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00:04The tiles have just arrived, and they don't look the right colour to me.
00:13Just cutting the snail bottom off, I'm afraid.
00:17Being in a vegan house, you can't be chopping off the animal's heads, can you?
00:23It's looking great in here now, isn't it?
00:25Finally.
00:26Finally!
00:29Can I go in?
00:34I love it. I want to swap bedrooms with him.
00:43He was here with us from the start, but I think we need a bit more help.
00:49We're going to take away that bar and add a door, which will go straight through into the gym.
00:53Okay, my own gym.
00:59This is that much concrete. We're essentially breaking into a bank.
01:06Right. Do you think I look protected enough?
01:09I think you look protected enough.
01:12Those will always be there as part of my house.
01:27Since moving into their forever home on the Costa del Sol some five months ago.
01:33Hi!
01:35Jasmine Harman and her husband John have completed phase one of their renovation.
01:40It is so fantastic to have a few rooms finally finished and not just finished, but nicely finished, beautifully finished.
02:02I'm so happy with the way Joy and Albion's bedrooms have turned out and also the family bathroom is looking
02:10stunning.
02:15After a series of mishaps and delays, it's taken a lot longer than originally planned.
02:20With two more phases to go and about three months to do it, sooner or later this project is going
02:25to have to shift up a gear or three if they're going to have any chance of hitting their summer
02:30deadline.
02:31I would love to be able to invite family and friends over in the summer to see the house all
02:38finished.
02:39You know, there might be a few rooms that I have to keep the doors closed.
02:45Finishing the three rooms we have, great, but that is a tiny percentage of the bigger picture of this house.
02:55We've still got a big garden to sort out, driveway to sort out, basement to sort out, garage to sort
03:03out, kitchen to sort out, stairs to the back, garden to sort out, roof terraces to sort out, utility rooms
03:09to sort out, bathrooms to sort out.
03:11Still quite a lot to sort out.
03:15But one step at a time, phase two is going to focus on the driveway, pool area and basement.
03:21Once that's complete, the family can live down there while the main bedroom, kitchen and living room on the ground
03:27floor are tackled in phase three.
03:34Project one of phase two for John represents a key milestone in this family's new life in Spain.
03:40The pool has always been a tiny bit of a mystery.
03:43We had always guessed that it wasn't really working because it's never had any water in it, even when we
03:48came round to view the house.
03:50My assumptions are people don't tend to sit with pools empty for years and years unless they're broken.
03:58So my guess, my deduction is the pool doesn't hold water.
04:03There's two scenarios to this pool and getting it working.
04:06One is a fairly quick, easy fix of filling in holes in the grouting.
04:11If that doesn't work, scenario two is digging down seven feet, finding a pipe, repairing the pipe, fixing the pipe.
04:21I don't want it to be scenario two.
04:24I am praying for my wallet, for our time and for the kids that it's scenario one and that in
04:32three days time we have water in the pool and the water level stays where it should.
04:37Come on.
04:39Come on.
04:40Come on.
04:40This one.
04:40Where is it?
04:42Yes, yes, yes.
04:44Oh.
04:46Here, no?
04:47Yes, of one.
04:49Good or no?
04:50Yes, yes.
04:51Let's do it.
04:51You do it.
04:52You do it.
04:54Oh, good, good, good.
04:56Oh god.
04:57I made that alive.
05:02Oh, my God, it's set so quickly.
05:09We've had quite a few different opinions on our pool
05:14and what we can do to get it fixed.
05:16It could cost probably 20,000 euros or more
05:21if we end up having to dig out the whole pool to find the leak.
05:27So it's a bit scary.
05:29I mean, I'm just keeping everything crossed.
05:33Let's hope filling in all those gaps with new grout does the job.
05:38While John's still got a bit of a limp
05:40and the thrombosis slowed things down,
05:42his leg is now healing well and he's back on track,
05:45ticking off the recovery milestones.
05:47So the good news is the doctor's given me the sign-off
05:51so that I can drive again, which is great.
05:53It's been about eight weeks since I last drove.
05:57Woo!
05:58I feel like driving is three-quarters of the way there.
06:03The last quarter is just polishing off my walking and stability
06:07and I'll be back to normal.
06:10Are you going to pick up the kids?
06:11Yeah, I'm going.
06:12Go, because otherwise you're going to be late.
06:14I like making decisions.
06:15Run.
