House Hunting and Renovation Douala Style

As most of you already know, (probably because of my endless complaining to you) we have been searching for a place to live in Douala, basically since we arrived. Let me just start by saying that every rental market is different. In Seattle prices are high, but there is a relative abundance of places for rent. Then in Den Helder, prices were not quite as high, but it took nearly 3 months to find a new place to rent. There was nearly no choices, so we had to take the first house that came available, and hope we beat everyone else to it! Then it was on to Douala. we spent 6 months searching for a house in the most corrupt market I have ever experienced. People demanding money to show us houses, people showing us houses that were already rented out, and the worst was people showing us houses that did not belong to them. This last one is a major issue in Douala. Locals have taken to writing on their houses that they are not for rent in bright paint, if the house is going to be vacant for more than a few weeks, to avoid being mixed up in these scams...

Well we are 6 months down the road, and through all the ups (few) and the downs (many) we finally managed to find a new place. All new places come with a few string attached. The issues with our new place was that it was basically neglected for 2+ years, and hadn't seen any improvements since the late 70's. I was so desperate, that I gave it a good hard look, and decided that if the owner agreed to pay for all of the improvements that would be required to make this our new home, we would go for it. After all, it was a good area of town, there was a small albeit overgrown garden, and there was even a pool, although it looked more like a swamp. 

Mikkel and I spent an entire rainy Sunday, making out our list of demands. We knew we had to be reasonable, and that we could not expect the aesthetic standards we were use to, so it took some negotiations to come to an acceptable understanding.

The improvements that we decided upon were that all of the flooring throughout the house need to be tiled, instead of just bare concrete. The original kitchen was the size of a broom closet, so they had to knock down a wall to make the kitchen larger, and then refit it with all new cabinets and fittings. Then they had to construct 2 new walls to create 3 separate bedrooms. Then since 2 of these new rooms shared a wall and were in need of access to a bathroom, we had them put in a jack -n- jill  bathroom. On top of all of these changes, it was also necessary to have every inch of the compound repainted, all of the wiring redone, and the plumbing gone through to make sure it was all in working order!

Having agreed on the terms, and the work to be done, we settled on a local contractor who spoke English for our benefit. We did a walkthrough of all the work to be completed, and the contractor gave me a deadline of 2-3 weeks! I was so excited I could hardly believe it! Although everyone else told me that timeline was bullshit, I decided not to listen to them because 2-3 weeks fit into my schedule perfectly!

How stupid could I have been??? Just to let you know, that now as I am writing this, we are in the midst of week 5, and the house is still not completed enough to be lived in.. I can say at this point the interior walls are constructed, the new windows and screens are in, and they have commenced construction of the new bedroom.  oh, and they have painted... why they painted before all the other work was completed is beyond my reasoning, but so was just about everything else they have done so far.

Below I will share with you some before and after photos up to this point. I must say that while it is taking a way longer than expected time to complete, it is really coming along nicely, and I think it will be a really nice home for us for the next 2+ years!

Pool and garden as viewed from the house - BEFORE

Pool and garden as viewed from the house - AFTER

View of the front of the house - BEFORE

View of the front of the house - AFTER,
  (I planted all new Hibiscus!)

Tiling of the front Veranda

The original tiny kitchen

Kitchen Post Demolition

Kitchen - AFTER, but not fully finished

Construction of one of the new interior walls

Construction of the new 3rd shared bathroom
(still has a long way to go!!!)

So this is the progress we had arrived at before my departure for Congo. I had to have many serious conversations with the contractor, who decided to go on vacation the week before I left, and tell him that the absolute drop dead date for completion was the 10th of September, and that he was not getting any more money, so he better find a way to get all the work completed with the budget he was given... I am afraid that if I get back to Douala, and the house is not completed, I will blow a gasket. This has really been one of the most stressful undertakings I have taken on in a long time, so I am going to take my time here in Congo to decompress, forget about my stress, try not to worry, and just hope for the best! Wish me luck!!!

So that is all I have for now! I hope that within the next week or two I will add a new post with my adventures in Pointe Noire, Congo! Until then I wish everyone happy wanderings and wonderings!