A rather strange weekend just passed by, a typical Christmas weekend really. Time passes really quickly, money was spent, nothing really happened.
No work was done on the house while we wait for various things to fall into place. Once those things have fallen, work will continue.
Monday, 23 December 2013
Monday, 16 December 2013
Jack Ketch - a Master of his craft
After waiting many tantalising weeks the inevitable finally became a reality: hanging day was upon us.
The streets were filled with the people looking for a spectacle, spent streamers clogged the drains, young boys sold broadsheets, old men sold hot pies (and the occasional rat-on-a-stick), women looked resplendent in their recently bought hats. Jack Ketch was attired in his finery: black leather apron, black leather boots, and black leather hood. In typical fashion Mr Ketch toyed with the crowd, showing off the tools of his craft: chisel, drill, sander, planer.
And as soon it had started it was over: five doors hanged. Just like that. No mess, no fuss, no celebration, no remorse: Jack Ketch is a true professional.
Also over the weekend:
The bathroom and laundry walls were fully tiled. Accompanying the tiling of these rooms was the installation of the cabinets, that was done by the Joinery company on Friday. We are well impressed with the cabinets! The bathroom cabinet looks, well, weird, sitting by itself. But the quality of the materials, and the colors, materials we chose are very pleasing. As is the very wide and very deep drawers. It will look less weidr with the basin, tap and mirror above it. The laundry is great too. We opted for a ceaserstone bench in the laundry instead of a basic one, very pleased we did.
Last week we found out the floor tiles we had previously selected are unavailable, and there was no timeframe for when they would be back in stock. So a quick trip to Geelong on Saturday morning to select new ones. We arrived at the tile company, advised the attendant who were were ("We're with Jack Ketch", "This way, sir") and within 30 seconds had the old tile and three similar ones ready for inspection. 30 seconds later we had selected the new tile and were on our way. New tiles will be ready by Wednesday. It ain't no thing.
The other totally ace thing was the installation of the LED skylights in the passageway and the bathroom. The actual LED lights were put in a few weeks ago but we were waiting for some nice weather, and a scaffolding system, before mounting the solar panels to the roof. Instead of regular skylights which are, I figure, mirror systems that reflect natural light down a mirrored tube through a hole in a ceiling, thus illuminating a room; these bad boys are solar panels that generate electricity that is sent down a typical black power cable into an LED light. The LED is "on" as long Helios is up in the sky beaming smiles down upon us. There are three LEDs, two in the passage and one in the bathroom. They are pretty impressive! Our bathroom has no natural light, so when the lights are off the room is pitch black. Not anymore. The LED does not have the same power as powered LEDs, but it throws enough light to easily use the bathroom during the day. The passageway is a little harder to notice the difference, but when the doors are all closed the passage is very nicely illuminated - again, no need for power.
The streets were filled with the people looking for a spectacle, spent streamers clogged the drains, young boys sold broadsheets, old men sold hot pies (and the occasional rat-on-a-stick), women looked resplendent in their recently bought hats. Jack Ketch was attired in his finery: black leather apron, black leather boots, and black leather hood. In typical fashion Mr Ketch toyed with the crowd, showing off the tools of his craft: chisel, drill, sander, planer.
And as soon it had started it was over: five doors hanged. Just like that. No mess, no fuss, no celebration, no remorse: Jack Ketch is a true professional.
Also over the weekend:
The bathroom and laundry walls were fully tiled. Accompanying the tiling of these rooms was the installation of the cabinets, that was done by the Joinery company on Friday. We are well impressed with the cabinets! The bathroom cabinet looks, well, weird, sitting by itself. But the quality of the materials, and the colors, materials we chose are very pleasing. As is the very wide and very deep drawers. It will look less weidr with the basin, tap and mirror above it. The laundry is great too. We opted for a ceaserstone bench in the laundry instead of a basic one, very pleased we did.
