# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  A Go with no Whoa

## mattcz

It was suggested that I do a go to whoa on my czech farmhouse. It is a massive project and I am essentially working alone. As it is so far from whoa, I think I will just give you a brief description of the property and let the photos speak. As (when....if) I get areas actually completed, I will do separate posts in this thread showing before and after and describing anything interesting in the process. 
The house is in the West of the Czech Republic, not far from Plzen (you know, Pilsen...yeah, go on, dribble!). It is in a small town of about 60 residents and, apart from the Zamek (chateau) is the largest thing in the village. It is in a U shape on a 2000m2 plot. The outside of the U is the extent of the land with a large garden in the middle. The main house is 20m x 8m in plan and is on three original levels (including cellar) but will be on 4 levels as I venture inexplicably into the loft. The upstairs area was originally for drying grains, hops etc. so has beautiful low and large windows. The house has a huge old bread oven in the kitchen which extends into it's own room that would have been sufficient to feed the community. 
Next to the main house is a beautiful sty with vaulted ceiling. After that is the old mill that is now another garden. After that is a huge tractor shed with sow sty. After that is the wood shed and woodworking area and after that is another sty with grain storage area above. This is bigger than the main house and could make 8 - 10 large pensione apartments (not now....much, much, later). This is followed by an existing apartment (where the former owners lived for the last twenty years (easier to heat)), a workshop and garage.  
Unlike in Oz, it is very common here to buy a house with everything in it. I inherited 5 generations of goods, wonders and crap. It was made worse by the CZ being a former communist country. Everything (EVERYTHING) was saved, just in case: I have a box of the end pieces from rolls of wire. Will talk about the goodies (medals, WWII memorabilia and a Skoda 1000MB car) later. It took three months to sort through it all. 
Ok photos....ugh....just realised how limited the file size is...um...will do some work and get back to you.

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## shauck

Hi Mattcz. 
Hope you stick with the go to whoa section. That way, any of us reading won't have to go searching for you in other places. Call me lazy or maybe interested and just don't want to miss anything.  
Look forward to more. 
Su.

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## phillta

:Iagree:

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## andy the pm

Mate, I eny you, I would love to do something like that! Get those pictures up 
What took you to the Czech Rep? If you don't mind me being nosy... 
Andy

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## mattcz

OK....pics are coming when I can work out how to reduce them down to nothing to upload. 
Andy, Came here a couple of years ago to help out an Australian friend who was married to a Czech woman. They were having lots of problems. Fell in love with the place. BUT, like any country, it is easier being a tourist. The real challenge comes when you need to do more than get from one castle (or one beer) to the other. 
Which reminds me, a large part of my stress is that the house is not currently winter-proof. A new roof has been fitted but no insulation, no euro (double glass) windows and no heating system. I had to get out for four months last European winter and things have been going so slowly this year that it looks as though I need to get out again.  
Other things to know about the original house: it had only an outside dry dunny (can't begin to imagine outside dunny and -25). Over 60 metres of canal/sewerage piping have destroyed the beautiful garden but provided me with a (provisional) indoor toilet - LUXURY. Despite the size of the house, it had only one set of water taps over a tiny hand basin in the kitchen. All of the pipe work has now been completed for new bathroom and kitchen upstairs, bathrooms downstairs and main kitchen. 
I'll go and figure out the photo reduction problem...

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## mattcz

ok...rock and roll! But only one pic for now as I have spent too long trying to work out how to do it. More tonight my time.

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## mattcz

@@@ @@@ @ wasn't the right photo [sigh]

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## Make it work

I can relate, Wonder Wife & I have been working mostly full time on ours for nearly 4 years now and we are nowhere near to the WHOA yet. We have got some bits finished but it is all pretty slow. 
Post more pics when you can. We love old houses.

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## mattcz

ok - here goes:

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## Black Cat

Matt!!! It's gorgeous - lucky you. I do empathise regarding the five generations of rubbish. I only inherited one generation's worth, and that was quite enough to keep me busy for a while. I imagine the locals are all muttering 'crazy foreigner' behind your back, lol. 
I am a little baffled as to why, with all that space, you have decided to remove the ceiling in the main part of the house to create such a huge space though. I would have thought small, compact, easily heated spaces would be the way to go in that climate .... 
Looking forward to seeing progress as you go along, mine is taking forever and a day (and several small fortunes as well!)

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## Black Cat

Oh, and are you using a traditional whitewash on the walls? That kitchen looks fabulous!

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## mattcz

more

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## mattcz

thanks blackcat...all these photos are BEFORE renovation. This is a cleaned up version of what I moved into. 
Re: whitewash - if you talk about paint here in CZ, you are talking about whitewash. Until fairly recently, it is all that has been available. Paint as we know it is something new and entirely different. Suits me as it is the best thing for old walls anyway. 
Re: removing the ceiling into the loft - longish story but.... half of the ceiling is good thick original wood with insect damage that I can either live with or repair. The other half was poor quality, thin and could not even be walked upon as it was so riddled with every wood eating insect. My guess is that at some point in the house's history (I imagine WWII) the good wood was removed from half and used for heating. When times improved, they threw on the rubbish wood. Now old wood here is not appreciated at all. Everyone, including my carpenter friend, wants me to completely replace all the wood with new pine  :Frown:   . A consequence of this lack of interest in old wood is that it is impossible to find. People don't sell it, they burn it. About two companies in CZ sell old floorboards and beams but the price is ridiculous. So, after a year and a half of struggling, I decided to remove the good wood as well. This will be used for a loft bedroom which currently has no floor, the downstairs kitchen which has a floor that was concreted at some point and a downstairs bedroom floor that is currently particle board (gasp). So it solves lots of problems for me. If I find good old wood at a reasonable price later, it can be put back as the loft floor making an extra 140m2 of living space. 
It is basically a way of getting around a lack of progress by using the resources that I have. 
Appreciate your interest. 
m

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## mattcz

@Make it Work ..... 4 years full time? Two people? Maybe reno forum should start a dating section...it's me and the dogs... 
more photos tomorrow, I'm knackered (although for the purposes of any future dating section, that is, of course, only a figure of speech).  :Wink:

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## Black Cat

Wow, what a challenge - I am so envious - though the long winter nights could be a bit hard to take I think. There seems to be some rather nice furniture there, amongst the tat, so I presume you will be spending those winter nights with a few furniture restoration projects just to keep yourself busy, lol. 
Those floors are wonderful - but a lot of hard scrubbing ahead of you. And did I spot a bread oven mounted in a wall? If so I am deeply envious. 
You will have a gorgeous home there once you are done. Do you plan to use some of the other wings as holiday accommodation at some future time? 
And the glimpses of the 'garden' suggest all sorts of possibilities...

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## jago

Wow what a great project... love the pics I get a feel for the space.  
What project are you currently working on?  
Those walls man they must be 16inches thick in part!  
I wouldn't worry too much about having rads under your windows with walls that thick, stick them on the walls and get somegood quality argon filled double glazed windows they will improve the heat. Just ensure you do insulate the roof, what is it slate or terracota tile. :2thumbsup:  
It sounds like you dont drink enough todate a Czech woman. 
FYI the couple that did the documentary renovation of a building in Slovaki webiste below; A Place in Slovakia 
happy hunting :2thumbsup:

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## Armers

What i would give to be back over there... Maybe you should start a fly in fly out working bee!  :Biggrin:  Put  us up for the week / month / year and we can help you out!  
Looks awesome though, i would love that much land and old house to play with! 
Keep at it, i'll keep watching in awe! 
Cheers

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## SilentButDeadly

Looks like a pretty wonderful project from this distance but I appreciate the challenges you've set for yourself.  Keep smiling above all else.

