Hi all,
Thought that those of youse not on Facebook might like an update :)
Too bloody hot to do much atm so am on the laptop paying bills and while here the vexing weed issue got to me – see the other new thread I just created (such fun!).
Bought the new house, it’s No. 28 in my street. “Renovator’s delight”, settled late September. After exchange in August I was allowed access so that I could clean (previous tenants were pigs, honestly), ripped out carpets, painted the loungeroom (the only gyprocked room), sanded floors and got a nasty shoulder injury out of that. Took weeks to come good. The day after settlement new roof went on (took three days except for the bullnose front verandah which took ages due to stuff-ups on the bullnose order, but done now). Electrician replaced broken/old switches/power points/light fittings, rewired the switchboard. Tree specialist took out two disgusting conifers out front and a 25-metre silky oak/grevillea robusta off the northeast corner of the loungeroom (it was an accident waiting to happen in a big wind). Except for the metal-embedded trunk of the silky oak the rest got shredded and I have a huge wood chip mulch pile out the back waiting for me to plant trees.
Moved in mid-November.
Haven’t done much since, waiting for a builder. Trying to get a builder in the six weeks before Christmas was an exercise in futility. Hopefully he’ll be here this week, need the sub-floor checked and possibly a bit of work done under there, the restumping five years ago was NOT a quality job and there’s a significant sag in the kitchen floor where it joins the bathroom, will need that sorted for sure.
Builder needs to (1) sort floor levels (2) install window in future bathroom (3) reframe back verandah which will involve building a wall, possibly rebuilding a skillion roof approx 3m x 3.6m and knocking down the unsaveable bit.
Once that structural stuff is done I can let loose with:
(1) vacuuming out the ceiling one room at a time and lining between the ceiling joists with sarking (I think) to prevent dirt, etc., falling through the gaps in the ceiling lining boards (roof had leaked … ceilings suffered most) … should be doing that now but it’s too bloody hot to get up in the ceiling, funnily enough;
(2) shelling the kitchen wall and ceiling lining boards and re-doing with gyprock;
(3) getting carpet in the loungeroom and having the flued gas heater installed and the gas stove installed in the kitchen and have the electrician re-electrify the kitchen (currently all tied off, no stove, we’re using appliances plugged into extension cords);
(4) buying a houseful of R3.5 or thicker ceiling insulation and installing it;
(5) insulating under the floor;
(6) getting the wooden windows on the two front bedrooms fixed.
Heaps more smaller stuff to do.
22yo son (formerly known as the Feral Teenager) is on uni break, moved back the same weekend we moved into the house and as a result I don’t have an empty room I can work in/on, plus no builder, so I just gave up trying to do anything for a while because the logistics justn’t would work for me. I just plain lost my reno mojo.
Son22 is back to uni in the next week or two. He’s been quite unwell, too, long story, but he’s been in bed a lot. Picking up atm but even if he doesn’t get much better quickly, at least if he’s recuperating under someone else’s roof, I’ll have that vital empty room to start work in, then when one room has been worked on we can do a furniture shuffle and start on the next room.
Hopefully between having an empty room and the builder coming I will kickstart my reno mojo again!!
Also, I bought a tradie van (bench seat for three in the front “cabin”, big empty cavernous back section) which is just the best thing for carting furniture, building materials, etc. Moved our whole house here in it, but for the trampoline. This morning I filled it with green waste and took it to the tip, was chockas.
Trouble is the reno fund bought the van and I need to sell the Astra to top it up again. I have someone very interested but not going to get excited until the money’s in the bank!!
Least said about that situation the better, though, I think. Would rather focus on the positive, and the new house has given me something positive to focus on :)