer as the weeks went by. We were very lucky to have a few visits from friends and family to break the renovations up.
And, when we didn’t, we had Les Deveses beach, just a 10 minutes down the road. Les Deveses was the perfect spot to undertake an obligatory siesta .
The roof renovation also came to a slight halt after we discovered a nest full of baby starlings in the eaves, but after building a temporary sun shelter and rebuilding the eaves, we successfully re-homed the chicks.
But somehow, despite the heat, the language barrier, the lack of local knowledge on area and suppliers, the numerous siestas spent at the beach, those 2250 tiles, 250 slats of wood, and the few (and often not too far between) petty arguments, we left Pego with a roof which was pretty much finished!
The roof needs just 4 ridge tiles (the supplier sent us the wrong ones), a few eaves combs fitted (due in to stock four days after we left for home) and the sides of the dorma painting. (We were also waiting on the glass for the patio doors which came into stock the day after we left, but our fab window manufacturer, Jose, fitted it for us).
We’re pretty chuffed with the first stage of Project Pego, and cannot wait to get back to Spain next month to finish those last little bits and get on with stage two, three and four – fitting the new windows to the front of the house, renovating the terrace and designing my dream kitchen (hint: it has a wine station – google it)
Here are a few photos of the progress so far. Keep scrolling too, I’ve made another of my dodgy videos and you’ll find a link at the bottom.
Here’s the next instalment of my video diaries of the Project Pego progress, this time focussing on the roof. I took it just before jumping in the van as we set off on our INCREDIBLE drive home via Andorra (post coming soon).
If you missed the start of our Spanish home renovation, you can catch up by reading my earlier blog post Oh F#*K, What have we Brought?, Project Pego Begins and Project Pego – A Month In
Damn Good Show! I admire you so much. Kudos.