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## andy the pm

Wow, thats a fantastic place you have there Matt, thanks for the pics! I like Armers suggestion of a working holiday, I'd be there in a flash except I think the other half might object... 
Andy

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## Bedford

Thanks Matt for putting this up for us to see, and if you need any help with the rough bits that no one sees  :Biggrin:  I'm in. :Smilie:

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## mattcz

> Thanks Matt for putting this up for us to see, and if you need any help with the rough bits that no one sees  I'm in.

  lol - the "rough bits that no one sees" can describe just abut all of the workers around here. If you can throw a decent punch....your in!

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## mattcz

working bee....you are bringing tears to my eyes. I have helped enough people around here in the past but received back feck all. Was moving enormous hardwood indian furniture yesterday on my own and cursing them. 
You are all welcome anytime. I may need to say little more than "FINEST BEER IN THE WORLD". Just tell the wife (or husband) that you are popping out for a pint.

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## mattcz

@jago -sorry missed yours- walls are 65cm on ground floor an 55cm on first floor. Terracotta roof tiles. Best possible insulation will go under the gyprock. Current project? Anything that I am not sick of. Currently about thirty jobs going simultaneously. Makes getting a sense of achievement dificult but keeps me moving. The next big one is the council will take up the street guttering around my house and will dig down a further metre to allow me to put in bettagutta (water insulation plastic) and a deep drainage pipe. As this work is reliant on other people, it may never happen. 
Bitter? A little.  :Smilie:

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## Black Cat

The one thing renovation in a small community devoted to alcohol teaches you is that patience is a virtue. I have similar experiences here. Working bee? Oh, suddenly remembered it is time to count the peas on the vines ... still, if you are part of a small community it does not pay to alienate them, so keep smiling through ... 
I am a firm believer in the many tasks makes light work approach - I mean how many flatpacks can you assemble before you start going mad? Go out and do some gardening - scrub that nice brick floor and ok, it will be covered in muck in five more minutes of tramping in and out, but it looked great when you did it, and so now you know it will look fantastic once it is done.  
On my part, I would love to come give you a hand but I have sworn never to do another long-haul flight. Melbourne is about my limit, lol.

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## mattcz

thanks black cat - as I said here or somewhere else, I have a multitude of projects for that exact reason. I just keep moving from one to the next with an eye firmly focussed on pushing myself to do the things that are logical rather than constantly using the love of my life (the high-pressure water machine). 
While my dream is to spend "winter" in Darwin and summer in Melbourne, you only live once (and a bit) so yo should reconsider the travelling. I can only say again "FINEST BEER IN THE WORLD". 
On alienating people, your comments are logical and reasonable but, to my surprise after using  logic for the last two years to little effect, divorcing myself from the community was an excellent thing to do. There is only so much of anticipation and deflation/disappointment that one can take. It is so much easier (in this environment) to disengage and not have to deal with the failure (which actually has nothing to do with you in the first place). It would be comical if it wasn't so tragic (which is why it would have made fabo television). Things are much better for me now that I am relying on myself and nobody else. I don't think this applies in very many other situations but here, certainly, it does. 
Cheers!

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## Black Cat

Yes, I can see that. I have recently started taking a firmer line with local workers who are 'gonna' turn up but don't and transfered my attentions to those who actually do what they say they will. Sometimes it takes a while to settle into a new community - though in your situation, I can see there would be major obstacles to that.  
Self-reliance is a wonderful thing and I am a firm believer in it. Even if I am paying someone to do a job, I like to think it is something I too can do, or if not, that I can learn from the process of working with them (owner-builder, labourer, and all that). 
I love the new skills you pick up as you go along. And the lessons you learn about what not to tackle until you have gained the necessary skills to do it... so far none too expensive ... 
With the multitasking, there are two key ingredients - keep your eye on the long-term goal, and keep one room fit to live in and relax in. Otherwise it can get truly messy, lol. 
And my views on travelling stem from two years in the UK commuting to London, two years in NZ in a job that included most of the south island, eight years in queensland in a job that included most of the state, as well as two years in northern NSW with a job that included port macquarie, tweed heads and moree in its scope. Too much time wasted going from point a to point b - now I am staying in one place and actually achieving things (though sadly not an income at present, lol!)

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## shauck

Sounds like you're having a hard time. I'm shaking my head at the situation. I hope you get many visitors coming to help you, not only with your project but to alleviate the alienation and create some well needed community. Someone out there, please get on a plane and go visit mattcz right now. Show those townsfolk how it's done round here. Lots of work then lots of beer... after. 
Su. 
P.S. Love a good beer.

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## mattcz

Thanks Black Cat and Su.  
There are some very good people here in CZ...but they are not in the building trade and they aren't in my village. To be a little bit fair to the idiots...the type of communism that they endured has left fairly deep scars here. Performing well was rewarded in the same way as not performing at all so you would have to be crazy to make an effort. Twenty-one years later, this total lack of work ethic endures. I now offer a base wage plus a completion bonus of about 20% (while still paying the same fair rate I used to pay). This has slightly increased reliability. 
lol - on keeping one space as a construction-free sanctuary. Excellent advice...I give it to everyone...and have never followed it. This is my second reconstruction and both times - to keep the momentum going - I had to do what I do best: destroy things  :Smilie:  . My house is a disaster zone (more than the early photos show) as I have stripped everything. THIS IS NOT A GOOD IDEA but I would do the same thing again in the same situation. THANKFULLY, just when I am on the edge of my sanity, I have almost finished one part of upstairs that will be my sanctuary. This will make an enormous difference to my mental state. 
ok - more photos next. Sorry they are not organised or captioned. For this thread, they are just a general overview. 
THANKS!!!

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## mattcz

more

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## mattcz

and more

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## jago

Great features ...love the bierkeller it reminds me of the Crypt club in Brixton, it would make a great studio for some dodgy Dutch techno DJ's.lol 
You certainly  like a project or twenty, when does it start getting cold there?

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## mattcz

hi jago, that is actually one of the stys. They have non-stop drinking places just about everywhere (as you know) and this area is known locally as the "Non-Stop Sty" as I had half joked about turning it into a music bar. I stripped part of one of the walls back to the stones and it looks edible. It should be noted that all of these photos are from last year. But the sty hasn't changed much other than being cleaned because it is not as high a priority as a shower room. 
I had to leave last year in mid-November. It was about -3 at night but hadn't begun to snow. I got out just in time. I will have to get out again this year, unfortunately. 
Nazdravi!

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## Black Cat

Love those vaulted ceilings! And you have pigeon lofts as well! Lucky you! You should be able to lay in a goodly supply of winter wood with all that storage space. Trick will be digging your way across the courtyard to collect it. 
It's a project and half, but good on you for taking it on. It will be simply gorgeous once you are done. Go easy on the original finishes though, they are what make it something really special. It must have been a major farm at one stage of the piece ...

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## mattcz

Pidgeons and I am mother to about 50 swallows this year. If they keep poohing on my fully prepared but unoiled floor, they my find that they are soon orphans. I have been working around two nests for the last two months. 
Everything will be original, but it will be no museum. It will have some modern elements but the main focus is to draw out the existing features. My great carpenter (one of the few reliable people) wants me to take all the old wood out and replace it with new and is visibly pained by working with the original wood. It is a struggle and I am considered to be very eccentric (which I may be but for reasons that they haven't worked out yet). 
My massive community bread oven is one of only few left in CZ. As they take up an entire room, they are usually destroyed. Mine is in pretty good condition (although I am too scared to get in it) and I plan to get it fired up again one day. Using them is a real art which I will have to acquire with a spare month, a tree or two and 100kg of flour. 
Some bits are already looking gorgeous (photos will eventually be posted). I know this because the Czechs have stopped simply calling it a 'bordel'.

