Hello everyone and thank you all for your great comments. Your help has been wonderful. You've given us much to think about now regarding the tiles and we are reconsidering our choice. This week, I've only responded to comments with questions I can answer because we are trying to take time off as I'm exhausted, but I always get a great boost when reading your suggestions and messages. We really appreciate your understanding.
Think about how the traffic goes when considering the tile pattern. Which tiles get the most wear, how easy/hard will they be to clean/maintain if they chip, crack. It's lovely to get tiles done for the pattern, but I have seen that become a real headache once they're worn, etc. The house is far more complicated to build than I thought, but given there are earthquakes, better construction is safer for you. Bottom wall should be spectacular once it's repaired, finished.
I think the tiles are fabulous and love the pattern that you made pointing up from the stairs. You must have the floor tiled in order to stand on it, sipping a glass of red, making decisions around what you want, and, where you want, things in the kitchen. Good choice, I’m so very happy for you both. Pauline
Hering bone for shore. Make a boarder around the room? These tiles are also made into hexagons. Portugal has a lot so go hunting if the tile form doesn’t suit you. Or ask the firm if they can make a other form. The process is the same and they probably have forms laying around. 💪🏻👍🏻 good job!!!!
What a visual treat for your guests! I now see the way the house is restored is basically building the house with concrete inside the ruin to carry the roof and then to repair the stone walls as cladding onto this. My heart sings, because this stone house can now live for centuries more! I like your last placement of the herringbone tiles pointing from the stairs. I wish I could see what you cooked from the broad beans. Enjoy your little sabbatical. You need it and you have earned it.
Watching your builders at work is fascinating. They seem so organised and methodical. You're going to have an amazing home when it's finished. Really live your gardens. You're legends.
Here is hoping that your cat gets better quickly! Enjoy your time off, life is to be enjoyed at every opportunity :) The build is coming on very nicely, it was good to see the drone shot from above and finally understand the layout :)
As someone who does building work in the UK, this is great to watch. I'm guessing this is costing a lot, but your builders seem to be doing a great job. (Plus it can't be easy being filmed, while you/they work). You're going to have a lovely - and stabilised - old house to live in.
I love the tiles, and the design pointing towards the entrance is wonderful! ❤ Meraid: you are a great story teller and narrator. I would encourage you to write your biography - ending with your home renovation in Portugal (just my thoughts.) I also love the beautifil view from the guest room! Can't wait to see the finished guest room 👍😊👍 Have fun on holiday and relax, enjoy new adventures! You deserve a relaxing time ❣️🫶🌟 Hope kitty is doing well 🫶🐈😻💖
That was so sweet when you were talking about this being your first house where you actually get to choose the fixtures and fittings. Enjoy your break! 🍻x
I’m very happy for you guys, getting to buy your flooring and trims for your first owned home! I love the herringbone tiles pointing in from the stairs!
And when you were showing the footage from the "varanda" I was thinking to myself that the block wall was cutting the view flow to the rest of the garden and then you told about the plans to lower it down. That will make the view great. No kitchen but tiles..😂 I hope the cat is good now. Enjoy your break to relax and enjoy, you sure deserve it.
I love watching you gardening. I understand gardening better than building, but I love the progress on the house. Do have a lovely time off and we will wait patiently until you are back. Thank you, always, for sharing with us.
Hi Dan Meraid, another interesting video. You have to be commended for using the old stone in such a way. It enhances the character and charm of your amazing restoration. Thank you both for sharing your journey with us. Coen and Jay
The variations in the colour of the terracotta tile will be lovely and works perfectly with the stone walls. Taking the outter wall down to the 3/4 mark will improve your view for certain. Wondered if a wide entrance in the center will give your eye a visual break and make it feel like it’s drawing you out into the garden. I grab my tea and comfy chair and you’re the 1st thing I watch on my Saturday mornings. Great start to my day!
We love a good Port wine too! I find that the The Caves do Vinho do Porto are in a beautiful area of the city. Congratulations on your Portuguese exam! Rest and take care.
I love the tiles you chose! They're beautiful. Bet you can't wait to be sitting up there, on the tiles, with a nice cool drink, or a morning cuppa! Enjoy your break 🙂
It's all really coming together beautifully. Looking out of the guest bedroom window over the walled area, once the walls have come down 3 courses it would probably make a lovely kitchen garden. I can just imagine those blocks of cement cladded in all the leftover bits of xisto stone. I'm so happy for you both. It's so exciting! I've watched all of your episodes and they're great 👍 Thanks for sharing your beautiful projects with us all 🥰
Laying tiles at an angle creates a lot of fiddly triangles around the edges and in this setting I would tend to take my cue from the floors in other vernacular buildings in the area. I assume this would mean keeping things fairly rustic and simple. But I haven't been there so forgive me if I'm completely wrong.
You both deserve a good rest, Enjoy the your time together. The build is coming along nicely. What ever pattern you chose for the lovely tiles, you should always have full tiles at the edge where the floor meats the stairs. Perhaps you could lay the floor with a border of full brick bond pattern 3 tiles deep, around the perimeter and the main area in the herringbone pattern you like.
