Portugal Time

It seems our builders have gone onto Portugal Time. Work is still going on, and the house is far from finished -- almost two months after the supposed completion date.

We can't say we are happy about the situation, and we desperately want to move into the house -- not least because the gardening season is fast approaching and it is a real pain living away from the land. On the other hand, we are very pleased with the work that's being done. The stonework has been cleaned up inside and out, weatherproofed, and otherwise made ready. Tiling in the kitchen area -- walls and floor -- has been beautifully done. There's now a stone hearth in one corner with our woodburning stove sitting on it. Most of the interior and exterior surfaces have been painted. Most work on the new main (pine) floor is complete. In fact, in some ways there's little left to do. But there seem to be problems getting windows delivered. Same with floorboarding. With those two things in place, we'd be almost there with just a few fittings (and an interior wall) left to do.

Here is the west wall being weatherproofed. It's some nasty chemical they are using; I hope we don't need to do it that often. I guess it's some kind of PVC concoction in water, so in fact it doesn't seem as bad as I feared.

This is the southwest corner of the house. The stonework is looking great, and most exterior paintwork has been done. But as you can see there are no windows...

And this is the rear of the house. Not quite as complete on this side, but getting close. WE JUST NEED THOSE WINDOWS!

My guess is that the problem is simply poor organization. It certainly isn't a problem with the amount of work -- the workers are almost clicking their heels some days, and sometimes there are only one or two of them on site (whereas they have averaged three or four since May). The boss is busy with other jobs, and I feel he just isn't getting around to organizational details soon enough. Basically he is being reactive rather than proactive. On the other hand, he knows he doesn't get the final installment of his money until the work is done; I'd have thought that is good enough incentive (at this stage) to keep things moving...