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## mattcz

if you are wondering which one of the many people in these photos is me.....the answer is...none of them! Well...that's me in the..um...well.

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## Black Cat

That community bread oven looks a bit scary - how do they get in there to remove the ashes and place the bread without dying from the radiant heat from the bricks? Think I would be looking for an old-timer to show me how. 
Lots of challenges, but such exciting ones - and I bet you found more than a 1960s Coke bottle when you dug through that yard!! Interesting soil texture though - is it gritty or is it simply the detritus of ages of people living there that has caused that gritty texture? 
Some of those internal volumes (and their lighting from the windows) are just superb - bet they will make great living spaces once they are done. I would be tempted to keep the original windows and simply install wooden shutters for winter, internally. After all, winters that far north you don't get that much daylight anyway. Man, I just want to get stuck in and have a go - I am seriously suffering from project-envy on this one ....

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## mattcz

Hi Black Cat, 
The bread oven has long iron tools to manipulate everything in the oven. You place your fire and take the whole thing to an insane temperature then totally remove the fire and place your breads etc.. They cook in the cooling down of the oven. This is why it is hit and miss iniially - every oven loses heat at a different rate so the temperature that the oven needs to reach initially and the timing can only be determined by 'learning' your oven over a long period. 
The windows are staying and I am currently restoring them. New windows will go in the inside that are almost identical to the outside ones. The new windows (unlike the old) will contain euro glass. 
The original upstairs grain space had two internal wooden walls. My original plan was to keep them (as I am trying to keep everything that I can) but they were designed to simply separate types of grain and were constructed of poor quality, thin, wood (you can see them in some of these old photos). After going through a fair bit of angst, I tore them down - intending to replace them with more practical walls. But once the wood walls came down, the space was so beautiful that I threw out the idea of any walls. 
Soil - just near the house, it is full of lots of rubble - elsewhere, it is pretty good. 
Don't be envious - TRAVEL, WORK, DRINK GREAT BEER  :Smilie:

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## Black Cat

The bad news is I hate beer, and have quite enough work on my own place to keep me busy for at least another five years ... Now if they had any decent wines in the area I might be tempted... Especially if it kept me busy during winter (which here can be fairly - relatively- nasty at times). Besides, while I am becoming a dab hand with a table saw and various other fairly surprising tools, I have no actual skills to bring to the project other than some disturbingly sinewy muscles that I have developed since working on this place. I will PM my blog to you so you can come to grips with my own 'project', lol.

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## mattcz

Moravian wines are very good and cheaper than water  :Smilie:

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## Black Cat

No wonder everyone is so drunk all the time, lol. So how much does it cost to fly there?... 
Maybe next summer ...

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## mattcz

not cheap to get here but cheaper through Germany and when you calculate alcohol savings   :Smilie:  
Prague airport (and Czech Airways) is losing money so, in their wisdom, they are raising prices and alienating all the low-cost carriers. Fewer and fewer people are now flying on CA but that's Czech business logic for you.

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## mattcz

well....a rare moment of success: a new mason started today - doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, doesn't stop working. It would normally make me nervous (like people who don't like animals) but it's great. Only thing he did was use his initiative and removed an original, strange, set of metal rods that were sticking out of the wall. But he used his initiative well in so many other ways. What a relief....now we just have to see if he returns tomorrow.

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## mattcz

laying of the upstairs shower/steam room and toilet floor + the roof being destroyed and being rebuilt 
Funny story about the roof: got four quotes and a very large company grossly undercut everyone else. My friend used to work for them and said it was an amazing quote. The owner's son had come out and done the quote. I was very suspicious and asked them to write into the contract that the quote was for total replacement of the existing roof on the main house, that they had been provided with ample opportunity to take necessary measurements and that all measurements were their responsibility. On the first day of work, the ganger came to me and asked where the rest of the material was. I told him that that was what they had delivered. Many phone calls and a visit from the owner later, it turned out that the son had measured half the roof and forgotten to double it  :Doh:  
It was a nervous two weeks until a further eight palets of materials turned up. I feel a little bit bad about it but I would be crazy to choose the best price and then pay the most expensive price. 
This (and only this) is the reason why all the metalwork is copper - I could actually afford it  :Biggrin:

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## Black Cat

The new roof looks great! are the tiles the same shape as those curvy ones in the earlier photos? If you are really keen you can clamber up there and apply diluted yoghurt to accelerate the growth of lichens so it mellows more rapidly. Personally I wouldn't... but then I hate heights, lol

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## mattcz

Hi BC, 
The tiles are identical to the originals - which were flat. Not quite sure where you saw curvey ones. They have rounded bottom edges but aren't wavey. That's a great suggestion for quick aging of the tiles - if the locals find out, they will definitely put me in an institution. 
hope you're having a productive weekend. had friends over last night so will get onto your blog tonight. 
m

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## Black Cat

Yes, that is what I meant by curvey  - those lovely rounded ends.... 
My weekend has been fairly productive gardening and cooking wise. Braised home-grown goose for lunch and like you, I had friends over also. A little left-over red wine for supper, just to keep me happy.

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## shauck

Hey. Apparently you can blend yoghurt with mosses in a blender and put that on to promote growth.  
Cheers, Su.

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## jago

Beautiful copper gutters and flashings there is a German product that you can paint on to accelerate the ageing once they start to tarnish.  Very jealous. :2thumbsup:

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## mattcz

LOL - the roof and guttering are the ONLY things that are finished in my home and you ALL want me to work on them. 
I am disappointed that they doen't look as full of stories (and cracks) as the originals but (for the love of God) .... 
Tell you what, I will put it on the list (because I really DO think it is a good idea). By the time I get to that part of the list, it will have done the job on it's own  :Smilie:  
re: copper work - and relatively cheap. The original sub-contractor came (without us having a prior agreement on price) and put in the second downpipe (which brings water from the street-side of the house so there is no copper downpipe to steal on that open side). He had to hand-make the elbow/connector. Was dreading the price but total for downpipe, elbow, material and labour = AUD49.00  :Biggrin:  Sometimes this country is very easy to love.

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## Black Cat

Sorry. Nothing worse than people adding more work to 'the list'. Mine gets longer daily ... 
And I wish my plumber was so cheap!!!

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## russell2pi

> Unlike in Oz, it is very common here to buy a house with everything in it. I inherited 5 generations of goods, wonders and crap. It was made worse by the CZ being a former communist country.

  OK, I have to ask-- did you find any nice firearms amongst that lot?  :Biggrin:  
There are two fairly well regarded Czeck firearm manufacturers, CZ (Ceska zbrojovka) and Zbrojovka Brno ... after reading the above and seeing CZ and Brno mentioned numerous times in your posts, I can't help but ask!!

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## mattcz

Hi russel, 
no, none found yet 
but then czechs LOVE their guns. They will leave the family photos but take the gun  :Smilie:  
m

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## Smergen

Hey champ... awesome project. Very interesting and I love the updates and positive outlook. A few questions though, feel free to ignore them if they don't seem relevant. 
1) What do you do for a crust i.e. how do you bankroll such a massive project?
2) Now this might be bold, but how much does a house of this magnitude cost in CZ? 
Just interested in the differences in scales of economy.