06:17Joke.
06:17Hop.
06:20Adios!
06:22Adios!
06:31You sort of forget how much freedom you get from driving.
06:38And at the moment,
06:40driving is actually physically easier than walking.
06:44First drive home after Daddy's dodgy leg.
06:52I guess for Jazz, also, it's a little bit of freedom for her.
06:55She can have five minutes headspace on her own.
06:59I don't know what to do with myself.
07:00I'm alone in the house.
07:02It's really weird.
07:03You know, to have him not being here, he's become just like a part of the furniture over the last
07:09couple of months.
07:10And so him not being here, it kind of feels a bit disorientating.
07:15But nice.
07:16I can have a cup of tea in peace for a minute.
07:22Keen to turn up the heat on this renovation, Jasmine's called in some support.
07:27I think we need an architect to just help us with a few tricky areas.
07:37John met Tamsin working on a property show, and she was the architect behind all the stuff that you see
07:46on the screen.
07:47And they've worked together for a long, long time.
07:49So, we figured, well, let's see if she can work her magic for us.
07:56Tamsin has already arranged to get all the measurements, and has had time to work up some ideas.
08:02With a basement key to this phase, they're heading straight down there.
08:06So, on your plans, does this essentially stay as it is, the staircase?
08:12Yes.
08:13I don't think there's too much we could do.
08:15You could put some glass in the door at the top to allow a bit more light in.
08:19Yeah, that's a good idea.
08:20But I think it's better for sound to contain everyone down here.
08:24And especially if it's a party room as well.
08:27Exactly, yeah.
08:30Tamsin's plan for the large main space in the basement is exactly that.
08:34An entertaining stroke party room with a cinema snug at one end.
08:39I have a question about the cinema space, and whether you actually see it as a separate room,
08:43or if it's just a snug area within here.
08:46I kind of feel like it's more like just somewhere cosy to sit, like a snug, with a big screen.
08:54And I think it could be for us if we have a movie night, you know, with the kids,
08:59or if they've got friends over and they're playing computer games or something like that,
09:04they can be out of our way.
09:06Or as they get older, they can get, you know, we can...
09:09Yeah, even more reason to have the door at the top of the stairs.
09:12Yeah, you can catch it.
09:12Yeah.
09:14I've never had a room the size of the basement that we've got here.
09:18It's huge.
09:20It's absolutely huge.
09:22Mine and John's first flat that we bought together
09:27was way smaller than that entire basement.
09:32Yeah, it's a great space.
09:36The other half of the basement, which is currently a garage, storeroom and toilet,
09:42Tamsin plans to split up into a guest bedroom, shower room and gym.
09:48We're going to take away that bar and add a door,
09:51which will go straight through into the bathroom,
09:53and then you could have some doors out from either the gym or the guest bedroom
09:58because we're dropping the ground levels outside.
10:00OK.
10:02I have my own gym.
10:04I have to use it.
10:06I know.
10:07That's the pressure now.
10:10So this is where we've got the Wow Island, is it?
10:13I suggest having a big entertaining bar down here.
10:17That's your food prep for barbecues, that's your kind of cocktail prep,
10:22that's the, you know, server-y.
10:23Oh, John would love that.
10:24Once upon a time, before I met him, he used to be a barman when he was at uni,
10:30so he used to do all the flaring, it's like, oh, he's in his element, he'll be absolutely in his
10:34element.
10:34It also means that you can have bar seating, so it's a bit more social to be able to sit
10:39up at something.
10:40Yeah, OK, I like that.
10:41And what's the other option for that?
10:43So the other option is more similar to where it is now, putting a sort of bar, double stack the
10:49bar there.
10:50Yeah, so almost like a little kitchenette there, so you'd have a sink.
10:55Yeah.
10:55You could have...
10:56It's more contained.
10:57...this fridge underneath.
10:58Yeah.
10:59Tamsin's ideas for the basement were quite different, took me a little while to come round to them,
11:05but actually, I quite like...
11:07I'm definitely coming round to the idea of having a big island down there.
11:11It will be the part of the house that everyone remembers and everyone talks about.
11:18The outside stairs up to the first floor balcony are another key consideration in this phase.
11:23So the concern is that if we put the stairs in that corner, we lose a bit of light, we
11:29can widen the other window to gain what we've lost from the staircase.
11:33That's a good idea.
11:35So you could have open tread risers, which would allow the light in.
