Weeks 10 - 11

8 - 12 December 2008

Visible progress was slow this week. Lots of little details were attended to by George and Brian. The wardrobes were fitted out and the door handles were put on, the eave sheeting was completed, and the blokes did some cleaning up outside. Nothing terribly exciting to report, but all needed to be done.


15 - 19 December 2008

Huge and exciting changes this week.

The wardrobes in the ensuite and Will's old room disappeared, a hole was bashed through from the extension into Will's old room, and walls came down between the old ensuite and Will's old room.

John, Greg and I went ballistic on Thursday night and undercoated every surface of the new master bedroom.

I spent most of Friday, Saturday and half of Sunday painting our new room and finishing it all off.

It looks amazing!

Can report that high gloss paint is fiddlesome and annoying. It's hard to get the finish right!! I'll need to take the doors off the wardrobe again and re-do it, otherwise they will bug me for the rest of my life.

The house is now unrecognisable.



Our room, undercoated.

This is the view towards the walk-in wardrobe.











This is the view...um....towards the windows.

Ahem.













This is the view from Will's old bedroom door, towards the extension.

The wall to the left of the photo is where the wardrobes used to be.

The ensuite is to the back left of the photograph.




This is the view from Will's old room towards the ensuite.

Using that toilet is now a very weird experience.

In fact, living in a building site is a very weird experience.

Not complaining though - the house is going to be awesome when it's done!





This is what Will's old room looks like now.













John looked after the children while I painted.

Except for this bit. Daisy really wanted to "help".











Painting - a family affair.












This is the room, finished. It's a bit hard to tell, but the colour is a cross between olive and avocado.

We love it!

The window coverings are temporary. We are having shutters fitted in the new year.












Another view of our new bedroom.













This is where we have been eating most of evening meals.

It's really very nice.

The birds love their new feeder (you can see it in the background).












And finally.....here is a picture of Will. Just because he's super cute and lovely :-)


Merry Christmas everyone!!

Week 9

29 November 2008 - 5 December 2008

Apologies again for the long delay in updating the blog. We have been seriously busy packing all our possessions into boxes (see the shipping container, below), filling holes, undercoating, painting, celebrating the Silly Season (thanks Steph) and general family bizzo.





Ahh, at last....celebrating on the new deck with a nice meal, good company and a few beers...











The shipping container arrives, and we start to fill it up with all our worldly possessions.













This is our new bedroom. The plasterers came in one Saturday and finished off the cornices etc.

They did a fantastic job.









This is the new walk-in wardrobe, sans doors.

Very nice.

















It was an exciting moment for me when George and Brian removed the mega-ugly vanity unit from our ensuite and bashed through from the extension into the existing house.

Exciting for them too - they no longer have to climb in the window!











The vanity has gone, but the walls and wardrobe remain.

For now.

Week 8

24 - 28 November 2008

After the inclement weather of last week, it's been a case of "all hands on deck" this week, and we have seen a huge amount of progress.




Damo single handedly finished the decking and ballustrade.

So of course, we celebrated with a meal and a few beers, in the pleasant late Spring evening.








The deck outside what is currently our bedroom has come up beautifully.

It's going to be a really special spot once we clear away the building materials.









The roofing team of worked hard to finish the roof before the expected thunderstorms later in the week.











Dave worked hard putting in windows, insulation paper and pink bats, before the plasterer comes to do his thing on Saturday and Sunday.















It's amazing to see it all taking shape.

We're incredibly impressed.

This is a picture of what will be the master bedroom.

Week 7

17 - 21 November 2008

It rained this week. And rained. And thundered. And hailed. So progress was markedly slow.




However, the roofers did manage to put the roof on the extension, before the deluge.

The tarp kept (most of) the rain out of the new part.









Meanwhile, it was discovered that the deck outside of the dining room was completely rotten through, and the joists needed to be completely replaced.

All this might explain why I fell through it two years ago :-)

Week 6

Ok, first off - apologies for the lack of recent updates.

In explanation, the visible progress of the renovation slowed while a lot of background work was being done. Then we had a week and a half of solid rain, during which the building team did other indoor work elsewhere.

As far as we are concerned, it's a win-win situation for us. If it rains, our garden gets watered and our water tank is filled. If the sun shines, our house gets built. Hurrah!!

Anyway, on with the latest news....


10 - 14 November 2008





The decking and ballustrade has been progressing very nicely.

The ballustrade is currently a garish apricot colour. We plan to paint it, maybe a dark green to match the roof.

More on the roof later :-)










Daisy does a daily inspection of the building works.

She's currently going through a "mermaid phase". If you address her as "Daisy", she likes to say "No, I'm a mermaid".

Funny.








The roof trusses look incredibly intricate and cunningly put together.

This is the view from the inside of what will become Will's room.

Day 19

10 November 2008

The guys outdid themselves today, and got all the roof trusses up, weather proofed the roof, then shouted themselves to a few beers in the carport :-)

Day 18

6 November 2008


It's a Saturday morning and the roof trusses arrive. At 7.00am!!

Days 15 - 17

3 - 5 November 2008


After a couple of days off due to rain and the Melbourne Cup, the boys get straight back on the job, ripping up the old deck.

As it turns out, most of the deck, joists and stumps were rotten right through and needed to be replaced.






Just as well we discouraged people from walking on it, huh.












The deck has gone.












The spotted gum decking is laid out beside our bedroom.













And voila - this is what it looks like, with balustrade.















Next, Brian and Damo rip up the decking under the dining room windows....














...and beside the dining room itself.














This is what it looks like, sans deck.

By the end of next week, we'll have a fancy new deck around the house.

Very excited.

Day 12, 13 and 14

October 24, 27 and 28

George, Brian, Damon and Todd work like possessed men to get the frame up....









...with a little help from Will :-)














According to Better Homes and Gardens (ahem) spotted gum is one of the hardest woods in Australia.

It certainly makes a beautiful deck.

Damo is a little unimpressed - it's too hard to nail with a nail gun, so he has to do it all by hand....

Day 11

23 October 2008

The windows have arrived, the decking timber has arrived, and the frame has gone up.











The roof trusses, however, are going to be measured on Monday and may take awhile to be made. There is enough to be going on with though!








The blokes are doing such a great job and are such nice guys, that Daisy and I made them a cake for smoko tomorrow.

Daisy likes to Lick the Spoon.

:-)

Day 10

22 October 2008

The blokes are building like mad things. While awaiting the decking timber and windows, the deck frame goes up and the floor plan is laid out.

Day 9

21 October 2008


After much banging and crashing, the floor went up. We really are amazed at how quickly it is all happening!

That is Will's room to the left. As you can imagine, he didn't get much sleep today. From now on, he is going to have his day sleep's in a portacot in Daisy's room.

Day 8

20 October 2008


In one day, all the stumps go in!

This comes as a great shock and surprise to John and I, as it took John, my father and brother an entire day to build....









...Daisy and Will's cubby house!!

I guess experience counts for a lot.

















Daisy has her tool belt and hard hat on, ready to help George build her new bedroom.

We're all very excited with the rate of progress.

From tomorrow, there will be four people on the job. George's nephew Todd, a second year apprentice, will be joining the crew.

Will have to make more muffins next time :-)