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## mattcz

Hi Smergen, 
I came into a small amount of money and pondered whether to buy part of a parking space in Sydney or Melbourne, enter into a pact with the devil (take out a bank loan) and purchase a house in Australia or buy AND restore a house in the Czech Republic. For better or worse, I chose the latter. 
Prague, Plzen (Pilsen) and Brno and other large cities can be about the same price as Sydney or Melbourne. Outside of these areas, the price drops dramatically to about 1/10th of what you pay for a similar place in a similar location in Australia. 
My (poor, as it turns out) guess was that the financial crisis would be over quickly, the CZ would take on the Euro and the prices of places like this would sky rocket. Not that I am considering selling but I wanted to secure my money wisely. Fortunately, I also did it out of love for the house because I can still hold onto that while all the other things fail to materialise. 
I wouldn't suggest anyone do this unless they have an endless amount of money, time and the patience of a saint. 
My money is coming to an end and I am going to have to return to work fairly soon. It is possible that that may be here in CZ and I will continue to come to the house and work on the weekends or I may have to return to Australia for 6 months. Really, I need a generous Sugar Mamma. 
All that said........but every day it looks more and more spectacular. You will still be seeing old photos for a while yet. 
I am sick today so sorry if the writing is a bit disjointed.

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## mattcz

OK...have had a look through the photos that are left and I have decided that you have had enough for now. In about three weeks, cross fingers, I will post the first lot of transformation photos (apart from the roof, which you have seen). 
The last two weekends I have had my new mason and we have transformed the upstairs area. All the walls are finished and painted twice. They will get a third coat when the floor is completed. I have also had him construct a large walk-in cupboard (a necessary evil in a large open-plan space). 
You have your doubts from time to time - and mine led earlier to me thinking of getting out - and then you start coming through on the other end and you start to see the pay-off. People no longer need an imagination, to see what you see. It is a great moment. 
But you'll have to wait a few weeks  :Smilie:

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## jago

Bloody Tease !   :Biggrin:

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## Black Cat

Yes, it is those 'break-through moments' that really make it all worth while. Hope you can get work locally as the airfares home would make a big hole in any potential earnings. Best of luck!!

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## mattcz

aaaaaarghhh....I have been trying to motivate myself for an hour and a half. Finally went to start a new section of floor and can't get the @@@@@ @ @ @@@ sanding head off the angle grinder to replace the paper. Destroyed the head trying to get it off and still not off. I would like to say this is the first time that this has happened but it isn't. Now I have to drive for a one hour round trip to get a new one and ask the body builder in the shop to remove the head.  
AND it's raining. 
Vent...vent...vent.

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## mattcz

oh great...some days all the planets align in Uranus. 
I wrote to my usually reliable carpenter yesterday asking where my windows are. I ordered them three months ago (still considered reliable timing here). I also asked when he would be returning to finish off a load of interior work. He has just responded to say that he can't do that sort of window work (but accepted the original written order and confirmation) and probably won't be back anytime soon as he is really busy. 
Methinks a grand day for the bar.

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## Black Cat

Yep. Days like that I get a sudden urge  to go to the beach. And my nearest beach is two and a half hours drive away on a narrow dirt road ... 
Have one for me while you are at it.

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## mattcz

I had a drink for everyone! 
Had my well water analysed (with the stress on the first syllable). As predicted, my water is 1% water and 99% faeces. [I have no idea how young players are supposed to learn the lingo when you can't swear on this site]. 
I am at the bottom of a hill and there are twenty houses above me all with varying quality old-style septic systems. When it rains, the water streams down the road which directly faces my well. I have been in a nine month battle with the council to curb and drain the front of my house and this is just added ammunition. 
Makes me....want to drink beer.

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## andy the pm

Water is overrated, after all, fish have sex in it, and crap in it...plenty of clean water in beer anyway

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## jago

God I miss Munich

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## mattcz

apologies in advance but the picture should have been named "Girl with jugs".

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## jago

> apologies in advance but the picture should have been named "Girl with jugs".

   oi that's my wifes norkes you're talking about :Shock:  .

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## mattcz

NO, really?? 
She can sure manage a handful!

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## jago

Really , not... 
She wouldn't take her calvin Klein suit off for beer maybe Champagne. But she can handle a big tool she's always calling me a big one. Lmao 
beer beer beer beer beer beer beer and again more beer!

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## mattcz

will post a photo later of the only reason we drink beer around here. 
I have to go and handle my own big tool, 2.5 metres off the ground. Doing the last of the loft beams with the trusty but always dangerous unshielded angle grinder in an area where there is no floorboards. Not my funnest job.  
This will be a busy week as I also have to finish cleaning all the old tiles for them to be installed next weekend and tool out the floorboard grooves in Section 2 of upstairs (yes, the first angle grinding of Section 2 was finished last Friday in the usual cloud of dust and coughing). I also have to go to Germany overnight for supplies (nothing to do with Jago's photo). 
Andy - currently looking at a way of using beer for showering and not ending up clean but s@@@-faced (again).

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## jago

Only a month to  Octoberfest ..are you going? :Germany:  :Beer:  :Tequila:  :Party:  :Stretcher:

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## mattcz

Jago, 
As you know, every day is beerfest day in the Czech Republic. 
That said, my friend who just happens to be a friend of the managing director of Gambrinus has invited me to Gambrinus Day in Plzen at the end of the month. I gather we are going to get the V.I.P. treatment (Very Intoxicated Pissant) followed most likely by the R.I.P. treatment.  
I really don't have the time to lie for days in tents in Germany.

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## jago

Whos talking about laying around in German tents I did the stretcher to the nearest hospital with alcohol poisoning, I also did my ankle doing a pissed back flip of the oompah stage!, arrrgh those were the days. 
Thats you maggoted for the first week of September then...just stay away from doing any DIY or they will think you've become a local! :Wink 1:  
Need a picture fix of your masion please as mine is depressing me...my windows might arrive this year! :2thumbsup:

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## Black Cat

Don't play with power tools, don't try baking bread and whatever you do - avoid further investigation of the well!!! Have fun - someone has to.

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## mattcz

jago, ya wag! Was that before you became ostray-yan? You would have done us proud! 
Bugger about the windows. I think I wrote somewhere about the ones I am waiting four months for are not in fact being made at all. I am thinking of filling balloons with argon and inflating them in the window spaces for winter (or maybe forever). Well, my friend, you better get on the window construction thread and gets some plans organised and get that child of yours comfortable with the planer. 
well, bc, I think that is why I am cranky at the moment: I don't drink and use the tools that I know want to kill me even when I am sober. I have had two near misses with the angle grinder when NOT drinking and both involved my head. Scares me working alone that a medium type injury could be moderately fatal if nobody actually knows that it has happened. 
So, at the moment, I am sober, in the loft on unstable little platforms over a 2.5 metre drop with little light, little vision and with an unguarded angle grinder, at times, inches from my head. There is sawdust in every orifice and I just want a beer to clear my throat. 
Probably off to Germany tomorrow for a couple of days. May not get to post any photos until the weekend - sorry.

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## mattcz

grrr - just lost a long post  
so you just get photos 
the first one is the long promised "The only reason we drink beer around here". 
the rest are: 
the newly exposed stone internal wall after first and fifth wash. About ten washes should do it. 
finishing off the loft beam sanding with the angle grinder 
the man of dust. It looks nowhere near as bad as it is. 
more later from the tung oil tests today

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## Black Cat

On the subject of injury while working ... I have a pair of Hard Yakkas that I wear which have a pocket for a mobile phone in them. I make sure it is in there, turned to silent operation, before I plug in any power tools. I figure that most injuries, I should still be able to reach it if I need to. Of course it would be my luck to cut that particular leg off and find it was on the far side of the room ... 
Those beams look great - you would be hard-pressed to find a local chippy who could do joints like that these days ...