Last week we found out the floor tiles we had previously selected are unavailable, and there was no timeframe for when they would be back in stock. So a quick trip to Geelong on Saturday morning to select new ones. We arrived at the tile company, advised the attendant who were were ("We're with Jack Ketch", "This way, sir") and within 30 seconds had the old tile and three similar ones ready for inspection. 30 seconds later we had selected the new tile and were on our way. New tiles will be ready by Wednesday. It ain't no thing.
The other totally ace thing was the installation of the LED skylights in the passageway and the bathroom. The actual LED lights were put in a few weeks ago but we were waiting for some nice weather, and a scaffolding system, before mounting the solar panels to the roof. Instead of regular skylights which are, I figure, mirror systems that reflect natural light down a mirrored tube through a hole in a ceiling, thus illuminating a room; these bad boys are solar panels that generate electricity that is sent down a typical black power cable into an LED light. The LED is "on" as long Helios is up in the sky beaming smiles down upon us. There are three LEDs, two in the passage and one in the bathroom. They are pretty impressive! Our bathroom has no natural light, so when the lights are off the room is pitch black. Not anymore. The LED does not have the same power as powered LEDs, but it throws enough light to easily use the bathroom during the day. The passageway is a little harder to notice the difference, but when the doors are all closed the passage is very nicely illuminated - again, no need for power.
Bathroom cabinet - before surrounding tiles:
Bathroom cabinet - now with tiles!
The space is for the mirror. On the left will be a large mirror too.
Laundry cabinets and tiles.
The space between the two cabinets is for a dryer.
Above the cabinets we will put an additional bench for more storage and take advantage of the high ceilings.
What you see here will eventually be enclosed behind doors so it is nicely tucked away.
Shower hole - tiled like a boss:
Hanged doors:
In the foreground is a halfdoor to a hall cupboard
In the background is the door to the study/bedroom 2
Let there be [natural] light!
Helios-powered.
TAKE THAT GAIA!
Monday, 9 December 2013
Back at it
A couple of weeks off, The Master's look fresh and as though they had been relaxed, but a week back in reality from two weeks on a cruise ship wipes the relax off pretty fast. And then its back to work at the house.
This weekend was all about tiling. The bathroom walls are pretty much all covered now, a couple of spots left but they are dependent on the cabinetry being put in first (I think). Plus we ran out of the glass tiles.
The tiles were probably the hardest thing for me to visualise. You have take such a small sample and extrapolate it in a 3-dimensional room that doesn't physically exist, with items that haven't been purchased. We picked the tiles relatively easily, but I have been concerned about them. With the walls mostly tiled I remain uncertain. I hope that by the time the entire room is finished I will be satisfied. If not, well too bad for me I guess. The Shadow, who does have a good internal eye for visualisation, is quite comfortable. So that gives me peace.
On Saturday I went around the house and filled in all the nail holes with filler. SO many little holes.
Having not been to the house for a couple of weeks I was surprised to see the state of the backyard - Gaia is a real jerk! But we'll see next week who has the last laugh, Gaia or Senor Roundup.
This weekend was all about tiling. The bathroom walls are pretty much all covered now, a couple of spots left but they are dependent on the cabinetry being put in first (I think). Plus we ran out of the glass tiles.
The tiles were probably the hardest thing for me to visualise. You have take such a small sample and extrapolate it in a 3-dimensional room that doesn't physically exist, with items that haven't been purchased. We picked the tiles relatively easily, but I have been concerned about them. With the walls mostly tiled I remain uncertain. I hope that by the time the entire room is finished I will be satisfied. If not, well too bad for me I guess. The Shadow, who does have a good internal eye for visualisation, is quite comfortable. So that gives me peace.
On Saturday I went around the house and filled in all the nail holes with filler. SO many little holes.
Having not been to the house for a couple of weeks I was surprised to see the state of the backyard - Gaia is a real jerk! But we'll see next week who has the last laugh, Gaia or Senor Roundup.
First walls to be tiled
Fibre to the House - suck it rest of Australia!
