Driveway at Villa Renata, Spain

15/04/08
A quick update on the driveway at Villa Renata in Javea.
We had a mini-bobcat driven by Ivan working on the gravel for a couple of hours last week. He shifted some of the gravel that was a bit deep, and levelled off the whole area. It is now a lot easier to drive on.
Here he is at work:









06/04/08

The driveway at Villa Renata has been greatly improved by removing the rocky outcrops that were sticking up. Then the whole area has been covered with 5cms of gravel. The result, it all looks much, much bigger and a lot neater.

Here you can see the natural sweep in from the entrance

This is roughly what that same drive would look like paved - colours and size of paving stones are not actual

A paved drive from the entrance to the car-port would break up the huge expanse of gravel, and give a firm surface for cars entering and leaving. This would be a continuation of the present entrance, using natural stone.

This is another view of the drive going towards the car port
The paved drive would sweep up from the entrance and then curve round to the right, go in front of the planter, and then sweep left in to the car port.

Building the new steps at Villa Renata

December 2007
This is what it all looked like at the start.

The job here is to raise the level of the upper terrace, and create new steps down to the naya and to the lower terrace. The treads of the steps are to be surfaced with the same stone paving as the naya, and faced with the same stone as the facing of the rest of the naya.


9th February 2008
and this is what it looks like now.


Scroll down to the bottom to see the work in order.





7th February 2008

The steps are finished, the wall rendered, the back wall made good... but, is this really right? (Click on the image to see more clearly)





5th February 2008

Now we can start on the top steps. The large square paving stone on the bottom step is neatly hiding the inspection chimney for the 1st chamber of the septic tank.




At last, the lower steps are all completed, and they look really good!





2nd February 2008

Back at work, but what happened to that tidy terrace?








We can see the shape of the lower steps






24th January 2008

At last, the shape of things to come. But sadly no more work for a week due to a family bereavement.

23rd January 2008



A lot of thought goes into all this.

and a lot of reinforcing goes into all the concrete

22nd January 2008
Out of all this apparent chaos the form of the steps begins to show through.
We built a wall at the side of the steps on the naya. This hides the drain pipe and could be a good site for a barbecue in the future.

The foundation was reinforced with mesh.






19th January 2008

A good solid ramp was laid as a foundation for the steps. It was also a good place for a lot of the rubble from digging up the rest of the old naya.





18th January 2008

After raising the upper terrace and sorting out the drains and access to the septic tank (under the garden to the right of the photo) work starts on building the base of the steps.

Steps and terrace at Renata

8th December 2007
Work has started on the new terrace and steps at Villa Renata in Javea, Spain. During this winter we will be renewing the tiling on the naya at Villa Renata, raising the level of the open terrace off the end of the lounge, and creating a stunning flight of steps from this new terrace to the lower "naya" and swimming pool.
This is what it all looked like before work started on 7th December 2007:


The plan is to create new steps, wider and shallower, that will provide easy access to the lower "naya" and to the swimming pool area.
As usual with this type of job, there is a small problem! The septic tank is, we think, under the flower bed and we don't want to build over it without leaving some sort of an inspection cover. So the first task is to locate the exact position of the tank. Here we go:

The first thing we found was the "false" tank! This is an ingenious system for watering the flowerbed from rainwater caught by the guttering on the roof. But it goes nowhere - just into the soil. Very ecological, but not what we are looking for.
So, is it here?

No!
What about here?

Yes! This is where the tank is. We finally discovered part of the concrete top of the tank. All we have to do now is break into it, make sure it really is the septic tank, check it for roots etc, build a "chimney" up to soil level, and put an inspection lid on so it can be found easily in the future!

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.