I had planned to come for 2 years. That was back in June 2006 - I nearly came back to the UK in 2010 but after I got stuck on the M25 after the job interview I remembered why I had left originally. I have not looked back - Dubai probably won't be forever but for me it still had a good few more years in it.
Dubai Villa Renovation
- Thread starter ronski
- Start date
The property prices in Dubai right now are frankly ridiculous at the moment and are rising at an alarming clip and with the recent award of expo 2020 it has gotten even more crazy and some of my friends are facing 10-35% increases in their rent
http://www.emirates247.com/property/dubai-house-prices-rising-fastest-in-the-world-again-2013-12-08-1.530506
The situation with labourers in the country has improved (not much and it still border line slavery) and honestly anyone working inside a super hot construction site during the peak of the Dubai summer is beyond me. Sadly, these issues extend far beyond Dubai and are prevalent in the other GCC states as well.
Last edited:
Thanks mate. The company I am using has a team of skilled workman and they are backed up by some laborers. But for sure its a bit of a lottery - I have to have a lot of faith in the project manager but as a new company he is looking to have a reference site and will be using photos of the finished villa as advertising so I am praying it turns out good!
The guys have been cracking on at the villa over the week. I managed to pop over briefly today to have a little look what was going on.
So they have now gutted all the bathrooms - we are going to have an all shower household
Some of the new bathroom gear has arrived to allow the plumbing to start:
We are having (what will the the dining room) extended out to the edge of the patio and the preliminary bricking up work has started:
and they are really starting to move on the tiling. The lounge is down:
as is the the second reception room
and they were busy on the kitchen while I was there:
I am also having the water heaters replaced and in some cases increased in capacity. Here is a new 80l tank in the shared bathroom:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/705615/Terranova/9-1-13/2014-01-09%2014.33.48.jpg
It is certainly hectic on site - there were 13 guys all very busy!
I have also been shopping for a special treat for the lounge and that is a new 4K TV. This also arrived today
Other tasks I have - get hold of the Nest Protect Smoke Alarms, select the new kitchen appliances (and design of the kitchen), chase down the delivery of the light switches, have a serious consideration about how I will cover the house and garden with WiFI and start talks with a different builder for a granny annexe.
So they have now gutted all the bathrooms - we are going to have an all shower household
Some of the new bathroom gear has arrived to allow the plumbing to start:
We are having (what will the the dining room) extended out to the edge of the patio and the preliminary bricking up work has started:
and they are really starting to move on the tiling. The lounge is down:
as is the the second reception room
and they were busy on the kitchen while I was there:
I am also having the water heaters replaced and in some cases increased in capacity. Here is a new 80l tank in the shared bathroom:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/705615/Terranova/9-1-13/2014-01-09%2014.33.48.jpg
It is certainly hectic on site - there were 13 guys all very busy!
I have also been shopping for a special treat for the lounge and that is a new 4K TV. This also arrived today
Other tasks I have - get hold of the Nest Protect Smoke Alarms, select the new kitchen appliances (and design of the kitchen), chase down the delivery of the light switches, have a serious consideration about how I will cover the house and garden with WiFI and start talks with a different builder for a granny annexe.
Last edited:
Work continues at a fair old clip this week. Most of the tiles are down on the ground floor and the french doors have now been pushed back to the edge of the dining room completing the extension:
and the view from the garden of the extension/push out. Looks to me as you would have never known:
We have also been working on the kitchen design by marking out where the new island, fridge and units will sit
The mosaic tiles for the bathroom walls have arrived (really looking forward to seeing these go on):
as have the skirting tiles - I had to special order both the tiles
The other thing that arrived was the Nest Smoke Alarms. Interestingly they arrived the same day that the Google buy out was announced. We will have one in each bedroom and one in the hallway of each floor. The builder will be having these wired in - so no batteries to worry about
and the view from the garden of the extension/push out. Looks to me as you would have never known:
We have also been working on the kitchen design by marking out where the new island, fridge and units will sit
The mosaic tiles for the bathroom walls have arrived (really looking forward to seeing these go on):
as have the skirting tiles - I had to special order both the tiles
The other thing that arrived was the Nest Smoke Alarms. Interestingly they arrived the same day that the Google buy out was announced. We will have one in each bedroom and one in the hallway of each floor. The builder will be having these wired in - so no batteries to worry about
Thanks mate - you are right every little thing seems like a huge step forward.
@Cosimo - The builders estimate is completion end of February. Most of the large jobs are done in terms of building type works. I think by the end of next week we will be into installing the bathrooms and also some electrical works lights/tv cables before finally tiling the bathrooms and installing the kitchen.
Speaking of kitchens - I have just ordered all the kitchen appliances (Siemens throughout) and now need a little sit down.
Last edited:
Thanks mate - you are right it is epic. I couldn't resist not opening it up so I can use it for a couple of months before the move. I also manage to get it for what I consider a great price in the sales here (a shade under 3k sterling).
Thanks guys!