11:38My personal point of view on this is I don't particularly ever like looking through a staircase.
11:43Yeah.
11:44So I would block it in and possibly have an outdoor store under the staircase.
11:48Right.
11:48And then just make the window bigger.
11:50And then you have a couple of steps up to the garden through that door.
11:53And then widen the other window.
11:56Okay.
11:57I suppose I can live with that.
12:00It's really hard.
12:01I mean, even though looking at it on the plans, I'm still finding it quite hard to visualise it and
12:06thinking, oh, will it be enough?
12:08But I think you just have to trust the process, don't you?
12:11Yeah.
12:14Oh, so that's the rope you put there earlier.
12:18So we're going to use this to demonstrate the angle of the stairs and how it works in this location.
12:52But actually, that's not too bad.
12:53I think the only decision that you'll have is just what the stairs are made of and whether they're solid
12:56or not.
12:57But I definitely always maintained that we had to have stairs coming down to here.
13:02And I actually think that's a much better option.
13:04This is the best place for the stairs without a shadow of a doubt, in my opinion.
13:09So thank you.
13:10Yeah.
13:12It's nice to have come out here with something you haven't thought about before.
13:19Overall, I think Tamsyn's really listened to us.
13:23Her plans are fantastic.
13:25She's given us options.
13:27She's talked us through the pros and cons.
13:29And I think we're in a really good place now to make decisions.
13:47We're hanging out in the pool after school.
13:51Let's hope after our repairs, kids, in a week or two, this has water in.
13:56You'll be floating on it, eating ice cream.
14:00With a little help, John's re-grouted the pool, hoping that quick fix, costing a few hundred pounds in materials
14:06and man-hours,
14:07will save the time and expense of digging up the piping underneath the pool.
14:13Look how happy and excited you look!
14:15Don't try to look too excited, Albie.
14:18Jo, what are we going to do this morning?
14:19Um, start filling up the pool to see if the leak's still there.
14:26The only side problem is currently the only tap that Daddy can connect a hose to is at the opposite
14:32end of the house.
14:34On the roof.
14:35On the roof terrace.
14:36So who's going to go down to the pool and receive the hose, and who's going to be on the
14:40roof and send the hose down?
14:41We'll go down.
14:43Me and Jo will go down.
14:45Pass it down.
14:46Come on, Albie, let's get the hose ready.
14:47Ready?
14:48Yeah.
14:55No, don't send it down yet, babe.
14:58So, Joy and I are waiting down here.
15:00The boys are up on the roof.
15:02They're going to send us the hose down.
15:05We're going to put a little bit of water in it and see if it holds.
15:08Are you ready?
15:09We're ready.
15:11Do you want to come and catch the hose as it comes down?
15:17Why is it attached to a piece of string?
15:21Safety.
15:21All you have to do is untie the string.
15:24I can't reach it.
15:26The string needs to come much longer.
15:31Can I turn it on?
15:33No.
15:35Are you ready now?
15:40No.
15:59Are you ready now?
16:03It's looking pretty murky and it's hard to tell whether it's going to hold water now
16:10that we've done a small repair job to some of the obvious cracks that were there.
16:18But once we've filled it up a little bit, we'll mark it on the wall and see how quickly it
16:24goes down.
16:26So, test and the way, time to move on to a bit of a restoration project.
16:31We feel like it's important to keep some of the original elements of the house.
16:35And so, there was far too much metal work already in the house to rip it all off and replace
16:40it.
16:44So, finding Chris and repairing the metal work was important for us.
16:49And also, the metal work that was there is actually pretty good.
16:52So, really, some of it needs repairing and then there needs to be a bit made to fit on the
16:58end to sort of complete the wall.
17:02With the gates, window covers and the odd bit of fence, there's a few days of work for Chris there.
17:13But that will have to wait as a change of weather puts a hold on any outside work.
17:18Obviously, living in the Costa del Sol, we have so much sunshine for most of the year.
17:25Not today, unfortunately.
17:28Because we really, really want to try and be as green and as sustainable and as environmentally friendly as possible.
17:36I found someone that does solar panels and I thought, that would be amazing if we could get solar panels
17:44and power the house off of that and save money.
17:48Then it kind of seems like a no-brainer.
17:51Hi, Karin.
17:52Hi.
17:53Come on in.
17:54Welcome to our building site.
17:56Nice to meet you.
17:57Nice to meet you.