Whats that, up to 1Gbps now?
What, no more FFTH only to the Node because the Libs prefer the hMail* and the tele**?
BAM!
*Horse courier mail | **telegraph
Welcome to Thistle County - proudly brought to you by Gaia
Aka Mother Nature
Aka World's Biggest Jerk:
Stompsville - nee Thistle County
Shower area, fully tiled with glass tiles feature:
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Trimmings
This post is a little later than I would prefer. So many distractions. It also comes without the obligatory photo-shoot. I blame Apple for that. A simple task like upgrading iOS version is completely beyond Apple's ability to manage and so I become a victim to its hubris, losing all my settings, music, photos... etc. It's possible the photos will be recovered tonight as they download themselves from icloud back on to my phone. Why can't I see them directly in icloud? There are so many things I would like to say about Apple and my iPhone, which I have loathed pretty much every day for over three years. I will conclude by saying this: I can't wait for my Nexus 5 to arrive in 2-3 weeks and I shed Apple and its monstrously appalling products, hopefully forever.
Back to my house:
The Master finished fitting the skirting and architraves in the passageway. They look totally ace - but you'll have to trust me on that for now (see above). The cupboards were also fitted out and now we have a cupboard with shelves in the front bedroom and a walk in robe with shelves in the master. Pretty damn cool.
The Shadow and I had a look at some iron places as we will be needing to get some iron lacing for the verandah and put in a fence and what-not. There is some cool stuff out there.
On Sunday we loaded the trailer with some crap in the backyard, left over mostly from the plasterers. Holy crap did those guys know how to make a mess and NOT clean it up. And why not just leave a bucket full of water that stagnates and then gets thrown into the trailer and the water goes everywhere and stinks? And I'm totally cool throwing your cigarette packets away, don't trouble yourself.
And then we tore down the brick fence at the front. Was that tiring work? It turns out that once a brick has been mortared to another brick they do not want to let go. Not at all like Lego bricks. Long story short: brick fence is gone, sledgehammer and jackhammer were in use (like a boss), nephews demanded soccer and gridiron practice following said fence-removal, body sore and achy, no post until Thursday.
Our letterbox was part of the torn down fence so we had to figure out how to replace that. A trip to Bunnings late Sunday evening for a new box and a box of screws. It provided the perfect opportunity to try out my new drill set that had been delivered Saturday. Awesome!
If I could I would add a photo of our newly drilled on letterbox, fenceless frontage, skirting and architraves and cupboard. But you know, Apple doesn't want me to have nice things, and you, in turn, are also punished. Think about that.
The Master's are on their annual sabbatical, living large on a cruise ship somewhere. Work is suspended for a week or two.
Back to my house:
The Master finished fitting the skirting and architraves in the passageway. They look totally ace - but you'll have to trust me on that for now (see above). The cupboards were also fitted out and now we have a cupboard with shelves in the front bedroom and a walk in robe with shelves in the master. Pretty damn cool.
The Shadow and I had a look at some iron places as we will be needing to get some iron lacing for the verandah and put in a fence and what-not. There is some cool stuff out there.
On Sunday we loaded the trailer with some crap in the backyard, left over mostly from the plasterers. Holy crap did those guys know how to make a mess and NOT clean it up. And why not just leave a bucket full of water that stagnates and then gets thrown into the trailer and the water goes everywhere and stinks? And I'm totally cool throwing your cigarette packets away, don't trouble yourself.
And then we tore down the brick fence at the front. Was that tiring work? It turns out that once a brick has been mortared to another brick they do not want to let go. Not at all like Lego bricks. Long story short: brick fence is gone, sledgehammer and jackhammer were in use (like a boss), nephews demanded soccer and gridiron practice following said fence-removal, body sore and achy, no post until Thursday.
Our letterbox was part of the torn down fence so we had to figure out how to replace that. A trip to Bunnings late Sunday evening for a new box and a box of screws. It provided the perfect opportunity to try out my new drill set that had been delivered Saturday. Awesome!