Been back over to the villa and have agreed the master bathroom and kitchen designs. The wife wants a wine cooler - so I have to go shopping again. The other thing left to get in the kitchen are the two sink and taps which are getting a little tricky to track down due to various stock issues. Tomorrow I will walk through with the sparky the position of the down lighters and finalize the moving of a number of sockets and light switches.
The other thing that is teed up for next week is the installation of Ubiquity Networks Unifi Pro's through the house. Three access points downstairs, three upstairs and a further two on the exterior of the house that will cover the rear and side garden (where the shed is).
Me and my mate were doing some rough wireless coverage testing - he stood with his iPhone 5 in hotspot mode and I walked around the house with wifi analyzer on my android. Quite amusing really.
Anyway, what we found out that the guest room with the separate stair case will need a dedicated access point as will the master bedroom. It is amazing how the reinforced concrete walls just kill the wifi signal (admitted the iphone is hardly the best in class hotspot). The plus side is there is basically no neighbouring wifi signals intruding into the house and just a little in the rear garden.
Been back over to the villa and have agreed the master bathroom and kitchen designs. The wife wants a wine cooler - so I have to go shopping again. The other thing left to get in the kitchen are the two sink and taps which are getting a little tricky to track down due to various stock issues. Tomorrow I will walk through with the sparky the position of the down lighters and finalize the moving of a number of sockets and light switches.
The other thing that is teed up for next week is the installation of Ubiquity Networks Unifi Pro's through the house. Three access points downstairs, three upstairs and a further two on the exterior of the house that will cover the rear and side garden (where the shed is).
Me and my mate were doing some rough wireless coverage testing - he stood with his iPhone 5 in hotspot mode and I walked around the house with wifi analyzer on my android. Quite amusing really.
Anyway, what we found out that the guest room with the separate stair case will need a dedicated access point as will the master bedroom. It is amazing how the reinforced concrete walls just kill the wifi signal (admitted the iphone is hardly the best in class hotspot). The plus side is there is basically no neighbouring wifi signals intruding into the house and just a little in the rear garden.
Last edited:
I have to admit to wondering the other day if I should be putting underfloor heating then I remembered that it is the middle of winter here and 20c at night...
As for the large tiles - yes the guys have been saying it has been very difficult to work with and that working with marble tiles would have been easier. As a result I have had to buy a stack more due to a high wastage count.
Absolutely. it is killing me not to be able to see the shiny effect on the tiles. There is so much going on in the villa that almost instantly when you wipe something down it is soon covered in another fine coat of dust. As for getting scratches - yep can try polishing them out but if its bad I will be having the builder relay any damaged tiles. He has actually changed at least 3 already as he was not happy with the finish of the tile (he is a great guy with a realeye for detail)
Agreed it is a lot of APs in a house - the floors are as you say concrete slab. In the end I just don't want to have to go back and add them in later if I am getting dead spots. The original plan was 4 APs in the house but after the mini survey I added in a couple more.
I will run the controller software locally from my iMac - that system is left on all the time so will suffice. I hope I have picked right with the Uniquity gear - the other choice was Engenius EAP 350
Last edited:
With the start of the working week I had to get over to the villa today to meet with the networking contractor. So we could decide on the exact location of the Access Points. The cable runs were then marked out so the building contractor can cut out the channels in the walls and chase the cables in.
It was nice to see the Ubiquity Gear arrive (still missing one Outdoor AP)
After all the research I couldn't resist cracking opening one of the boxes to have a quick peek at the Access Point and I reckon they will look very smart in the house
The electric fixtures also arrived today. It's a lot of gear when you are replacing every single switch/plug and data socket in the house:
It was a busy down at the Villa today with over 18 guys on site today! Looking a bit like parking lot outside the house:
So today they have completed the tiling downstairs and have also completed 3 out of the 5 bedrooms. Once the bedrooms are done work can commence on the bathrooms.
It was nice to see the Ubiquity Gear arrive (still missing one Outdoor AP)
After all the research I couldn't resist cracking opening one of the boxes to have a quick peek at the Access Point and I reckon they will look very smart in the house
The electric fixtures also arrived today. It's a lot of gear when you are replacing every single switch/plug and data socket in the house:
It was a busy down at the Villa today with over 18 guys on site today! Looking a bit like parking lot outside the house:
So today they have completed the tiling downstairs and have also completed 3 out of the 5 bedrooms. Once the bedrooms are done work can commence on the bathrooms.
Last edited:
Thanks mate!
Another day another bit of progress at the villa.
The tiling has been completed on the ground floor interior and they are well under way with the tiling upstairs. Here is a shot taken from the front of the house looking back down the landing through the master bedroom:
The planning on the master bathroom has been completed and the first fix plumbing has been started:
Yesterday the sanitary ware and the bathroom fixtures and fittings were all delivered and the work has quickly started. In the powder room downstairs the guys have put the first toilet in - really nice to see this, as there are currently no other toilets in the whole house at the moment
We also recieved the final delivery of tiles that included the long awaited for kitchen wall tiles:
Work has all started on cutting the channels for the wifi access points here is one outside:
and one inside the house:
Outside of this preliminary work has started on the kitchen:
I am going on holiday for a week tomorrow so am excited to see the progress when I get back.
