Just about the first thing that happened this year was that they removed the scaffolding from the front of the house. Between the new roof, the clean stone and the large windows El Cipreret really starts to look like a house. There is still a long way to go but it does look fantastic!
It seems that we get one good snow fall each year and this year it happened at the beginning of January. It was not too bad in our area but it hit all across Spain and Madrid was particularly bad. It did stop work for a few days but it then cleared enough for the team to start again.
It did mean that between snow and the Christmas / Three Kings holidays it has been a slow start.
This is the back half of the roof of the main house. It’s nearly finished and this picture shows the construction. On top of the flat tiles (which is what you see if you are inside the house) there is a thin concrete layer that holds them in place. On top of that is the insulation and waterproofing layer and then finally the double layer of roof tiles. These are held in place with concrete lumps that stop the tiles blowing away and make it easier for the any water to escape. The end result is beautiful and a transformation from what we inherited.
We are now ready for the next concrete pour which will create the first floor of the guest rooms. The picture shows the red “bovedilla” tiles which sit between the beams. The top of the bovedilla tiles form the flat floor and bottom the curved surface in the ceiling below. The architects asked us what they called in English – we don’t think there is an English word as we never seen them in England.
After finally finishing the hole for the water purification system, the digger moved on to the swimming pool. This turned out to be easy and was ready after a few days. Whilst the pool does not look deep in the picture, we are using the incline towards the house to create the depth.