If I could I would add a photo of our newly drilled on letterbox, fenceless frontage, skirting and architraves and cupboard. But you know, Apple doesn't want me to have nice things, and you, in turn, are also punished. Think about that.
The Master's are on their annual sabbatical, living large on a cruise ship somewhere. Work is suspended for a week or two.
Monday, 11 November 2013
Tyburn prepares
A weekend of ongoing preparations for the big day, Hanging Day.
In typical Tyburn fashion the house was alive with work, but I was involved in none. Despite that I would not characterise my weekend as 'a weekend off'.
The Master continued the assault on the wood work, cutting and installing many door frames, window frames, skirting boards and the shelving in the front bedroom's cupboard and walk in robe.
Meanwhile, our electrician was busy all weekend putting in the power points, light switches and lights. Yep, finally we can see what the house will look like at night (although we havent yet), and we can see in the bathroom. Still quite blue.
The supplier was unable to supply the necessary architraves and skirting boards for the passageway, the passageway having a more detailed design that the bedrooms. So it remains somewhat naked and exposed. Next weekend it should be properly clothed.
As for The Shadow and I, we spent several hours on Saturday back on the shopping trail, this time looking at cupboard handles. We found a suitable design in Richmond.
On Sunday we took the nephews Dewey and Louie to Mt Dandenong and looked down upon Melbourne and laughed maniacally from the great heights like four gods looking upon the earth and laughing maniacally. Dewey spent a good about of time bringing The Shadow up to speed on the ins and outs of Naruto.
Thirty minutes of soccer and gridiron practice upon our return and I was probably less rested than the previous few weekends working at the house.
Up next: the woodwork and the painting continue, and the scraping the plaster and other crud off the floor so proper flooring can be laid begins.
In typical Tyburn fashion the house was alive with work, but I was involved in none. Despite that I would not characterise my weekend as 'a weekend off'.
The Master continued the assault on the wood work, cutting and installing many door frames, window frames, skirting boards and the shelving in the front bedroom's cupboard and walk in robe.
Meanwhile, our electrician was busy all weekend putting in the power points, light switches and lights. Yep, finally we can see what the house will look like at night (although we havent yet), and we can see in the bathroom. Still quite blue.
The supplier was unable to supply the necessary architraves and skirting boards for the passageway, the passageway having a more detailed design that the bedrooms. So it remains somewhat naked and exposed. Next weekend it should be properly clothed.
As for The Shadow and I, we spent several hours on Saturday back on the shopping trail, this time looking at cupboard handles. We found a suitable design in Richmond.
On Sunday we took the nephews Dewey and Louie to Mt Dandenong and looked down upon Melbourne and laughed maniacally from the great heights like four gods looking upon the earth and laughing maniacally. Dewey spent a good about of time bringing The Shadow up to speed on the ins and outs of Naruto.
Thirty minutes of soccer and gridiron practice upon our return and I was probably less rested than the previous few weekends working at the house.
Up next: the woodwork and the painting continue, and the scraping the plaster and other crud off the floor so proper flooring can be laid begins.
Cupboard shelving in the front bedroom:
Cable madness, now with power points:
Window frames:
Door frame and naked light switch (don't stare!):
Again with the jokes, our wonderful rose with naked globe (STOP STARING!).
The actual light fixture is sitting at home waiting patiently to be installed
so it can look like a boss:
Monday, 4 November 2013
Naruto madness
 |
| File footage: Dewey. Dewey likes Naruto, ball games and chicken. |
At the risk of losing the preferred-uncle status and being hated forever, I will characterise Naruto, just between you and me, as being like Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon. In other words, nothing like the He-Man, Ninja Turtles or Transformers I grew up with, or the Phineas and Ferb I currently adore. This is faaar more complicated, interwoven and trans-media.
Finally, they, despite being ninja's, didnt sound like the ninja's I grew up with either. I'm thinking, American Ninja this ain't.
