Even the shed has AC by the looks of it
so its a sure bet the house has - pretty sure you can see it in 2 of the pics.Dubai Villa Renovation
- Thread starter ronski
- Start date
Even the shed has AC by the looks of it
so its a sure bet the house has - pretty sure you can see it in 2 of the pics.
Associate
Nice Nice Nice
Soldato
Do you have solar panels on the roof or any plans to fit them?
Sadly the developer did not put them in as standard. I will have an investigation when I look to the exterior landscaping particularly for any water heaters I might need.
I popped down to the villa this morning and not much has been going on as they only worked a couple of days in between Christmas and are now only due to re-start work this Sunday.
The good news is that 95% of the floor tiles have been removed - here are the last few remaining tiles:
The data cabling in the villa is now also complete withe second 24 Port switch now installed. This is great as it now effectively allows any one point to be connected to any other point allowing great flexibility. The blue box on the bottom of the cabinet is the Fibre Modem which the local service provider uses for TV/Internet and Phone services.
I also met with the builder and I am now going to have the final 2 ensuite bathrooms re-tiled and refreshed as it makes sense to do it at this point. So I have been out shopping again for an incremental tile order as well as the rest of the bathroom ware. At the same time we will replace all the electrical water heaters as a number of them are leaking and starting to show their age.
On top of this I have also brought new light switches and sockets for the whole house. I have gone for Schneider Electric Ultimate Range to give a matching look for switches and socket. They look reasonably tidy and are from a local hardware store giving me flexibility if I need any extras or need to exchange any in the future. Not too expensive per piece but when buying for a whole house is soon adds up
Once the bathrooms are finalised I will turn my thoughts to the kitchen...
The good news is that 95% of the floor tiles have been removed - here are the last few remaining tiles:
The data cabling in the villa is now also complete withe second 24 Port switch now installed. This is great as it now effectively allows any one point to be connected to any other point allowing great flexibility. The blue box on the bottom of the cabinet is the Fibre Modem which the local service provider uses for TV/Internet and Phone services.
I also met with the builder and I am now going to have the final 2 ensuite bathrooms re-tiled and refreshed as it makes sense to do it at this point. So I have been out shopping again for an incremental tile order as well as the rest of the bathroom ware. At the same time we will replace all the electrical water heaters as a number of them are leaking and starting to show their age.
On top of this I have also brought new light switches and sockets for the whole house. I have gone for Schneider Electric Ultimate Range to give a matching look for switches and socket. They look reasonably tidy and are from a local hardware store giving me flexibility if I need any extras or need to exchange any in the future. Not too expensive per piece but when buying for a whole house is soon adds up
Once the bathrooms are finalised I will turn my thoughts to the kitchen...
Be under no illusion, a normal IT position wouldn't buy a Villa like that, you'd be in a high rise condo in Dubai with most normal positions. Property is as expensive out there as it is in the home counties of England
Be under no illusion, a normal IT position wouldn't buy a Villa like that, you'd be in a high rise condo in Dubai with most normal positions. Property is as expensive out there as it is in the home counties of England
Absolutely right. I started off in a high rise condo and caught a break with a really high cash offer. Mind you I had to ride out the crash which at one point had me at minus 25% equity. Not pretty at the time.
Man of Honour
How many years have you been out there?
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.
Associate
interesting Log. two questions.
Whats the property price situation in Dubai, is the market very liquid?
Also, whats the deal with all the tantamount to slavery indentured servitude with Indians/pakistanis and affrikans? From what I hear, the Arabs of Dubai are racist as ****?
Whats the property price situation in Dubai, is the market very liquid?
Also, whats the deal with all the tantamount to slavery indentured servitude with Indians/pakistanis and affrikans? From what I hear, the Arabs of Dubai are racist as ****?
Soldato
This is a lovely house villa. Shame about the country really
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.
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Soldato
Excellent thread and a lovely villa!
Out of curiosity, what's the workmanship like? Is it the same as over here in as much that you get your good guys and idiots? everything looks well done!
Out of curiosity, what's the workmanship like? Is it the same as over here in as much that you get your good guys and idiots? everything looks well done!
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.
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Soldato
subbed looks great mate enjoy it.
Enjoy the winter sun while we are all freezing here in Europe
Enjoy the winter sun while we are all freezing here in Europe
Associate
65" monster!!
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