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## mattcz

lol bc - the signal strength here is so bad that I have stopped using my phone at all. Maybe if the locals don't hear the power tools for a few days, they will come and have a look-see. 
beams - during the roof replacement, three beams needed to be replaced. When the carpenters had finished, they insisted that I go and inspect the work. they were lumps of rough wood thrown into place. I am not sure what they were expecting from me...praise?...I told them that it was a good structurally sound job then turned to the original beams and pointed out that, even though the original carpenter knew that the beams would hardly ever be seen, the work was beautiful with feature scalloped gauges on each edge. I explained that I did not expect the same BUT asked rhetorically "where is the love?". When that didn't translate so well, I asked rhetorically "where is the pride?". A blind man could see the difference in the work. I showed them where the original carpenters had proudly signed their names and asked whether they would be signing theirs. They left quickly.

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## mattcz

Tung/Orange Oils 1:1 Test 
these are internal window sills: original, sanded and lastly tung oiled. It has only had two coats but looks grand, methinks.

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## jago

:2thumbsup:

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## Black Cat

Looking good - what sort of timber is it? I like that you have not given into the temptation to sand out all the age marks on the surface - 'looks like new' is really only a good result in a new build.

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## mattcz

I am not ignoring your wood washing out of any disrespect, but I just cannot add another step to this process which already includes 5-6 applications of oil after the spirits rubdown and the application of insecticide (and that is all, of course, only the post sanding process 
so..... 
I did a test (sans water wash) on a beam and I think that I have a contretempts. 
It is.......sublime (the...um...wood..not the....wood). Maybe it would have been more sublime washed as well. Truly, if I thought I could manage the washing as well, I would do it because (now you mention it) you are absolutely right.  
I am taking an "it is what it is" approach and leaving every old nail, every dent, all of the insect art and perhaps, now, a little bit of dirt. 
Will post some wood porn later in the day when it has dried out a bit.   :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:   *EDITED POST*

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## Black Cat

Who was talking about wood-washing. The results are fab all by themselves. But some wood porn is always welcome here - nothing like working with wood for sensual pleasures!

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## jago

> Who was talking about wood-washing. The results are fab all by themselves. But some wood porn is always welcome here - nothing like working with wood for sensual pleasures!

  
Me and cut it out you two or least erect a room, get it ....a building sex joke! :Biggrin:

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## watson

:Spyme:

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## Black Cat

:Biggrin:  sensual - as in the five senses, touch, taste, smell, sight and sound - all are satisfied by working with wood. Keep your mind above your belts, you lot :Rotfl:

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## jago

> sensual - as in the five senses, touch, taste, smell, sight and sound - all are satisfied by working with wood. Keep your mind above your belts, you lot

  6 senses you mean! :Wink 1:  
I truly leave the wood alone at night just in case I get an injury. Workcover is not keen to pay out for strains caused for playing with wood  :Ohyaaa: after dark!

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## mattcz

i am embarrassed to say that I have no idea what wood it is. You europeans would have a much better idea. People tell me what it is but they all speak a funny language.

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## mattcz

oh yeah...forgot....great news: the beams are not sucking as much as I thought they would 
may not be good news for the sensually orientated but it is great news for me 
I did a pre test test yesterday on a cutting board and a beam in the cellar. both sucked like crazy. They sucked again today and I will not be the least bit surprised  if they do so again tomorrow. Had me worried that the money would be sucked out of me. But one coat on the beams and I could almost (but won't) leave it at that. I think the floor will suck, though.

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## jago

Boards a form of pine most of Europe is covered in the stuff...could be Baltic!  
Your beams either Spruce or Douglas Fir (Oregon).

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## mattcz

oh my god...I can't say e rection? (my post above was edited) It is a medical term as well as a building term.

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## jago

> oh my god...I can't say e rection? (my post above was edited) It is a medical term as well as a building term.

  Thats not good one somebody plays  with them !Especially when they delete them it leaves you a bit flat! 
Each beam will be different and the more you play with the wood the better you will understand its tolerance to fluids.

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## mattcz

amen

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## mattcz

hey jago, where is your go to whoa? 
and those doors in place yet?

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## jago

Hola mi  amigo  
Dont ask me why I did it .....  
Got the the middle floor doors and windows in today as builder was rained off ...pics to follow later as looking after Charlotte,wife away. :2thumbsup:

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## mattcz

Sorry that I have been missing in action but I think I may have got to a MIssion Accomplished stage (yeah, nowhere near finished). I have completed the main combat phase of the grinding and decided that I needed to stop playing with my oils and get on with a s hit job: circular sawing all the tongues in the loft floor. Also, sort of a "no going back" moment. 
The sawing made the expected mess and I am on day 3 of brushing down EVERYTHING (!!!!!) and vacuuming the walls and floors. I should finish late today or tomorrow (and I am not even touching downstairs). Then I can logically move back onto oiling knowing that most sanding and sawing in  the future can be done outside. 
Apologies that I have not posted p romised w ood p orn, yet but will get onto it soon. 
where are YOUR pics Jago

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## mattcz

ok - gotta be quick -heading out the door for.......beer. 
photos showing before and after shots of beams etc. oiled with 1:1 tung and orange oil (only first coat so far) 
un-oiled boards are the ones that are going to go eventually 
vaulting didn't exist before I did it - it was just an empty space 
bits of material hanging in the pictures are to stop the 60 odd birds that I live with perching on the old iron rods in the beams and po ohing on my f loor

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## mattcz

I am putting black caulking in all the gaps between the ceiling boards (as you can see in the photos above in the vaulting and the two rows of ceiling boards on each side of the room that will stay) and the floor. The current estimate to caulk the entire room/level is 200 tubes. I have a good deal on the price and I think it looks great so I think it is worth the (considerable) time and effort.

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## Black Cat

Definitely. I will look wonderful once that is done. It looks wonderful now! You deserve that beer.

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## mattcz

ok - not well and very VERY stressed. Big electrical work being done today and it is sooooo stressful (particularly given the language barrier). I am being over-ridden on some decisions and standing up to them on other decisions. Problem is knowing what is required by regulations here and what they want to change just because it is easier for them. For example: they are insisting on placing the wall sockets about 15cm off the floor and I want them on the floor. They say that some plugs will not fit if socket is too close to the floor (ones that come out at a right angle for the cable). Is reasonable anywhere else in the world but here in CZ you can turn most plugs upside down and they still function. They just don't want to work so close to the floor. grrrrrrr 
By necessity, they are also destroying lots of previously completed work....but that is my problem for not planning properly. It all adds to the stress    :Frown:

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## Black Cat

Time for another beer then I think. You have my deepest sympathy. Electricians are not my favourite trade either ...

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## mattcz

THEY ARE DESTROYING EVERYTHING (....this is necessary....this is necessary....this is necessary...) 
I can't drink in case they send me out for something. (0 alcohol level while driving here - not surprising really) 
BC - yours sounds a complete d ickhead 
ok - they just called me and there are too many questions I can't answer. Not because of language but because I am not 100% sure of a few things. They want answers now NOW. 
Heading for beer........ :Frown:   :Smilie:

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## watson

Pax Vobiscum 
Anything we can answer???

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## mattcz

yeah...where do you keep the valium? 
but seriously......no, thanks anyway...these are positional and style questions and also questions about the requirements of the kitchen items. I have no idea and that would take a week of reserach to work out what I want and the requirement etc.. 
They are being calmer than me, thank god. 
beer...................

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## mattcz

ok ....this is the last straw.......some idiot forgot to reload the fridge with beer and I am left drinking warm beer..........................aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhh 
(I live alone.)

