ᐅ Hillside House in the Southwest Palatinate – Our Home Construction 2.0

We had a (random) meeting at the house yesterday with the structural engineer. I hadn’t heard from him for 2–3 weeks, but knowing he usually has a lot on his plate, I didn’t want to call unless it was absolutely necessary.

It turned out that our moving date will probably have to be postponed. 🙁

During the measurement, it became clear that the screed hasn’t dried as well as hoped, despite the hot weather. According to him, it was actually almost TOO hot. We basically went straight from winter to midsummer this year; spring didn’t really happen. He explained (although I only partly understood) that when temperature differences are too extreme, drying doesn’t work properly. Also, it got really humid at times, which didn’t help either.

Long story short, he would feel more comfortable if the screed were given about two more weeks to dry than originally planned before laying the wood flooring. He said he would prepare the kitchen corner so that we wouldn’t have to postpone the kitchen installation scheduled for the end of July, but it would be better if we could push the move from early to late August.

It doesn’t sound too dramatic, but it really messes up so many plans, it’s driving me crazy. I don’t even know where to start reorganizing everything. Moving company, furniture deliveries, parental leave, parental benefits, ordering heating oil again (?)... and another whole summer month with the kids and no garden. I wouldn’t even mind that nothing’s planted yet—there’s always the possibility of setting up a paddling pool on the dirt...

I don’t really understand it myself. It’s just a delay of 2–3 weeks, but the disappointment is huge, and I can’t quite explain why it affects me emotionally so much. Sometimes, even as an adult, you can’t fully suppress almost “childlike” emotions.

Well, we’ll have another call today to clarify everything more precisely. I don’t want to be impatient and end up with warped flooring. Now I have to somehow cope with this crappy living situation for another month. The more it irritated us, the closer the move date approached, so we always managed to stay positive thinking, “Almost there.” Since yesterday, it feels like “twice as long again,” and without anything that would make it better.

I had a strong impulse to just rent a holiday apartment somewhere and escape for 4 weeks. But I really can’t justify the cost right now, not after spending so much on holidays already this year.

Crazy, I know. Don’t scold me. 🙂

But at least there’s progress on the fiber optic connection front. A technician appointment is coming up. We actually had one scheduled for yesterday, but the technician didn’t show up because—no joke—he had a breakdown. We waited for an hour, and no one was reachable at the company anymore. I ended up looking up the manager’s number, luckily he answered his mobile and reached his employee. The technician called us back shortly after, saying he had wanted to get in touch earlier but didn’t have a number—we could hear cars rushing by in the background. Apparently, it was true: he was stuck on a country road waiting for roadside assistance.

What a story. Still, I’m optimistic.

Oh, I totally understand how you feel. Since July, it seems like summer is already over – which of course is complete nonsense. In recent years, I usually complained around mid-September that it was still way too warm for me.

You’re just losing one summer month “outside.” Maybe it helps to know that you still have the warm September ahead of you, followed by a golden autumn. The kids can play outside in the mud (you probably already have plenty of sand and dirt in the garden for now) and then come inside the new cozy house to enjoy a nice hot cocoa. You can get everything comfortably set up and slowly start preparing for Advent. Next spring and summer it will be greener for you, and you will fully enjoy the season. With a wooden floor that hasn’t warped, too. 😉

If a holiday home isn’t an option, maybe you could go camping spontaneously (afterwards you’ll even appreciate the temporary apartment more) or have several visits to the local water park?

The fiber optic internet situation is really incredible. I could hardly believe it myself 😀 Wishing you good luck that it finally works out soon.

What I appreciate once again is that the general contractor gives a straightforward answer without any complications. It also makes sense to me. And you would really be upset if your parquet floor warped because of overly damp screed.

Since this is apparently "only" about a delay in interior work, the site around the house can probably be tidied up quite well by now. Then maybe you can already enjoy some "garden atmosphere," almost like a little escape from your temporary accommodation.

Fingers crossed for you.

It's a pity that it didn’t work out. I completely understand you; the last few weeks our apartment has also just been annoying, along with everything around it. But it’s better this way than to have a botched job. And drying screed in summer is simply difficult because the outside air has a similar temperature to the inside air. In winter, the outside air is heated and can therefore absorb much more moisture.
But fingers crossed that the rest goes smoothly now.

I feel you!!! I was also hoping for late summer, but if this keeps up, I’ll be thankful if we’re done by Christmas. For us, people keep dropping out one after another with sick leave. Hardly a week goes by without full staff being unavailable.

But do as @kbt09 suggests: a family short trip to the plot and then spend the day enjoying the “garden.” We do that quite often too.

Costruttrice schrieb:


But do as @kbt09 suggests, take a family outing to the plot and then enjoy a day in the "garden," we do that quite often as well.

I would also go with that idea. You live nearby, right? You could already place some garden furniture and a paddling pool in one corner of the garden. Or even start planting something. Or put up the fence...