17:59It sounds like it's raining even more.
18:02Hang on.
18:03It's absolutely pouring now, Karin.
18:06I don't know if you want to go out there.
18:07Have a little look at the neighbours.
18:13That roof terrace, we want to keep it usable.
18:16So we have got a little bit of roof space above here.
18:21So, yeah, you can put solar panels here.
18:23And I think you probably can fit around three solar panels here.
18:27But you probably need a lot more.
18:29At least around eight panels.
18:31Oh, really?
18:31So we need to find more space.
18:35But you could also here, if you still want to have this space usable, it's quite common.
18:40Also, you put a pergola and you can put solar on top of that.
18:43You can still use the terrace and you don't have to put the pergola on the whole terrace.
18:47How long does it normally take until the panels can pay for themselves in terms of your energy saving?
18:53It's like the payback time here is usually between three to five years.
18:57Really?
18:57So it's quite good payout.
18:58That's not bad, is it?
18:59No, it's really good.
19:00Can you give me an idea of costs or does it vary?
19:03It varies.
19:04It depends on how many panels and the labor cost, what kind of work we have to do to install
19:10the panels at your house.
19:12So would you be able to drop me an email or something with quotes?
19:15Yeah, so what I will do, I will summarize this and see different options and see where we actually will
19:19fit the panels.
19:20And then I will summarize it and send a proposal to you.
19:23Oh, thank you very much.
19:25That's brilliant.
19:25Okay.
19:26Let's head back down.
19:27I absolutely love the idea of being able to have green energy to power the whole house of solar energy.
19:38The thing is, because we have such a limited amount of roof space, it's not an easy process.
19:45You don't just say, yeah, bring the people around.
19:47They can install it straight away and we can get going.
19:51There's a whole process.
19:52So we'd need to design the roof terrace, put in a pergola, finish that project first before we can then
19:59do the solar panels.
20:01So I do want to do it, but it's not going to be a quick thing.
20:13Jasmine and John have a few projects bubbling away and some seeds in the ground, but not much is really
20:18happening on site at the moment.
20:20It feels like it might be time for a bit of a shakeup.
20:23We have got so much work left to do and it's just impossible.
20:31You know, no one could do this amount of work on their own in the timeframe that we've got because
20:36we want to try and get everything finished by the summer.
20:40So Carlos has got some other jobs as well that he's committed to.
20:45So we've come to a point where we're going to have to part ways.
21:00Really sad because Carlos has become part of the family, really.
21:08I love Carlos.
21:09Genuinely, there's a little bit of my heart that he's a decent guy.
21:16But I don't think we'll get to the summer with our deadline with just Carlos and Martin alone.
21:23Muchas gracias.
21:24Gracias, al genuino.
21:25Muchas gracias.
21:26Muchas gracias.
21:28Besitos, bendiciones, que les vaya muy bien.
21:32Un placer conocernos, que nos conocimos muy bien.
21:35Don't cry.
21:40Ciao, familia.
21:41Gracias.
21:47Why are you crying?
21:50I'm just crying at everything.
21:53Carlos has just been like part of the family, hasn't he, since we moved in, since before we moved in.
22:00So I'm just sad to see him go.
22:03There'll be a big Carlos-shaped hole in our lives, but it won't be forever.
22:09We'll definitely see him again.
22:14He'll always be part of this house because he was here with us from the start.
22:21But I think that we need a bit more help.
22:27We need to drive this forward and get it done as quickly as possible.
22:54It's been two and a half days since we put some water in the pool at the weekend with the
22:57kids.
23:00And definitely not leaking water as quickly as it was before.
23:05So I'm hoping that the water level that has gone down, which is only a few millimetres, it's just natural
23:12evaporation.
23:15Time to give it a clean and get it ready to fill it right up.
23:19Jazz is taking one for the team.
23:23We don't have a net.
23:27And so because that vent isn't on, which you're also going to put on slightly,
23:32before we head into the test water, Jazz is having a little dip.
23:35Obviously I can't go up with my dodgy leg.
23:38Do you need to get a net?
23:45Bet you wish you were only cleaning the bathtub now.
23:47Look, you've just started there and you've got all that to go, look.
23:52The final stages of the pool cleaning slash trying to repair.
23:59Taking a bit longer than we thought, eh?
24:04With the pool project going swimmingly and having already said goodbye to Carlos,
24:09the builder Jasmine and John had been working with pretty much since they got the keys,
24:13the new guy is now on board and on site.