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## mattcz

ok....now have a thumping headache because I have just had an hours negotiation with them despite us having an agreement that makes further discussion unnecessary. 
I gave them a very detailed plan originally and they gave me a price for materials and work. I agreed. I also said that I am prone to having ideas and that any extra work would be paid at their usual hourly rate. All agreed. 
Now, he wants to do all the work on an hourly basis because it will be better for me. In short, my answer was that if it ended up the same or less then I agree, if it doesn't, I don't. Said it about 20 odd times (in twenty odd ways). He even got an interpreter on the phone which didn't help because I understood and so did he. 
He also wanted ALL the money for materials upfront. I refused until all the materials were here. I agreed to pay a percentage of their wages now and the rest on completion. 
I know what similar contracts here are like and mine is very good to them in comparison. Most similar contracts have a penalty clause for failure to complete by a agreed date. Ours doesn't. 
Anyway...........................FECK! 
(the work looks good, by the by)

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## mattcz

ok - know why I sort of lost it yesterday: I am not unwell but sick. I am dizzy, every part of me aches and I can't seem to get warm. I have had some lemon and honey but don't have any panadol  :Frown:  
and today is a great village festival organised by people who know what they are doing with music and beer for the next 10 hours  :Frown:  
all work cancelled for weekend which is going to make things difficult next week when the electricians return  :Frown:

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## mattcz

even if I had the energy, computer says all chemists within about 30 mins drive are closed. 
lol - have found some communist era pain-killers................will I, won't I, will I, won't I.........

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## Black Cat

Willow bark makes a tea that contains salycilic acid - the origin of aspirin. But use sparingly unless you know what you are doing. Some of the older women in the village will probably have a recipe for it. 
Sounds like a nasty flu. Check in regularly so we know when to call the ambo's for you!! 
Find a nice sheltered spot in the sun to watch the festivities, even if you can't join in.

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## mattcz

lol BC, WHERE did you get the idea that I know what I am doing???! 
but thanks for the info

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## mattcz

Hi all....I have been using sticks to beat the ambo drivers from my door...I have recovered. 
(And to return to renovation related information...) Celebrated by going out and buying a rotary hammer without English instructions (and none online) and took to work on creating the large hole where the new interior electrical box will sit. Apart from destroying my otherwise beautiful hands yet again, I worked like a pro. 
I realised why I am having a problem with the electrician. He stupidly provided fairly reasonable prices for everything and threw in all the fat under one item: cutting the canals in the walls. That was dumb because, having caught the problem (and it was difficult not to as it was so over-inflated) he could not rationalise it and had to agree to drop the entire amount if I did the work. This has left him with no fat on the deal. I think I will offer him a completion bonus as a sweetener as I am now getting a pretty sweet deal myself. 
He's just emailed that he will not be arriving an hour ago and won't be here tomorrow either. Completion bonus may be the answer.

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## mattcz

quote for digging out walls: 24,000kc
my rotary hammer: 3,000kc
= 21,000kc for me for half a days work 
(normal hourly rate for mason is 100kc per hour so he was quoting me 210 hours to do a 4 hour job) 
poor bugger

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## jago

A completion bonus is the carrot where's the fecking big stick that you jab him in the with ribs with? :Shock:  
Glad to hear  your manflu is going/ gone back to the beer pmsl.

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## Black Cat

Chicken soup doesn't mail well, and that was going to be my next suggestion - so lucky you recovered when you did. 
What is heck is a rotary hammer? sounds dangerous.

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## mattcz

well...had a cracking week except the electricians only turned up for half a day and won't be back for ten. I did not spare the boy but spoiled a few rods. 
ok - photos: 
my money saving electrical canal work - I was pleased they didn't even have to touch it up a bit 
first layer of oil that went on the floor in stage 1 upstairs 
more floor photos in a minute. 
Next weekend is going to be a cracker - a complete circus. I am doing the canal work around my house that is the councils responsibility. My house is being undermined by water every time it rains and my well water has smelled like faeces for the last nine months (despite me cleaning and detoxing the well. 
Two months ago, the mayor told me to buy my extra drainage material that I was going to put in once all the canals were dug, as the work would commence the following weekend. Nothing happened and, thankfully, I have many people here in the village who think that the lack of action is terrible. So, everyone will be here for pizza and beer and heavy moving equipment. It is a total of about 80 metres of canal on a tiny street.

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## mattcz

more floor 
I am after the old and well looked after industrial floor look.........and that is not me post-justifying anything....truly....it was NEVER going to be a smooth bit of wood

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## mattcz

oh yeah.....here are the extra photos

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## mattcz

oh and...spoke to the electrician about putting the sockets upside down. It is forbidden. You can lay an electrical wire without conduit 2 cm below the surface of the garden and run it in  a zig-zag pattern wherever you want, you can attach wire without conduit to water pipes in the cellar but you cannot put a plug upside down. 
I should mention at this point....and here's a trick for young players in CZ....there is the right way of doing things here and there is the better way: 
Most foreigners get a projectant to manage the reconstruction and, with this simple act, they enter hell. The projectant will do everything by the book and make sure that everyone that works on your property does as well. Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, it isn't. Tell NOBODY official about what you are doing and make sure that every person that works on your property is aware that they will eventually have to sign off for the building department what they did and how. When you have finished the ENTIRE project, you go and do a 'mea culpa' in the building office with plans made yesterday. They come and take a look and then fine you about $210 for having done it without informing them. 
The alternative is having to draw up plans before you begin, seek approval, have up to 30 different inspectors (depending on what you are trying to achieve) and paying THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of dollars. 
My friends have finished their house but, after about eight inspections (all of which they have to pay for) they are still waiting and have been warned that they must complete a 1m x 2m section of facade lime before it will be signed off. Now, nobody needs approval to put or not put lime on their facade BUT it is in the original plan so they have 30 days to remedy the 'problem'. Another friend needed a fire extinguisher before they would sign off. He asked what type and he would pop down the road and buy it and be back in two minutes. They said they would let him know in 30 days. 
Will my approval be immediate? Maybe not, but every day that I don't deal with them is heaven.

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## Black Cat

The old 'better to seek forgiveness than permission' routine ... 
So if the Mayor knows you and is concerned about the drainage issue, how come he has not added up this with the absence of permits? Or is that a silly question? 
Good luck with the community digathon - sounds like it may be a day of liquids of a variety of consistencies ...

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## mattcz

well, BC, bureaucratically, everything here is the same as when Kafka was around. 
I should note that very large companies do the same thing. Acres of manufacturing plant are built without prior permission. Nobody is EVER required to bulldoze what they have created and the fines are low so you would be crazy to do anything else. When I bought the house, I had to add a clause so the previous owner could attest to the fact that everything on the plot was approved. It is not normal to ask that here and is not part of a standard form contract. 
I am not particularly proud of doing this but the nightmare of a system they have here discourages one from doing the right thing. 
Mayors in towns are the disembodied left hand of the state. They don't want to know (or help) with building related matters. The reason why I am trying to involve her in my drainage problem is that all the existing, neglected/blocked drainage around my house is on town land, was put in by the town and is the responsibility of the town to fix.

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## jago

Hello hello are you there, here or over the middle somewhere? 
Incase I forget for future ref BIG ASS FANS, 9 blade fans for moving heat etc one of your first posts...http://www.bigassfans.com/residential/index.html

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## Black Cat

He's probably been snowed in while comatose from too much booze ... Hope you are OK Matt.

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## jago

BC I think he buggered off to the land of sand to write some gibberish  :Yikes2:

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## Afro Boy

Ahoj Matt  :Biggrin:  
I just discovered this thread and am dying to see the finished results (that is if you have it finished ... yet).   

