Contractor Selected

We finally have selected the contractor to perform the more difficult jobs in our house!

We met Kurihara-san the Carpenter of Arisaka village, together with his son. Kurihara-san was introduced to me by the friend mentioned in my previous post. He has essentially repaired most of the houses in the neighbourhood, and by the looks of them has done a good job. He is also an active member of the community, and helps to prepare the floats for the famous shinto festival that is held here every January around the 14th (I missed it this year because I was waiting for my son to be born).

Together we went through the house this weekend, and checked the works that need to be done based on Tomo's drawings. One of the major tasks will be the replacement of one structural post and about three beams that hold up the roof. They have been affected by past ant infestation and therefore neither look good, nor are they very strong. Kurihara-san, already measured me up (176cm) so that he can place the new centre beam a few cm higher, and therefore allow me to cross the room without bowing my head (or hitting it).

I think it will be quite spectacular, as the roof must be supported by temporary beams, and jacked up to allow the replacement. I hope to be able to film or photograph this work. He will also insulate and add (pair glass) windows to the northern bedrooms, and prepare them for plastering, then continue by insulating the kitchen and prepare the extended concrete Doma.

To create a nice natural feeling, we have opted for big wooden flooring, that he will install to replace tatami mats.

On our side, there are still many things to do. We have decided to fill the wall separating bedrooms and main living space by ourself, using mud wall mixture. So we need to fill out the frames that Kurihara-san will install. Because this will be a labour intensive job, I think we will need a few volunteers to help us out.

We also have opted to do all finishes - that means plastering walls, and staining the flooring and other wooden parts. Again, volunteers should apply to me - they will be needed!

Even though we are awaiting the final schedule from Kurihara-san, soon, we are aiming at completing the House by May this year.