Thank you for the extra-long video today; you've both certainly earned a couple of weeks worth of holiday!! The build is amazing - fast, beautifully executed and not coming down for a very, very long time. I'm sort of sorry that you aren't going to walk into a finished house. I probably missed that! I hope you won't have too much work to do, but I've learned that neither of you are scared of hard work. It must be what keeps you both looking so young and fit! It'll be even more special to you when it is finished. I expect that your exam results were exemplary, Meraid. 😁 The new tiles look amazing. I've watched a couple of videos about using the terracotta tiles inside as well. I hope your cat remains healthy now. Enjoy your time off!
Enjoy your break you have both earned it and the garden will appreciate you for it! I think it is well earned. Meraid my heart almost burst as you were talking about this being the first home you and Dan have owned * hugs* I am 50, newly divorced and about to be in my first home too and it is such an empowering and magical thing to experience! Congratulations to you both for your home is going to be truly beautiful! The tiles are glorious! For the terracotta tiling I would suggest laying the same tile on all the floors for the living areas too and to ensure the tiler lays a border around the perimeter of the area ( each room) and then the herringbone inside the perimeter this is because there are always little triangular pieces to complete the edges of a herringbone pattern and if those are close to the edge of the stairs or in doorways the tiles inevitably come out...But laying a border around the edge of the room ensures your foot lands on a full tile rather than the tiny triangular pieces so they don't come loose over time ;-)
Enjoy your break, we will wait till you are back. Enjoy to be together and make the wright decisions, like you always do.Your house is growing so nice; I like the windows so much! Thank you for this update, with love
Hola, amigos, les sigo desde 🇪🇸 España, en el Mediterráneo. Enhorabuena por su decisión de emprender una nueva vida. Disfruten de estar juntos. Mucha salud. ❤❤
I think that you're on to something in querying the optimal "direction" for the tile pattern. There are probably some standard rules for this, for making a space appear longer, wider, natural flow etc etc. Maybe someone else knows.
Enjoy the break you deserve it... We had Santa Catarina tiles in our house in the Algarve.. it was hard work to keep looking good and hard to clean... the look and feel was lovely however.
You guys have a fantastic break! Btw the music you selected happens to be the theme song to a vlog and podcast called “That Chapter”. He is a nice Irish Lad narrator of true crime stories of olden days and younger days. Great listen lol. Miss you already ❤
Regarding the tiles going to be laid, in my opinion, they will be up against the shist wall which has all horizontal lines and to put the new tiles in a herringbone pattern, might be a bit dazzling and look off kilter. Of course I am a bit of a conformist and prefer consistency, but the varied colors will look amazing.......just like the stone walls. Keep on Keeping On! It's coming along extremely well
Once you have enough tiles to make a large pattern, it will be easier to decide on a favorite pattern. Three tiles is not enough to make a decision. Sometimes, the simplest pattern is the best one, as complicated patterns might look too busy.
About tiles: I live on the other side of the world and I have had Portuguese cork floor-tiles in 2 rooms of my house for 40 years. It is puzzling to me that none of the youtubers renovating derelict homes in the land of the cork tree use this product. The guys from Project Kamp visited the cork factory, but it seemed to be making cork insulation only (episode #53). I should add that my floors had 3 coats of polyurethane when installed which are as good as the day they went down 40 years ago, but were a pain to do because we had to stay off them while each coat dried. Still worth it though ☺
Just love watching your progress, what great workers the guys are. Mairead do I see you wearing dubarry donegals to do the garden ? I wear mine also but certainly not as hot here in Dublin as where you are, my feet get baked 😂. Delighted for you both ❤
I really love the area where your house is. It doesn’t seem that you have any issues with drought, which other farmers around Castelo Branco appear to struggle with
What will be your primary heat source in the house? Curious. Thanks for starting the video on your stunning garden . I am mesmerized by your lush, beautiful garden. I was using fireplace and 2 pellet stoves to heat my house. Quite difficult to drag pellets up and down all the time. And Pellets went from 3 euros a bag to 9 euros a bag. Last spring I had a split unit heat ac unit with outlet on the middle floor and the top floor. Much better for me. I am so happy to hear your cat is on the mend. My cats have brought me so much joy here in Italy. Bravo to you both
Herring bone pattern will be perfect on that staircase. Are those tiles strong enough for walking on? They look fairly porous and not vitrified enough.
Clay is not a building material, it washes out slowly and it crumbles, I'll tell you a method that we have in Greece, but I don't know if you can get it in Portugal white cement, and powder from red bricks, there are also yellow powders from yellow bricks, but as I see you need red ones So white cement, mixed with sand, and the red powder, you have to put the mixture very loosely like pudding, put this mixture in all the joints and then wash it off so that the stones are clean, if you have large openings, make the mixture a little thicker so that you can closes the large gaps and holes Our technicians use it to attach stone decorations You can also find grout material in large 10kg bags in various colors that are used for tiles in the bathroom and outside
Maybe use chalk and the tiles as a template and draw the different patterns you are thinking of on the floor in small areas to see which you like best? They will look great and, I think, feel great under foot!
Or even better I probably would make cardboard cut-outs in the shape of the tiles, then they are easy to move around in different patterns to see what they would look like.