24:15Jazz had sort of put the word out.
24:18She'd spoken to a few of her former house hunters in this area
24:21and loads of people recommended this guy called Dominic.
24:27Hello.
24:27How are you?
24:28How are you?
24:29I'm good, you?
24:31You ready to make some noise?
24:35Absolutely, come on in.
24:36OK, thanks.
24:40I'm Dominic.
24:42I'm a project manager here on the Costa del Sol.
24:46I've lived in Spain 17 years.
24:48I've spent a lot of that time working in Gibraltar.
24:52And now I work within this area.
24:55It's going to be a lovely property.
24:58Plenty of work to be done inside and out.
25:02Yeah, finished by the summer?
25:03I think so.
25:04It doesn't worry me.
25:05As long as everything lines up.
25:08I think Dominic should stand a good chance of being able to get us to completing everything by the summer
25:15because he's got more resources, you know, he's got more people available.
25:20And it's a bigger company.
25:23So, fingers crossed, we'll be able to get there.
25:29While Dominic and his team get phase two underway,
25:34welder Chris is back and making great headway with the front gates.
25:38And with all the protective gear and flashing lights,
25:41Jasmine's keen to get involved.
25:43Chris even has vegan rather than the usual leather gloves for her.
25:46Right.
25:47I'm ready, Chris.
25:49Yeah.
25:49Do you think I look protected enough?
25:51I think you look protected enough.
25:53I think boiler suits are back in fashion, aren't they?
25:55Yeah, yeah.
25:55So, what we're going to do is we need to weld on these tree foils using the arc rod like
26:01this
26:01and bringing this like this.
26:04Do you use any other material or it just melts the metal of the two pieces?
26:07So, this rod is going to go smaller and smaller and smaller.
26:13It will take a couple of goes, I think.
26:15Practice.
26:16Yeah.
26:16How long have you been doing it?
26:18I've been a welder now for eight years.
26:20I used to make wheelchairs.
26:23Oh, really?
26:24Yeah.
26:24I could have done with one of those just recently.
26:26My husband broke his leg.
26:28Shall we get some welding done then so you can get out of all the gear?
26:31Important is don't look at this without your helmet on.
26:34Don't look at it?
26:36It's basically when you're melting the metal,
26:37it's like all of the bad stuff from the sun.
26:40Your UVA and your UVB.
26:41Right.
26:45Here, so it gets over your head.
26:47Yeah, I've got a big head.
26:48That's all right.
26:49And then we tighten it up.
26:50Jazz loves getting hands on.
26:52She's very happy to get hands on.
26:53I think she would do more of the renovation if she could.
26:57So, you're going to go start here.
26:58Yeah.
26:59You want to have it kind of angled a bit more that way.
27:02And you want to kind of go like this motion.
27:04I'm going to put you about here and then I'll kind of flick my mask down
27:07because otherwise I can't see.
27:08Okay.
27:15Oh yeah, it's quite tricky, isn't it?
27:17Yeah, that was all good.
27:19That's good for the first time.
27:21If I change it around and we can do another one, eh?
27:32Yep.
27:32And that comes all in.
27:34Keep the shade in.
27:35Yeah, that's it.
27:36That's it.
27:36That's it.
27:37Yep.
27:37You can stop this.
27:39Nice.
27:40Yay!
27:41That's really good.
27:42I'm well impressed.
27:43Once it's finished, let's just tap it off.
27:47So, I'll come back through with the grinder, make them all a bit stronger.
27:52Ah, you'll have to tell me which ones they are.
27:54I'll put your ones at that end and at that end.
27:57And then you know that they're your ones.
27:58Those are my ones.
27:59Yeah.
27:59I'll tell everyone when they come to visit.
28:01I'm holding those.
28:02Thank you so much.
28:03No worries.
28:04I'll catch up with you in a bit.
28:05See ya.
28:07That was actually amazing.
28:12Hopefully, those two that I did will always be there as part of my house.
28:19With phase two of the renovation now in full swing, Jasmine and the family are taking a well-earned break,
28:27hopping aboard a popular local form of transport to discover the native wildlife that's right on their doorstep.
28:36Today, we're going out on a boat trip from Estepona.
28:41Really excited about it.
28:43Oh, yeah.
28:44Let's get on this boat.
