Here is the really interesting bit.
What actually happens when you renovate a cave house!

To see what we are hoping for click here.

As we have to think about schools and businesses to run we are using the wonderful local craftsmen to do all the work. You’ll find in the Links section details of others who have done most of the work themselves if you fancy a spot of DIY. We also engaged the project management and interior design talents of the Estate Agent that we bought our cave through. Using the term Estate Agent is so negative in the UK, we should really come up with a better term that more accurately reflects the input Matilda and Jose-Miguel have on the whole project! Matilda’s reforming a cave next door for herself so at least we know some of the neighbours already.

24th April - Work Started Today!!!

First job is to clean the front of the cave and produce a relatively flat surface that the facing can be attached to.

27th April - A few more photos of the cleared exterior.

We can see a couple of new openings we didn’t know about to the left of what will be the bathroom and  to the right of the living room. Could be more store rooms. We’re told that storage space is often at a premium in a cave house so seems a shame to make use of a bedroom if we have the additional space elsewhere.  The kitchen also has a new window so we can “See the mountains as we do the washing up!”. I’m told this is “Diggers Licence”, he sees a good idea and just does it!

Its the Moors and Christians Festival in Benemaurel next week so we don’t expect work will get in the way of enjoying a Fiesta. Look here for the pictures

11th May - Waiting for Permissions.

Not much happening at the moment as we have to wait for permissions from the local authorities before work can start in earnest. We’re back out at half term when we hope all the permissions will be granted and we can get things moving again.

29th May - Its really ours!!!

Well today we were in Cullar for the signing at the Notary Public. Despite a few hiccups to do with the different ways things are done in Spain and the UK (that’s all we had experience of previously) the deeds are now in our name. The Notary at Cullar was excellent and did everything twice, once in Spanish for the vendors and once in English for us.

Click here for the detailed work in June , July or August
or keep going for the condensed version.

What happened during June?

June was mostly about getting the external structure up and finished. This included putting up the outside wall, adding the window and door frames. The roof was then added and the finished walls clad with stone at the bottom o fthe walls.

What happened during July?

June was all about services,  and getting the interior sorted. The longer rooms have support beams (vegas) added for security and visual appeal. As there is no mains water we have a large 3,000 litre water deposit which is being fitted above the cave to get good water pressure. The internal block walls are rendered before painting so they match the natural cave wall as closely as possible.

What happened during August?

Simple answer is not a lot!!! August is holiday month and also with temperatures outside over 40C its difficult to do much in the heat

Back to work in September, for us all?

September is about fixtures and fittings. A trip out to Spain to start the process of furnishing the cave. Budgetary constraints and the fact it is a holiday home means that economy furniture is the order of the day. It has to be said that good quality at the right price is available if you look hard enough. Most important of all a chance to see all the work that has been done.

October and we’re nearly there!

Nearly finished now. October was all about finishing details. We even managed to stay for a week at the end of the month. There was still a lot of work going on around us but we got a real feel for what it would be like when all was finished.