Naruto - totally ninja!
Michael Dudikoff - totally ninja?
He was in the early 1990s:
What the hell were we thinking back then?
Steady as she goes, Cap'n
You know that annoying ad for superannuation - from little things big things grow - it kind of feels like that at the moment. And now you have the annoying song in your head too, right. Sucker.
As the house moves towards the finishing point it is mostly smaller things that are being added and so the change is not as obvious as taking down a wall or putting one up. But the change is still there.
This weekend we wet-proofed the bathroom. Yes, we. I helped... mostly by watching and occasionally moving out of the way. Sometimes even without being asked! Wet-proofing was a time-consuming process of laying down a couple of coats of goop where water may fear to tread. Good luck if it tries to tread now - KABLAMMO! I assume KABLAMMO - what else is the membrane supposed to do, if not totally destroy water molecules? Why all the effort?
The archways received their first undercoat and now look even more excellent. The door jambs were put in place so the doors can be hung. Hanged. In any case, I shall call the house Tyburn Square for the period of time in which the hangings are taking place, and, obviously, the hangman shall be known to all and sundry as Jack Ketch, obviously the suitable payments shall be paid for a favourable outcome (ie, quick). And now, if you're correctly illuminated, you are thinking about Jack the Coiner (aka Quicksilver, aka l'emmerdeur), and how it is time to renew that acquaintance.
Next week, architraves around the doors, skirting boards, a hanging or six(!), after that the painting resumes.
**Note: I blame my iphone for taking poor photos, it has nothing to do with me, I'm an innocent!
As the house moves towards the finishing point it is mostly smaller things that are being added and so the change is not as obvious as taking down a wall or putting one up. But the change is still there.
This weekend we wet-proofed the bathroom. Yes, we. I helped... mostly by watching and occasionally moving out of the way. Sometimes even without being asked! Wet-proofing was a time-consuming process of laying down a couple of coats of goop where water may fear to tread. Good luck if it tries to tread now - KABLAMMO! I assume KABLAMMO - what else is the membrane supposed to do, if not totally destroy water molecules? Why all the effort?
The archways received their first undercoat and now look even more excellent. The door jambs were put in place so the doors can be hung. Hanged. In any case, I shall call the house Tyburn Square for the period of time in which the hangings are taking place, and, obviously, the hangman shall be known to all and sundry as Jack Ketch, obviously the suitable payments shall be paid for a favourable outcome (ie, quick). And now, if you're correctly illuminated, you are thinking about Jack the Coiner (aka Quicksilver, aka l'emmerdeur), and how it is time to renew that acquaintance.
Next week, architraves around the doors, skirting boards, a hanging or six(!), after that the painting resumes.
Future front door, note, not to colour:
Seriously, Masters, we need to work on our communication skills.
I said I wanted the bathroom to 'be as pretty as the sky',
you know, all poetic and whatever, not to look like the sky!*
Freshly painted archway and newly installed door jambs:
Archway, shrouded in mystery (or just a poorly taken photo**):
*News to hand, apparently the sky blue bathroom is not in fact its new colour scheme but merely the colour of the waterproof membrane (aka gloop, aka water disintegrater).
**Note: I blame my iphone for taking poor photos, it has nothing to do with me, I'm an innocent!
Monday, 28 October 2013
Passage wow
The transition from old to new continues.
The ceiling received its second and final coat of paint, so it is now as Antique White USA as it is ever going to get. 'Why is ceiling paint different?' 'Because you don't need to wipe spills off the ceiling.' Makes sense, I suppose. If you're one of those people not drawing on the ceiling.
The bathroom floor received its anti-water covering. A chemically coated cement sheet, I believe. It, along with the bathroom walls, were then covered in primer. It is totally ready for the next stage now!
The biggest change of the week (the ceilings were already pretty white and the bathroom had floor) was the arches being fitted in the passage. After making the arches to the wrong size last week the new ones came direct from the manufacturer late Friday afternoon and the plasterers were onsite at 7am Sunday morning (heathens!) to fit them. I was onsite a little after 7am and WOW what a difference they made. They are unpainted, as are the walls around them. But WOW! The passage looks as we hoped it would be. And it still has the hanging lights and skylights to be fitted. We'll put flooring in later, whatevers. The point is - WOW!
I'd just like to add that after working super hard all weekend I then ran 15km in 90 minutes (on my treadmill) Sunday evening. Sure, I could hardly walk Sunday night as my achilles tendons shrunk to about half their normal size, and today my hips have crapped out on me, but 15km!! I'd do a happy jig, but you know, crapped out hips and everything...
Also, my car was fixed last week - no more will I have people offering lamentations every damn time I park it in public, and no more shooing lamenters away from it in the morning so I can drive to work. I get it, its worthy of lamentations, torn clothes, ripped flesh, weeping and moaning and singing. But for three weeks? Ugh! I dropped it off Monday morning and picked it up Wednesday morning - pretty good turnaround really.
The ceiling received its second and final coat of paint, so it is now as Antique White USA as it is ever going to get. 'Why is ceiling paint different?' 'Because you don't need to wipe spills off the ceiling.' Makes sense, I suppose. If you're one of those people not drawing on the ceiling.
The bathroom floor received its anti-water covering. A chemically coated cement sheet, I believe. It, along with the bathroom walls, were then covered in primer. It is totally ready for the next stage now!
The biggest change of the week (the ceilings were already pretty white and the bathroom had floor) was the arches being fitted in the passage. After making the arches to the wrong size last week the new ones came direct from the manufacturer late Friday afternoon and the plasterers were onsite at 7am Sunday morning (heathens!) to fit them. I was onsite a little after 7am and WOW what a difference they made. They are unpainted, as are the walls around them. But WOW! The passage looks as we hoped it would be. And it still has the hanging lights and skylights to be fitted. We'll put flooring in later, whatevers. The point is - WOW!
I'd just like to add that after working super hard all weekend I then ran 15km in 90 minutes (on my treadmill) Sunday evening. Sure, I could hardly walk Sunday night as my achilles tendons shrunk to about half their normal size, and today my hips have crapped out on me, but 15km!! I'd do a happy jig, but you know, crapped out hips and everything...
Also, my car was fixed last week - no more will I have people offering lamentations every damn time I park it in public, and no more shooing lamenters away from it in the morning so I can drive to work. I get it, its worthy of lamentations, torn clothes, ripped flesh, weeping and moaning and singing. But for three weeks? Ugh! I dropped it off Monday morning and picked it up Wednesday morning - pretty good turnaround really.
So many tubs of paint and 'putty' and stuff I have no idea what to call it lying around.
Saturday, no arches:
Sunday - arches WOW!
Archerific!!
One day this will transition to another room!
15km!!
Monday, 21 October 2013
Danelangelo
A rather transformative weekend for the House. Over the two days a rather large amount of paint was slathered on the walls and ceilings of nearly every room. With the height of the ceilings absorbing more paint than a typical house we ran out and the master bedroom is only half done. The other three rooms, passage, bathroom and laundry are all done. Well, done for stage one of three. This was the first of two base coats, with a third final coat to follow. 
We are painting with a rather non-exciting shade of white. However, the white is very nice, as far as white goes. I believe it is called Antique White USA, not to be confused with Antique White, or Antique White Europe. Those look terrible!
The Antique White USA really has made a difference, even just the undercoat. The rooms are, well, roomy. The ceiling looks really quite high. It is quite great. As The Shadow said, it has transformed the house from the old to the new. The room shapes are still quite similar to those of the original design, but adding the fresh paint - well, fresh house.
Yes, I was a major contributor to the paint slathering. Before I was co-opted to play some ball with the nephews Sunday afternoon in the blistering sun.
Not many photos of the painted house, just the one below for now. It shows the passage ceiling with its undercoat and the non-painted walls on either side.