28:46We just decided to take a family day and go out on our own sort of mini version of a
28:52holiday.
28:53Oh, look.
28:53There's a paddle board on the back of that boat, Albie.
28:56Oh, should we have brought swimming things?
28:59We'll just send Albie in as dolphin bait.
29:03Hola, buenos dias.
29:05Hola, gracias.
29:06It feels like it's been a long time coming, but it's amazing to finally be out and about and go
29:12and do family things again with a leg that is 90% working again.
29:17Oh, how nice is this?
29:20Albie's going to have a sleep.
29:23I think there's a seat.
29:25Looks like it.
29:26Oh, no?
29:28Albie, you're like the captain.
29:30I'm not the best on boats.
29:32I get quite bad seasickness.
29:36In fact, I get all kinds of motion sickness, which is terrible for someone who travels as much as I
29:40do.
29:41Yes, it is.
29:42I did my 10-metre swimming badge when I was about six or seven years old, so I think I'll
29:50be all right if I do end up in the water.
29:52I actually love swimming, especially in the sea, so who knows?
29:56Because if we see some dolphins, I might just jump in as well.
29:59Although I forgot to bring my swimming costume.
30:01Oh, well, I probably won't.
30:04What's that smell?
30:05It's the smell of the sea.
30:08Smells like Aston.
30:09Albie smells like Aston.
30:12Albie and Mummy.
30:14Albie and Mummy.
30:15Albie, ready?
30:28Come on, keep your eyes peeled for dolphins, Albie.
30:32Yay!
30:33So what you have to do, Joy, is keep an eye out on the horizon for any dolphin-like movement.
30:41Can you do your dolphin noise?
30:43My dolphin noise?
30:45Oh, yeah.
30:45Daddy's really good at a dolphin in fresh, isn't he?
30:47You want me to try and call the dolphins?
30:49Yeah, go on, communicate with them and tell them we're here.
30:53Ready?
30:57I mean, he's not going to call any dolphins.
30:59I don't think they're going to eat.
31:07Now, having lived by the sea for a while, I recognise its amazing restorative power.
31:17Oh, there's a little sailing boat.
31:19Oh, yeah.
31:21It is amazing and I do feel that being by the sea helps me in so many ways.
31:29Helps me to relax, helps me to rejuvenate and definitely feels like my mental health benefits
31:38from being by the sea.
31:40I feel like I'm so small on this planet and all my problems are so small that it makes
31:49them seem easy to overcome.
31:53Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
31:57Park yourself there.
31:59Oh, my God.
32:02Oh.
32:04Oh, life with you is always so much fun.
32:08Squeezing my leg.
32:10It's nice, though, isn't it, being able to just do stuff like this any time.
32:17Amazing.
32:19Incredibly privileged.
32:20I was thinking that last night.
32:22How lucky we are.
32:26Amongst all the stress of the house.
32:29It is nice to have a little break from it.
32:31Even though all the time that we're out here, my thoughts, I still keep jumping back to what's
32:40going on back home.
32:47It was potentially a great time for the family to escape the house as Dominic and one of his
32:53team, Liam, are getting stuck straight in and like builders generally do, kicking off with
32:58a bit of demolition.
33:02The bar in the corner is the only fixed structure in the main basement room.
33:09Once it's gone, they'll have one big open space to work with.
33:21Come on, dolphins.
33:22Keep your eyes out for them peeking up.
33:28Now, darling.
33:29Click, click, click.
33:34Now, we're here.
33:35Albie, there's the light.
33:36Ah!
33:41Look, there.
33:42There, there, there.
33:43Wow.
33:44There, right.
33:45They're all floating around here.
33:46Watch.
33:46Around there, look.
33:47There, over there, look.
33:48There, there, there, there.
33:50There's a little flap of its tail.
33:51There, that one just keeps coming up over and over again.
33:55Oh, my God.
33:57I saw its face.
33:59Well, he would dolphins, but it, for me, growing up in central London, it, it, it, it was never
34:05part of my, you know, my realms of possibility of life, but now it is.
34:13Kids, here, this side.
34:14Oh, no.
34:15Be careful.
34:16Oh, no.
34:16Slowly, slowly, slowly, please.
34:17Be careful.
34:19Wow.
34:21Oh, wow.
34:22Oh, that's so cute.
34:25Oh, look there.
34:26I just saw one over there.
34:29The question is, how many did we see?