Hi Rhysduck - yes the whole villa has central ducted AC and agreed the work the guy doing the channeling is super tidy.
I have been away for over a week and managed to get over to the villa this morning to see how things were progressing during my absence.
The floor tiling has now been completed throughout the house. I also asked them to tile the front door entry steps and I am really pleased they have done this as it will add a real flow to the house:
There has been a lot of work done on the downstairs powder room and its nearing completion (the first of 5 bathrooms we are renovating):
The kitchen has also started to coming together - I am having a combination of new units built and a refresh/new doors on the old cabinets. The 3 white tall units on the left will house a trio of built in appliance - Steam Oven, Coffee Maker and Microwave/Oven combo each with a plate warmer drawer underneath:
Also said kitchen appliances arrived (aside from the above - 900mm wide oven, 900mm wide induction hob, island hood and integrated dishwasher)
The gazebo in the garden has become a makeshift carpentary workshop:
The guys have also been relocating power sockets all over the house and finishing up the channeling for the TV in the lounge:
I have to run around this week picking up some more tiles for the other bathroom walls, downlighters and I need to pick out the stone for the kitchen worktops and vanity units in the bathrooms.
I have also now booked the removal guys for us to move in on the 15th March so fingers crossed most it not all of the work will be completed.
The floor tiling has now been completed throughout the house. I also asked them to tile the front door entry steps and I am really pleased they have done this as it will add a real flow to the house:
There has been a lot of work done on the downstairs powder room and its nearing completion (the first of 5 bathrooms we are renovating):
The kitchen has also started to coming together - I am having a combination of new units built and a refresh/new doors on the old cabinets. The 3 white tall units on the left will house a trio of built in appliance - Steam Oven, Coffee Maker and Microwave/Oven combo each with a plate warmer drawer underneath:
Also said kitchen appliances arrived (aside from the above - 900mm wide oven, 900mm wide induction hob, island hood and integrated dishwasher)
The gazebo in the garden has become a makeshift carpentary workshop:
The guys have also been relocating power sockets all over the house and finishing up the channeling for the TV in the lounge:
I have to run around this week picking up some more tiles for the other bathroom walls, downlighters and I need to pick out the stone for the kitchen worktops and vanity units in the bathrooms.
I have also now booked the removal guys for us to move in on the 15th March so fingers crossed most it not all of the work will be completed.
Looks great. Subbed to see how this ends up.
Just looked up the place on Google as have been there several times with both work and holidays and my cousin lives over there, so was curious as to where it was located.
Damn, those villas aint cheap are they?
Thanks mate. And yes the prices are eye watering at the moment.
I went on a little shopping expedition to dragonmart last night and after a 3 hour search I found a few outstanding items I need for the villa.
First item was a mixer/spray tap for the pantry and a bargain at 40 quid
Then after a lot of searching I selected the down lighters and LED bulbs for the villas. The down lighters seemed decent quality and a kinda heavy and very cheap at just over a quid per piece
The bulb choice was a bit harder as there is literally a plethora of different types of Chinese made LED bulbs to choose from varying in price from a one to seven pounds. In the end I found a guy selling some "Harmony" branded bulbs that come with a 2 year warranty and a claimed 40k hour usage with a "Korean chipset". He was a nice chap and gave me them a 4 pound a piece - 4 watt/6500 kelvin/white daylight color/100 degree beam:
I ran them over to the villa this morning and the guys cracked straight on with the installation:
There will be a total of 60 down lighters through out the whole house.
The guys all started on spraying the built in wardrobes from their nasty brown colour to a semi-gloss white. The first of five coats went on today:
The joiners were busy on the construction of the bathroom cupboards when I left:
Next things on my to do list - is buy a few more tiles for the bathroom fit outs, get hold of the kitchen sinks, choose the granite work surfaces and select the kitchen door handles. All good fun but difficult when you also have a full time job.
First item was a mixer/spray tap for the pantry and a bargain at 40 quid
Then after a lot of searching I selected the down lighters and LED bulbs for the villas. The down lighters seemed decent quality and a kinda heavy and very cheap at just over a quid per piece
The bulb choice was a bit harder as there is literally a plethora of different types of Chinese made LED bulbs to choose from varying in price from a one to seven pounds. In the end I found a guy selling some "Harmony" branded bulbs that come with a 2 year warranty and a claimed 40k hour usage with a "Korean chipset". He was a nice chap and gave me them a 4 pound a piece - 4 watt/6500 kelvin/white daylight color/100 degree beam:
I ran them over to the villa this morning and the guys cracked straight on with the installation:
There will be a total of 60 down lighters through out the whole house.
The guys all started on spraying the built in wardrobes from their nasty brown colour to a semi-gloss white. The first of five coats went on today:
The joiners were busy on the construction of the bathroom cupboards when I left:
Next things on my to do list - is buy a few more tiles for the bathroom fit outs, get hold of the kitchen sinks, choose the granite work surfaces and select the kitchen door handles. All good fun but difficult when you also have a full time job.
Last edited: