September was, literally, a lost month for the house in Ourense. The kitchen renovation began on the 1st and was finished on the 19th, right when we were leaving for Scotland.
When we returned from the trip, September was already over, and we didn’t go the first weekend either for sheer logistics: we were in Porto organizing videos, photos, blog posts and all the pending content. So, Ourense was on pause longer than we would have liked, precisely at a stage when every weekend counted.
On top of that, there was another concern: the person who had given us the estimate to change the windows, the door and the gate—a key project for thermal insulation before winter—had left me stranded.
So, when we finally got back into our routine in October, the first thing I did was ask my neighbour Julieta to help me find someone trustworthy. Her son David didn’t take long to show up with solutions. He brought a blacksmith—his coworker, someone very trustworthy—who measured everything, and at last we were able to order the new gate.
Fortunately, the gate was installed in the last week of November, and only the cement finishing on the edges was left, which our neighbour Ricardo would take care of to ensure proper insulation.
After the kitchen renovation, other issues that worried me were also resolved. Ricardo—who deserves his own chapter in this story—took care of installing a safe floor in the little room where the water and electricity are shut off, which had a hole almost two meters deep. It was uncomfortable and dangerous, and having him fix it was a huge improvement, even if visually it went unnoticed.
As if that weren’t enough, he also fulfilled one of my aesthetic wishes: the green tiles in the kitchen. Those we couldn’t install during the main renovation because there were no bricklayers available. Ricardo came, installed them calmly, and they turned out exactly as I wanted.
Meanwhile, David also put me in contact with an aluminum professional to solve the issue of the windows and the door. I had already spoken with several companies, but none inspired confidence: some never called back, others made up absurd explanations; one even claimed that the windows had to be a different color on the inside to be cheaper. Nonsense.
But the man recommended by David was different. He arrived with a catalogue, samples, profiles in hand— the only one who explained everything properly. And that’s when we realized that the windows quoted by the first provider—the one who let us down—were low-quality. In Ourense, almost everyone is already installing triple-glazed windows, which are much more insulating, modern and durable. The price difference wasn’t huge, and it made perfect sense to do things right from the beginning.
We followed his recommendations, he prepared the estimate, we paid 40% upfront and waited. The best part is that he guaranteed the installation would be done before Christmas. After having lost six months with the previous provider, having such a reasonable timeframe was an immense relief.
While all of this was happening, several weekends were wasted on something exhausting: receiving people to ask for estimates that later were useless. We spent one hour with each person measuring and talking, and then they either sent nothing or sent absurd numbers. By early December, the only things truly confirmed were the new gate, the new door and the windows. Everything else was still pending, and I was beginning to assume that the rest would have to wait until the following year.
There was also one weekend in November when we managed to make progress on our own: we assembled the sliding kitchen door; one we had bought on Amazon. We put it together, painted it and installed it. It’s not the most functional door in the world, but it helps divide the space a bit and adds privacy, which is what we were looking for.
To top it off, on the last weekend of November we planned to continue painting the garage columns, but the house decided to surprise us with an electrical problem. We had to return to Porto the same day, and the issue wasn’t resolved until the following Monday.
So, when I look back, from August to early December the feeling is clear: yes, we made progress, but at a frustrating pace. The kitchen looked beautiful, we had a new gate, new tiles, a new floor in the utility room, a sliding door ready, and window installers on the way, but there was still a lot left to do.
On the weekend of December 12, we finally returned to the house and were met with the first pleasant surprise: our neighbors had removed the old wooden gate. The difference was abysmal. Being inside the garage without that gate blocking the space completely changed the feeling of the area.
That weekend it was time to work hard. We had to do a deep cleaning and take care of several pending repairs. We had purchased a new security camera and a couple of vacuum cleaners that needed to be installed and organized. In addition, the house had been closed for 3 weeks due to an electrical problem. We found a lot of accumulated dirt and several delivery packages to manage.
As for the painting, progress was more limited than what we would have liked. Only one garage column could be completely painted, leaving three still pending. Each column took Diego practically a full day of work, so the process was necessarily slow.
Even so, it was a productive weekend, and we managed to make progress on many aspects of the house. With a bit of luck, before the end of the year the gate would be finished, with the missing lower piece already in place, along with the installation of the new windows and front door.
Between December 25 and 28, we spent what was the last weekend of 2025 at our house in Ourense. The idea was to finish painting the garage columns that were still left to do.
It was an especially tough weekend due to the cold weather. In Cenlle, temperatures ranged between zero and minus two degrees, and the electric heaters we had in the house were simply not enough. At best, in the living area—which is an open-plan space—the temperature barely reached 17 degrees. In the kitchen, where there was no way to install any heating system, the temperature was practically the same as outside.
That last weekend of the year made it clear that electric heaters were not a viable solution and that we urgently needed another heating system that was more efficient, more eco-friendly, and financially reasonable. A pellet stove seemed like the logical option, but reality once again set limits: there was no immediate stock, and delivery times were pushed back until mid-January. On top of that, regulations require that the pellet stove commissioning be carried out by a certified technician if you don’t want to lose the warranty, the right to make claims, or insurance coverage.
In the end, priority overruled everything else. We bought the pellet stove on Amazon, with the idea that our neighbor’s son would handle the installation once it arrived, and we would deal with the certification later. What mattered most was being able to heat the house efficiently, because continuing to spend money on electric heaters only to stay below 17 degrees made no sense at all. The pellet stove was scheduled to arrive in mid-January.
That same weekend, we finally managed to finish painting the garage columns, something we had been postponing for months, and it felt like a small relief.
On December 27, we also received a message from the aluminum company confirming that the installation of the windows and the door would take place on Monday and Tuesday, December 29 and 30. Since we would no longer be at the house, we once again left everything in the hands of Julieta—who has saved us more than once—and her son David, who could also supervise the work. When we returned in January, we would review the result and complete the final payment.
That weekend also left room for smaller details. I had to remove the solar lights from the terrace railing because they were filled with water and frozen inside; maintaining this type of outdoor lighting during winter in Galicia is simply unworkable.
We also left the garage clean and cleared out, preparing it for what will come starting in January: shaping my future home gym and installing the cabinet for the washing machine and dryer, which had already been commissioned from the carpenter. It was not an easy or comfortable weekend, but it was productive.
Here is the link to my YouTube channel:
More articles on searching for and buying our second home: