Refurbishment at Villa Renata in Javea, Costa Blanca

3rd June 2007
Phew! Ready just in time for the first guests who arrive today!
Everything is now finished - well, nearly everything. There are still a few little things to finish:
1. The shower screens from Duscholux. These should be here in the next few days, but I wouldn't hold my breath. All their shower screens are made to order, and usually take 3 - 5 weeks from measuring. We are in to week 3 now. A temporary shower curtain is in place in the shared bathroom. Extra bath mats supplied in the main bathroom.
2. The third vanity unit, for the main bathroom. The suppliers say this will be in on Monday or Tuesday. Whenever! It will be fitted as soon as it arrives. The unit that is there looks fantastic.
3. The curtains for the main bedroom - we have the curtains - match the bedspread perfectly, but the hooks from the old curtains didn't fit (too long) so we have to get new hooks. No-where open on Sunday. They will be up on Thursday.
There are still some decorations that are not in place, but right now the whole house looks great.
A total transformation. Excellent job!




29th May 2007
Everything is just about finished now - although no-one would believe it looking at the villa!
All the floors are finished, just the grouting in the entrance hall to be done this afternoon.
The bathrooms are done, just the vanity units, shower screens and the little accessories like towel rails to go up. Unfortunately the suppliers haven't got the vanity units in yet, so they will go in on Friday. The shower screens should be here next week sometime, we hope!
The electrics are all finished and the light fittings are going up today.
Tomorrow (30th May) the builders say they will be out! Watch this space ..........
Furniture, curtains etc will be going back on Friday when the painters have finished. Then it's just the cleaners (Friday afternoon)

18th May 2007
The lounge and dining room floors are finished!



The lounge floor is completely finished with the skirting fitted and everything grouted. It is quite stunning!



The tiling is now finished in the main bathroom, and the marble trim is on along the back of the bath. A great feature that really finishes it off. Grouting will be done next week and then all the fittings will go in.





The shower room tiling is finished as well. There is a piece of marble at the end of the shower tray that finishes it off really well. The new windows are also in. They will be stained up next week after all the fittings go in.


17th May
Work is going on really well, although it all still looks a mess. The colours don't come out very well either - the real thing looks a lot better than these photos!



14th May 2007



There are always a few unexpected problems with refurbishing a property. At this villa we found a lot of evidence of termites. It seems they have gone as no live beasties have been found, but there is a lot of damage. Here is a piece of architraving from one of the doors - looks perfect on the outside, but is held together by the varnish. And the front door also needs a piece fitting to one side of the frame.


9th May 2007



Tiling is going very well in the lounge and work has also started in the bathrooms. They look a real mess at the moment, but the tiles look really good.


8th May 2007


At last! Tiling has started. Tiling has started in the lounge with the Porcelanosa tiles. These are beautiful tiles and laying them is a real precision job. Takes a lot longer than standard tiles as they are butted together with just a tiny grout between the tiles. No room for manoeuvre or error. They look really great and everyone on the job is looking forward to seeing them all down.
Tiling starts in the lounge and then works through the house in one continuous run to keep the staggered pattern right all the way through.

5th May 2007
Here are a couple of photos of part of a shower screen. This screen shows a stainless steel frame between the fixed glass and the wall, but this will not be necessary at Renata as the wall will be squared off to take the glass without a frame.


5th May 2007
This has been a "short" week with public holidays in Javea on 1st (May day) and 3rd (Día de las cruces). Add to that the torrential storms, and the result is that work has progressed, albeit slowly.
The top level concrete has now been poured in the lounge and dining room in preparation for tiling. This concrete is poured onto a bitumen damp-proof membrane, and covers all the central heating and water pipes. The floor tiles have arrived on site - everyone is excited about laying these tiles as they really are quite stunning.
The new plumbing is now virtually completed with just the towel rads to be installed and the bathroom radiator. The central heating circuit has been tested under pressure (3 bar) for 3 days and not a drop anywhere, so that has now been drained down in preparation for fitting the last 3 rads.





24th April 2007

Work is continuing well at Villa Renata.


The new concrete bases in the lounge and dining room are now in place, incorporating mesh reinforcing in the concrete, and tieing the bases to the walls with reinforcing rods.

The new concrete base for the lounge floor


The main drain to the septic tank is under the concrete base in the lounge. There is a T join under the dining area where the drains from the cloakroom and second bathroom join the drain from the main bathroom. There is also a T join to the kitchen (photo above)


The concrete bases for both bathrooms and the cloakroom are now complete, with the drains for all the bathroom appliances under the concrete.

A cable for the thermostat for the central heating was run from the carport to the end of the passage. The thermostat will be at the end of the passage - a fairly "neutral" area as regards temperature. By situating the thermostat here it is not necessary to channel any walls as the wiring will run up inside the bathroom wall (before tiling) and then come through neatly to the wall of the passage.