34:32How many different dolphins do you think there were?
34:35I think there was, like, four or three.
34:38Today's trip out on the boat was amazing.
34:42It was so calm.
34:43It was so tranquil.
34:45It was beautiful scenery.
34:47And we even had the amazing treat of being able to see dolphins in the wild, which, I mean,
34:55it was beautiful.
34:56I even cried.
34:57I cry at everything.
34:59That was amazing.
35:01What a great opportunity to spend the morning with the kids and with the family.
35:05I mean, this is partly the reason we moved to Spain.
35:07And when you do things like a boat trip, we can't escape.
35:11The kids can't escape.
35:12They have to spend the morning with us.
35:13And it was good.
35:14Ready, Almi?
35:15Say dolphins.
35:17Dolphins!
35:33On another sun-drenched Costa del Sol day, Jasmine and John's new builder, Dominic,
35:38has already removed the old bar that stood in the basement
35:41and is now looking at architect Tamsin's plan of adding a door to provide easy access to the bathroom.
35:48Hello.
35:50How's it going?
35:51I know you want a door here, but this was once under the ground, all the subterranean part of the
35:58house.
35:58So, this is that much concrete with reinforcing.
36:07Combs.
36:08Right.
36:08So, we're essentially breaking into a bank.
36:12So, it was there, it was there.
36:13We're going to need to break into a bank, to be honest.
36:16That's over a foot.
36:17That's about a foot.
36:18Yeah, it's about a foot of concrete.
36:19So, it's a no...
36:20Reinforced concrete.
36:21So, no bricks.
36:23No bricks.
36:24Nothing.
36:25About three days, I guess, to cut through this.
36:28Are you kidding?
36:29Honestly.
36:30We'll have to hire a bigger machine to take this down,
36:33because if you had something like this, or normal, it would burn out.
36:38We're talking a lot of horrible, nasty noise.
36:43Why is nothing ever straightforward?
36:45Is it just stuff?
36:46And this is only the start of them.
36:49Well, yes.
36:49It's a renovation.
36:51You know, if it was new, things have to work like they're meant to work,
36:55but in a renovation, things turn up.
36:58When you look at it on the architect's plans,
37:01coming from the swimming pool,
37:03let's say the kids are in there, one of them needs to go to the loo,
37:06they come round here,
37:09and in a perfect world,
37:10they go straight through that door and into the bathroom,
37:12which is there.
37:14Or they come...
37:16..all the way down to that door,
37:18which doesn't seem that much further,
37:19but then you've got to come all the way back.
37:21So, it's not just that distance, is it?
37:23It's that distance plus that distance.
37:24And the whole lot will be wet.
37:25And everywhere will be wet.
37:26And every time we go in the pool,
37:27I'll be mopping this floor.
37:29So, I don't know.
37:30I mean, that does throw a bit of a spanner in the works, doesn't it?
37:33All right.
37:34All right, thanks, Dominic.
37:35We'll have to have a chat about it.
37:36I was going to say crack on, but don't go.
37:38Don't crack on.
37:40All right.
37:41It seems like everything we try to do,
37:45you know, all these grand plans that we've got,
37:48something unexpected gets thrown up,
37:50and we then have to rethink,
37:53because of costs, because of time,
37:56because of disruption and all the other implications,
37:59and weigh everything up as in
38:00what's going to give us the best value and benefit
38:05to the work and the money we've got to put into it.
38:08It's tricky.
38:10Very tricky.
38:13With that one still up in the air,
38:16Jasmine shifts focus to another project
38:18that's been waiting for a fix.
38:21After meeting with Karin,
38:23she sent us a quote.
38:24The quote came back at around 7,000 euros
38:27for the solar panels,
38:29and obviously, we've only got a very small amount
38:32of actual roof space here
38:34where we could put the solar panels.
38:37She said we could fit three up there,
38:39but that wouldn't be enough,
38:40so we'd need to find space
38:42for another probably five or so more panels,
38:46and the suggestion was to put a pergola,
38:49and it would run from about halfway along here
38:51all the way over to around about the chimney,
38:53so it would take up quite a lot of space up here,
38:56and also, building a pergola is not cheap,
39:00and I don't know if we can really come up with that right now.
39:04Karin's going to come back again
39:06and have another look to see if there's somewhere else around
39:09that we could put the extra panels,
39:11so then we'll be able to make a decision.
