TopTopTerrace

Back on the blog two posts in one day hey hey! Its just that having written this mornings missive just after the railings arrived in the Derb, I had only been gone an hour and on my return the rails were in place five floors up on the top terrace, with the builder and metalman working in close harmony. I just wanted to point out that sometimes, just sometimes though; things come together very quickly and you almost leap for joy. Especially gratifying to see two craftsmen singing from the same hymnsheet so to speak.

We here can all quote so many instances where the beautiful work of one craftsman is demolished by the lack of respect from another and then of course he has to redo his work again, and who pays....well you can guess the answer to that one. Am getting ready for a little break to Chaouen and mentally ticking off all the projects that could be completed in my absence including actually completing one bathroom at least!
That first bath in the house is going to be very memorable after a six month wait as washing out of a bucket on the terrace has lost its allure.

I still cant get over the quote from the builder which includes laying a glass floor and buiding an extraction duct from the kitchen and it has put a smile on my face all day, I think I will have to chain him to the premises so that he doesnt escape or get poached. This helps restore my faith in workers because some will definitely fleece you purely because you are European. For instance went to a zellige factory with Moaniss and his recently hired zellige worker to look at buying tiles for two bathrooms and kitchen and they quoted 450dh a sq m. I knew this was total bollocks and said so until we had halved the price but felt if I hadnt said anything then maybe zellige worker and factory would be sharing the commission, a very normal practice over here. I have probably been caught out loads of times, who hasnt, so you have to work out the best deal for your peace of mind.

Going to the factory, checking prices; talk to friends who have done similar work,know your costs per sq m for different types of work especially zellige and you should be able to negotiate better than Kofi Annan!