> there is the right way of doing things here and there is the better way

  I visited the CZ last year and fell in love with the place. The "czech way" is definitely interesting and not for the faint of heart though! 
Update please????  :Smilie:  
Cheers,
Af.

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## mattcz

Ok...ok...ok...I am back....and you will be glad to know that things are not easier so that will be moderately entertaining. 
I have been in Canada, India and Poland trying to relax. Returned recently and spent two weeks just sitting in the garden trying to reappraise everything that I am doing with the house and trying to redevelop a vaguely logical plan. 
Plan: sack everyone and do it all myself. 
I will post some pictures of one of the latest disasters soon. It involves electricians and should not be viewed by lovers of either wood or logic. 
I will also post some pics of my "pets" (traditional name for a wood oven in these parts) as this thread has now been linked to the Saint Paul Bread Club website. 
OK _ enough for now....more soon. 
m

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## watson

And about bloody time too!!!   :Rotfl:

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## mattcz

OK - some catching up: 
One of the reasons that I fell off the forum was that I eventually went quite mad as I almost single-handedly (apart from one day) did the 60 metres of drainage without the council's assistance. By this stage, I was racing to beat the weather. The digger that dug down the side of the house for the drainage was meant to return the following week to redistribute the tons of material to the newly-raised driveway and garden. It never returned and I moved tons and tons of soil and gravel on my own. By the time I was finished (on the day I was leaving for winter), I was barking mad. 
The drunk man that you see in the photo is the former Mayor. His arranged job on the day was to bring his tractor and help in moving materials. He arrived on a child's miniature motor bike (sadly no photos) legless, controlled cars yelling at people in German for an hour and then crawled to the side of the road. We put warning tape around him. And yes....that is a young cygnet giving him oral gratification. 
I hope that you are beginning to appreciate my situation here.

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## mattcz

*X marks the spot* 
the arrows (as he was told) are only an indication of whether the light was to be an uplight or a downlight  *Spot the Problem*  
fecking imbeciles

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## mattcz

I need a small pool for gravel where all the water and drainage pipes converge before going under one of the buildings and out into the field on the other side. I want it small...no, that is too big. Smaller please. OK...why are you making it bigger...I said that it needs to be smaller. OK now it is really big and I give up. Do I want the pipes cut? No, why would I need he pipes cut? So the geese can swim in it. Is that why you made it big? For the geese? How will they swim in gravel? Why would they want to swim in the outlet from the septic, washing machine, chemicals etc.? Yes, I know, it could have been much smaller.     
Seriously, it only looks like a headstone....

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## mattcz

Here are some 'in progress' pictures of the shower/steam room. 
It is very white because I have just applied the rubber paint. 
I shaped the seats using what I think in Australia is called BESA blocks (?spelling).   
Now HERE'S an idea (or a reason to stop drinking): 
I have millions of old terracotta flat roof tiles. My idea is to cut them into tiles for this room. I know they are porous and will need to be sealed. Anyone know why this would be a stupid idea? (It worries me that I cannot find anything on the net about doing this....so it is either brilliant or incredibly stupid.)

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## mattcz

As promised for the Bread Oven Club:   
It is so big that it has it's own room:   
Traditionally, people would sleep on top in winter. 
These are becoming very rare. Due to the fact that they take up an entire room, they are usually destroyed. Mine will be completely restored.  
Send money now or the oven gets it.  :Minigun:

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## Cecile

> BESA blocks (?spelling).

  According to Moondog, BESA is a WWII machine gun.  Appropriate really, if you consider your post with the machine gun smilie!   :Rotfl:  
Oh...and I have wondered from day one, why on earth the Czech Republic?

----------


## watson

Luv the catch up stories and the pics.
Instead of using the machine gun smilie.....spend a bit of dough and get one of these.  M-60NEW-1.wmv 
It has several advantages:
It will make local tradies toe the line
It will also negate the use of small earth moving equipment. 
Keep 'em coming

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## Moondog55

"Besser" bricks now a generic term or the cheapest cast concrete building blocks.
Of course they are all idiots, the smart ones escaped and the Russians shot the smartest of those that were left, although they could just be playing that ancient and well known Eastern European game of " How crazy can we drive the foreigner by playing dumb": game

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## mattcz

OK ..... here they are called by either of the brand names "YTONG" or "HEBL"   
it is a building block which is something between a concrete block and styrofoam - light but strong - that can be cut with a normal saw and shaped with a rasp.  *I need to make an important point here*:
I am NOT slagging off the Czechs as much as anyone may feel otherwise. I AM slagging off/making fun of particular incidents and, sometimes, particular people who have worked with me on my house or who I deal with in relation to my house. Because I live in rural Czech Republic, naturally all of those people are Czech. As you will see from other posts on this website relating to Australia, the Czech Republic does not have the monopoly on occasional (and sometimes serial) stupidity.  :Arrow Up:

----------


## Cecile

> OK ..... here they are called by either of the brand names "YTONG" or "HEBL"

  Hebel are common here now too, light and strong.   
My question about "why on earth the Czech Republic was not meant to say you were slagging them off.  I was wondering how and why you chose this particular country, eg family ties etc.  As a person who "escaped" their native country for Australia, I know how hard it is to make a go of it, even without the language barrier.  Although...it took me years to be fluent in Strine, even if I do it with an American twang of sorts   :Redface: )

----------


## mattcz

Cecile, that statement was not in response to your question. Just a general reminder that anything that I say about individuals here in CZ should not be construed as a comment about Czechs in general. 
.....and I would not hold you responsible for anything Moondog says  :Biggrin:  
The answer to your question is complex. Most people assume that foreigners are here for the women or the beer...both lovely. But I just fell in love with the place and wanted to live in Europe. I thought the Euro was a strong currency and that Czech houses were grossly undervalued. So you can't really listen to me about anything.

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## Black Cat

Phew Matt, we were planning a search party. So glad you managed to recapture your sanity, even if it was only for long enough to absorb the impact of the latest catalogue of disasters. That cygnet could develop a serious alcohol problem if it is not careful, learning to drink that young. 
Looking forward to hearing the updates as you work your way toward Autumn.

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## SilentButDeadly

Welcome back......truly....you've been away far too long.   
By the by.....you and Kevin McCloud should really get together. Could be the most entertaining piece of television history!!

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## mattcz

.........recapture my sanity???? Now WHERE did you get these ideas, BC? My sanity is at large - tripping lightly over the hills with a litre bottle of Becherovka in each hand to brandish at the demons and searching in vain for cheap passage to Australia (or India even). 
SBD - your signature makes me weep. [Sigh] ........I remember common sense....

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## Black Cat

There is an assumed base line of insanity in any home renovator Matt. Everything after that is relative (or if you managed to avoid the relatives, then it is the mates down the pub).

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## mattcz

...God Almighty....Watson has just got through telling me that Bob is a relative. 
I came here to get away from the relatives.....if you think _I_ am crazy.....

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## sundancewfs

I'm loving your updates Matt, its good to see you back posting again. I also feel quite envious of the wonderful character of your building. The bread oven is a real triumph!

