Just went over for couple hours – started pulling down ramp and rails at rear. Discovered hb had left his angle grinder (and safety gear) in the boot – figured it out OK with help of my DIY book, so able to cut away wire where welded to posts. Apparently he has a smaller one – think might try that next time.
Ramp and verandah out back at present:
Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since we settled. Not much spare time now to go online. Have been working every chance I can and am having difficulty getting my hb to go do some paid work. So far so good.
Front fence posts and rails up.
Rear verandah removed.
Builder has removed walls between kitchen and lounge and put in support beams. Removed linen cupboard from bathroom. Replaced cracked ceiling panels.
Kitchen removed. New kitchen ordered.
Taken down all wall dressings, a million picture hooks, door stops etc.
Electrician first bit of wiring prep.
Put in framework to fill in 3 doorways (linen cupboard/3rd br robe, old lounge door and opening between what was lounge/dining, now bed1/dining). Got pile of 2nds sheets for walls – most just have a corner off.
Gradually preparing walls and ceiling for painting. Sugar soap and hole filler. How can a wall be so filthy and yet look OK to casual glance?
Floor polishing guy came in today to check out and will do nail punching/filling and removing rest of staples tomorrow. Will sand polish once building and painting finished.
Getting quotes to replace 2 of 4 glass panels in each window frame, opaque to clear. Quoted $450 for whole house. Need to get more light in and will update too.
Will take a couple of progress shots tomorrow.Melanie
Week 3: Tried to pressure spray outside of house – only to find pressure sprayer needed a special extension cord. Spent day digging a front garden border, sourcing plants for it (chose a variety of lilly pilly that is rapid growing and dense to cover stumps and underneath house. Using bricks from paving in removed greenhouse to do garden edging.
Started light sanding of windows ready for painter.
Plumber did his first stint – capped some pipes to allow abthroom fittings to be removed.
Searching for kitchen appliances – any suggestions? Planning to attend auctions.
We had some bad storms and flooding here that meant my tradesman hb was busy with repairs and helping a friend fix his flooded shop. Schedule looking OK though.
Hi bzmum04
Please keep the story going. I feel like I’m hanging on the edge of a good book or tv series where they finish with the dreaded line… to be continued.
Good work
Sounds like you've built up quite a fan base bzmum! We are all really enjoying your renovation story! Sounds like you're doing a great job! Keep up the great work, and we look forward to hearing more from you soon!
Cheers,
Matt.
Thanks for that guys. Will make more effort to post more regularly.
Have to go measure up paving area and take some windows to glazier tomorrow so will even try take some progress photos.
Am definitely a bona fide “worker” now – have a massive blister on my palm from pulling out the staples in kitchen floor ready for sanding, numerous scratches an bruises and even some of that inground dirt that no amount of scrubbing my hands seem to get rid of – yes, I have invested in some gloves now.
Painter has gone on a cruise (lucky him) and not due back for 2 weeks but gives me more time to do the prep. No more gapping is a great stress reliever.
Currently hunting for (or buying) : plain white tiles for bathroom, kitchen appliances, paint for fence, pavers for patio area (Boral seconds).
Also finally got the outside of the house washed and scrubbed – windows are definitely not waterproof to that sort of direct spray. Am hoping to borrow some scaffolding to repaint the beautiful mission brown gutters and the pastel green eaves later this week.
Weed n feed’ed the front grass area as grass is full of clover and other weeds.
Hb is planning on having 2 weeks of “holidays” shortly to get his stuff done – gate and front fence, paving/retaining for patio area, repair and put bannister on front fences and tiling.
My biggest issue is that I have 2 “work days’ per week alloted for my portion of hands-on plus shorter stints as allowed by my almost 3 yo. But I find that as I have to get 3 kids to school and 1 to childcare b4 I can start ie about 9:30 and need to be back at school pick up by 2:30. Would love a longer day but being unused to the type of work and current heat, I am often worn out by then anyway. Hats off to the tradesmen out there.
Take it easier bzmum. From the workload you're describing I'm worried you're going to run yourself down.
Thanks for sharing your journey.
Carlin
Thanks for concern but I am being really careful to avoid that ie yesterday was a “work” day but also my last childfree day b4 the hols, so I decided I deserved a day off. My girlfriend and I spent the day at the shopping centre, finishing xmas shopping etc.
Plus I don’t take on the big jobs, just the small unskilled. It is great to do a job and know that the next day it will be just as clean/ tidy!!!!!! My hb is also supportive that I not take on too much so I don’t feel pressured.
Mel
What first time home buyer programs exist in northern nevada reno/sparks city areas?how can information be obtained to assist first time home buyers with their first home purchase?
Well now that the Xmas rush is over, we are progressing nicely again. My husband has committed 2 solid weeks to the project and is flying along. Following some sort of nail gun for Xmas, he is flying along replacing the broken asbestos panels we had removed, finishing off the doorways we filled in, edging, etc.
We did get out of order as he needed to complete some pre Xmas job committments but we have good communication with the tradesman and no one thinks it will be an issue. The kitchen went in on boxing day and looks great. I also got the kitchen appliance combo on boxing day sales (complete with 3 lovely little advisors in tow!), the sink and tap mixer.