39:14I think if we could just go for the three panels
39:16and get as much electricity off of the solar panels
39:20as we can to contribute to the rest of the house,
39:23then it would be a no-brainer.
39:25We'd do it straight away.
39:30While a decision on the solar panels might be a few days away,
39:33down in the basement rooms, it's time to crack on.
39:37The thing with having a really huge space
39:40is knowing how to arrange it to get the most out of it,
39:46so it's really important that you are clear
39:49in what you want each area to do
39:52and how you plan to use the space,
39:54because otherwise, you know, things could just get a bit lost down there.
39:59And it seems three days to create easy access
40:02to the bathroom from the pool is not an option.
40:05I think for the amount of time, disruption, noise, dust,
40:11to just gain, like, a couple of metres,
40:14I don't think it's worth it.
40:17And as much as I think, you know,
40:19it was a great idea on Tamsin's design,
40:22in the end, it just wasn't practical.
40:30I think it's like a cupboard here.
40:33Basically, you want to have power in this cupboard.
40:36In the garage, tech-mad John is keen to focus on power sockets.
40:44I think that's a symbol for a two-gang power socket,
40:48so the electrician knows where to put them.
40:50It does look a bit like I've sprayed two boobs on the wall.
40:54Maybe I'll have to do a different side.
41:03They are so heavy!
41:06Oh, God, I'm plenty.
41:09Jasmine's more focused on the big picture,
41:11and with two options for the kitchen area,
41:14a decision needs to be made.
41:16I love Tamsin's suggestion of having a huge, long kitchen island,
41:22which would be great for entertaining.
41:25The other option that Tamsin gate was a little kitchen in the corner,
41:31which would be quite functional,
41:33and it wouldn't take up as much room.
41:36John thinks that it will be better to have a small kitchenette in the corner,
41:39because it's nearer to the back door,
41:41it's just going to be more functional.
41:45So, we're going for his option,
41:48because the basement is his domain.
41:51So, we're thinking sink there.
41:54Yeah, because of all the drainage and things on the side of that wall.
41:57And then, so you'll have a metre or so here.
42:01Yeah.
42:02It's like your...
42:03Yeah, so if you're there,
42:04the kids can always come behind and pass a drink out of the window.
42:09Yeah, so there, basically.
42:16It's quite dinky now, I look at it.
42:18That's what they all say.
42:28From the start of one project to hopefully the end of another.
42:34It's been a lot of fun and games trying to get this pool filled.
42:38So, we're now just filling up the last bit,
42:41and it's crunch time, really,
42:44because the good news is,
42:45after testing it with just a little bit of water,
42:49it seems like the repair that we've done on the pool
42:53means it's now holding water,
42:55which is great news.
43:01And I think that's probably saved us
43:03in the region of 15,000 to 20,000 euros.
43:08Because that's probably what it would have cost
43:10if we had to dig up the entire pool.
43:13So, honestly, John and I were so happy,
43:17so excited when we realised it was holding water.
43:20And hopefully we can get it ready for swimming in soon.
43:28It's a momentous day.
43:29The pool is full,
43:31and hopefully will remain full.
43:34Oh, Albie's going to be the first person into the pool.
43:38Admittedly, only ankle deep.
43:42How is it, Albs?
43:43It's a bit of comfort.
43:46Is it refreshing?
43:49You're the first person in.
43:50How does it feel?
43:51You'll forever be the first person to get in the pool.
43:56It's quite chilly,
43:58but when you get a nice sunny day,
44:00it is very inviting to go in the pool.
44:03I quite like cold water swimming anyway,
44:05so I think it will be fine.
44:08Famous last words.
44:20Because it's X-Demo,
44:22it's 50% off.
44:24It's one of the biggest decisions
44:25that we need to make.
44:27Having an interior designer
44:29to help with not only the design,
44:32but also the sourcing of the products
44:35is invaluable.
44:37Oh, what about that matter?
44:38That would look fantastic.
44:40We're making this look so different.
44:41That's it, that's it, that's it.
44:42And then...
44:43Oh!
44:45There have been a few delays
44:47with tiling this floor.
44:48I feel like a house renovation
44:50requires a lot of wine.
44:53I tell you, there is never a dull moment here.
45:05I tell you, there is never a dull moment here.
45:21I tell you, there is never a dull moment here.
45:24I tell you do, there has been a dull moment here.
45:26I tell you I'd rather honour the処理 here.
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