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## mattcz

thanks sundance....if you have  a free Sunday... 
I posted this elsewhere on the forum in relation to a question about tiling but will put here to for completeness of the whoa with no go 
I am in the throws of tiling the bathroom using old roof tiles that are in good shape:  * photos.......        *                        the original roof tiles and soaking in strong bleach....scrubbing brush    
After cutting the tiles, a dry lay. Keep in mind that they need another wash and are not sealed yet.   
m

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## mattcz

I needed, unfortunately, a false ceiling in the bathroom as directly above will be the bedroom and I also needed some space for ventilation, cables etc.. 
Of course, nothing is straight...not even the tops of the beams or the new work done by the mason, so it was a challenge (for me) to bet the batons in the right place sans laser. After the batons were in place, It was a long measuring and cutting job as the beams are not parallel either...they get wider apart the further towards the door you get. 
(BTW, what you see in the upstairs floor is just something for me to walk on ....not my best work  :Smilie:   )   
The central beam that you see in the photo is the only one in the house that is rounded and not square. I had to mitre the edges to get it closer to the beam. All rather challenging (for me). 
Here's the dry lay:  
ALL the lines between boards and also between boards and beams will be black caulked once the oil has a chance to dry. 
The oiled (but uncaulked) boards go up:    
Not too foul.  :Biggrin:  
Will caulk this week and add the photos later. 
m

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## mattcz

jeez, it is quiet here. Are you all hibernating in Oz? 
well, I have had a "whoops" moment with the bathroom ceiling...... 
I oiled the boards before putting them up as I have a shoulder injury and I am trying to cut down the amount of work I do over my head (although, in some ways, the whole bloody thing is over my head). Throughout the rest of the house, I had previously constructed, caulked and then oiled. This worked very well. Now - having oiled first before caulking - I can't get the masking tape to stick. Tests on  wood oiled 10 months ago show the same problem so......it may be a while (I mean a year or two!!!) before you see the finished, caulked bathroom ceiling  :Doh:

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## woodbe

> jeez, it is quiet here. Are you all hibernating in Oz?

  No Matt, it's cold but we're still here.  :Smilie:  
Tiles look great, bathroom looks great. 
What have you done to your shoulder? 
woodbe.

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## mattcz

hi woodbe, 
funny story....I used to live in India and still go there when it becomes too cold (without windows, insulation or boiler here) to stay in my cz house. I met a woman doing yoga in india and she convinced me to try to put my elbows together while my hands are clasped. I felt my shoulder rip while I was attempting this and it hasn't been the same since. The problem now comes with tennis elbow which makes drinking large 0.5 litres of beer difficult (but never impossible). 
so, you would think with all this reconstruction that I would have logically stuffed my shoulder working.....but...there ya go...... 
Avoid yoga types! 
cheers 
m

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## Smergen

Not hibernating mate, just simply speechless from the work you are doing. What a job. What an effort. And that's just drinking the beer...

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## mattcz

Thanks Smergen. It's hard work (the beer) but someone has to do it. 
Bathroom floor is driving me insane. Nothing is square (despite the room containing only one original wall) and every way that I go to do it throws up another problem. And this is the "easy" job. The shower/steam room needs to be completely tiled including the 10degree angled ceiling and the bench and the diagonal doorway.  
If there are any tilers that read this thread but don't (for some reason) read the Tiling thread, I have posted a few questions there and REALLY need some answers before being able to feel that I can lay the first tile. 
cheers 
m

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## jago

FMD Matt thats a shaggers back story surely.... Yoga indeed. Love the work and yes I was only a 39 euro flight away, next time maybe when its finished, lol and then we can just concentrate on getting off our boxes! Have you had any more luck with production companies as the UK has so many channels know. Is there more to do if a PC was interested?

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## mattcz

> Is there more to do if a PC was interested?

  haaahhaahhhhhaaaaaa haaahhhhahhahahaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaahaha ROFL ....... no, just needs a lick of black paint in that corner and we're all done here haaahhaahhhhhaaaaaa haaahhhhahhahahaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaahaha ROFL 
aah, you have been missed, Jago 
no....it is one step forward and two back here still....enough to still happen that we could make an I, Claudius length series (or maybe Coronation Street). 
haaahhaahhhhhaaaaaa haaahhhhahhahahaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaahaha ROFL

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## jago

I  will send this link to a mate in London as he's a director of Photography and he did doco on male prostitutes in Prague and also a year with Lewis Hamilton (no link to previous doco for the lawyers out there)  so right up his alley! But he might know of where you could head PC wise, no promises. Anyway off to smash another 6 beers as I have a plumber coming in the morning...updates on mine in a week or two.

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## mattcz

great...thanks.... 
If we can get the male prostitutes to truck in and try to master the building arts in a small, quite backward, neck of the woods in CZ.....I think we would be on a winner. 
My dog is also outrageously and unashamedly gay so it will be good for some background activity. 
Cheers. 
m

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## mattcz

Well....it has been a while........  
 Most of the fundamental preservation work has been completed on the main building. Which means most of the funds have disappeared into things that you can't see at all. In fact, the money has dried up now and the project is in hibernation for now while I work out the best way to move forward.  
 The following is my thinking at the moment and your comments/suggestions on the planning and the best ways of funding it would be greatly appreciated.  
 The complex is vast and there are two potential ventures (which are not entirely mutually exclusive):  Holiday Rental
 	There are three apartments in the main 	building -  The Granary - the entire 	180m2+ upstairs studio apartment. Furnished in Indian antiques with 	mezzanine bedroom, steam room, jacuzzi bath and ultra-modern kitchen 	(sounds like a dog's breakfast but he loves it so far);The Cook's Kitchen - 120m2 - 	a traditional Czech farm kitchen including traditional 20 loaf bread 	oven, wood-fired traditional stove and hidden modern cooking 	conveniences and well-stocked pantries. Separate traditional 	bedroom/living room with ensuite bathroom;The Apartment that Needs a Good 	Name - 40m2  for people who don't like light very much 	(obviously need to work on marketing this one), great bathroom, 	kitchette and beautiful furnishings.  Yoga Retreat
 	There is vast sums of money to be made 	through a good Yoga Studio Retreat and the position of the house in 	the centre of Europe and close to Germany is absolutely ideal. 	Highly competitive prices can be offered for Teacher Training 	courses (compared to the prices in Germany, in particular). I have 	more than enough space to construct 12 small apartments within 	existing buildings as well as a spacious and appropriate yoga room. 	I would lose The Cook's Kitchen as it would be used to produce 	yoga-friendly foods for the  	
 	participants.  
  I have a plan to make a LARGE conservatory out of reclaimed windows and construction material. I have been a bit torn about this as it will change the original 'line' of the house BUT it will enable the garden area to be used in a much greater range of weather. Winter can be -40 here and summer is the wettest time of the year. With a good conservatory, it would increase the amount of time that you could spend comfortably 'outdoors' from occasionally over a three month period to always over a nine month period.  
  But the money is gone so all I have is the dreams.  
  Comments/suggestions appreciated.  
  m

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## watson

Welcome back,
Now you know you're not gunna get out of it that easily............ :Biggrin:  
So, what have you been up to for all this time.
Any Pics????

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## mattcz

Short answer: NO!!!!!!!!!!!  :Smilie:  
It was the usual bum rush (mixed with increasing insanity) to get things finished before winter arrived. I didn't have time to take up the camera. If anyone wants to come and work, I am happy to film all day.  :Biggrin:

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## Black Cat

Glad you're still alive - was beginning to wonder what happened - did we offend you? lol.

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## Moondog55

Call the rooms with little natural light "The Caves" and decorate with Neolithic art

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## Moondog55

Call the rooms with little natural light "The Caves" and decorate with Neolithic art. 
Better yet "Caves of great Hope" Neolithic art and Jean Auel novels

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## mattcz

"The Expensive Cave of Great Hope." 
I cannot believe that I wrote 'kitchette'. I, of course, meant kitchenette but I am not going to edit it. There is not enough light to see whether the decorations are tasteful or not. Perhaps I should call it "The Braille Room".

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