Just b4 Xmas got tiles for the front sunroom area (and grout and glue etc) and the seconds pavers we had been waiting for – it’s luck of the draw which colours come in.
Today the kids and I got the paint for the front fence (even managed a tradesmans discount) and started that job. However after loading all the wood offcuts from the building work onto the truck, mowing the lawn (20+ catchers full!!!), poisoning the to-be-gravelled areas and under house etc, the kids had had enough, Dad had had enough of his ‘helpers’ and after about 3m of fence palings (painting the fronts and backs is fun but the sides…$#@$%^#) in the 30+ degree heat, I gave up and took kids home for a swim.
Have also gotten the driveway excavated (the cement duel paths up to the garage even challenged the 4wd) and is ready to lay gravel.
Best of all, am keeping a close eye on the budget and is still looking OK. Only have the minor things left to budget in – taps, lights, kitchen splashback, power points etc.
Sorry again forgot to take camera.
Things going ahead beautifully now. Painter is in last week and this week and the rooms are looking really great. I can imagine someone wanting to live there now. Taken the oppotunity to get some painting tips from him – he insisted I use one of his ‘decent’ brushes to paint front fence.
Last week my husband dropeed some of the skirtings down as the gap left after removing the carpet and lino was too obvious in some rooms. Removed the outdoor toilet. The slab left behind is surprisingly deep and as would have to get a bobcat in to move it or spend hours on the jackhammer, decided to leave it and put the foldable clothesline (was previously screwed to the verandah we demolished) up there on a couple of posts so looks like there for a reason.
Had to move the pavers for verandah around the back as delivery guys left just inside front fence when no one there despite being asked
to put in back yard. Wasn’t ready to use yet but need grass underneath alive!! Was made a lot easier by loading them into the kanga scoop and driving them around back.Also got some trees planted in the front yard and painted 1/4 of fence – would have got a lot more done if hadn’t had to dash of half way through the day to help find my child that vacation care had lost (has DS). Luckily was quickly (and safely) found.
Are starting to meet some of the neighbours now. We gave one elderly couple that live behind a guided tour on the weekend and the young couple over the road have offered us numerous plants from their garden as they have bought recently and are overhauling. Will use some for down side of driveway and around back verandah.
Also being offereb jobs for both fencing and minor excavation work for the kanga (neither needed at present!!) from neighbours that are also renovating!!!
This week plan to get the rear verandah painted and finish painting the front fence. Painter should be finished the inside this week, so can get plumber and electrician in for 2nd fit and get the kitchen and bathroom functional (next week).
Are both still loving working on the house but finding it difficult to meet other job commitments, childcare, housework etc. Our friends that are also used to having my hb available to help them with various handyman stuff are also suffering ie my nephews car is still sitting in the front yard waiting for a new engine and the grass is half way up the doors!!!
Cheers, Melanie
Great to hear from you again Mel.
When you get a chance, would love to see some photos – but no rush, cos I know you're working hard.
all best,
CarlinPhotos!!!Ask and you shall receive. Is taking a while to download them.
These are of what was the lounge and opening to the dining room. The opening was quite nice but house layout didn’t work. Is now bedroom 1 and opening is so neatly closed you can’t even tell was there. Painter has done walls and ceiling but not yet window frames. Floor have had a rough sand but not yet polished. It was the first room to get painted so I thought I’d go in order.
By the way, the time here is 11;15, NOT 12:15!!!!!
That's a great transformation. Those floors have come up a treat.
cheers,
CarlinMore interesting photos. This is the newly created living/kitchen area. It feels great. You can see the roof beams we inserted to replace the 2 walls we removed. Now that they are painted they blend in really well.
Still debating what colour tiles to use in the kitchen. Was going to use white tiles on the wall but maybe white tiles with the white cupboards, black countertops and polished floor will be too much . Opinions appreciated.
Before:
Mid:
Wow Melanie! This post is truly inspirational!
Great work so far, I look forward to finding out how the rest unfolds
All the best,
Lance
Plumber in today sorting out plumbing for sink, dishwasher, vanity, toilet (will be great to have a functional toilet onsite), bath, shower etc. We had supplied taps but mixer had gotten for sink (from Bunnings) leaked badly and used one of one.
Went to a couple of open inspections on w/e to try keep idea current market in my area. Also keeping an eye on properties sold in area.
The budget is still looking solid but not sure if can meet the 12 week deadline. Looking at getting some of smaller carpentry jobs done to keep things moving. My hb would like to be there more often but he has his own business to attend to too. We have been putting in a lot of weekends (which we don’t mind as enjoy it). Comes down to extra interest payments vs paying tradesmen.
Thanks for the encouragement Lance.
Melanie
Looks great Melanie
I hope it all works out great for you
Keep on going with the updates
I and im sure many others are enjoying the changesAndrew
Finished painting the underside of the verandah roof today. Painter has done most of gloss paint around window frames and skirtings. Started painting up laundry walls.
New bathroom layout looks great (sorry didn’t take camera).
My hb (Wayne btw) is out in the shed spray painting the window latches and handles.
Thanks Andrew. It’ll certainly be a spectacular flop if we don’t make a profit at the end of it all!!
Melanie
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