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The archways were supposed to have been fitted to the passage but the manufactured arches were manufactured wrong and did not fit. Another weekend.
During the week we met with the cabinet maker. We discussed the cabinetry for the bathroom, laundry, future kitchen and future study. That all went well. He left us with some samples for the stone benchtop and a couple of catalogs of cupboard designs. The benchtop colours had us second-guessing ourselves for a while, there are some standout colour designs. In the end we reverted back to what we were originally planning - more on that another time.
We discussed what we wanted for our study and that seems to be a fairly simple exercise. Prices TBD...
Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Quiet
Not much to report.
I'm not really sure where we're at, as opposed to where we were last week. I assume the plastering was finished but I haven't heard either way.
We are waiting on a call from the cabinet maker to arrange a meet to go over cabinet-making things.
We re-nominated paint colour yesterday, so presumably that means we are about to have paint painted on the walls and ceiling and wherever else it goes.
Otherwise:
I'm not really sure where we're at, as opposed to where we were last week. I assume the plastering was finished but I haven't heard either way.
We are waiting on a call from the cabinet maker to arrange a meet to go over cabinet-making things.
We re-nominated paint colour yesterday, so presumably that means we are about to have paint painted on the walls and ceiling and wherever else it goes.
Otherwise:
Monday, 7 October 2013
Like totally plastered
It was supposed to be a weekend off. It was not to be. The call (well, text) came in early Saturday morning: attend for rubbish removal, or be destroyed. Ok, maybe there was no threat of destruction, but after a half-decent sleep-in and the expectation of relaxation for the first weekend in weeks, it felt like threats of the destruction were in the air.
I left The Shadow at home to continue writing her essay and went down the house. I spent the next 60 minutes or so throwing plaster off-cuts in the trailer and filling it up. It only just fit, but fit it did. One full trailer, one backyard devoid of plaster off-cuts. Good for me!
Meanwhile, the plastererers kept a'plasterin and the Master continued to add the touches to the House, building in the frame for the robe in the first bedroom and the frame for the cupboard in the laundry.
Yes, the house is full of plaster. I'm happy to say, the plaster is [mostly] on the walls, where it is supposed to be. Good for them! There is some plaster-products in other places, like the floors. I assume that will be cleaned up (probably by me) at some point. A minor, snide remark: wow, could plasterers get any more messy? (I'm tired and snarky after daylight-savings screwed with me yesterday and today. I hate the transition period.)
The house, after being naked on the inside for so long, looks very strange clothed. It both feels embiggened and ensmallened at the same time. The ceiling certainly feels very tall, and each of the rooms feels quite large. I was impressed with how large the master bedroom feels, and how large the walk-in-robe looks. But at the same time, I can't now look down the length of the house, through its naked studs.
It is quite difficult to take photos of the rooms, the camera just cannot capture enough detail for the room to really makes sense. The only place where you get some sense of it is down the passageway. This, too, is somewhat misleading. The two archways just have the plaster in place and dropped to about 6ft from the floor. These will be turned into proper arches, extending their height.
I'm impressed with the amount of light coming in from the glass above the front door. In time this window will be replaced with stained glass, which should create interesting effects as the northern sun passes through it to alight the north-south passageway.
The plastering is not yet complete. The cornices (I think that's the term) need to be put in place. These connect the walls to the ceiling and cover the gap between the two. I think the ceiling plaster does not come in contact with the wall plaster, instead the ornamental cornice goes over the top. This allows the house to move and reduces the likelihood of cracks appearing. I prefer the wall-ceiling aesthetic (with no cornice) - but as my current townhouse has developed cracks in places after only 4 years I'm reasonably comfortable not going for that look. Instead, the passageway, which we are trying to build with a classical look, will have a period pattern, while the rooms, which are contemporary, will have a modern pattern.
I was finished and back at home just after midday, so it wasn't a great deal of time lost. But it felt like it.
I assume the plasterer's are back at it today and will hopefully be finished early this week.
I left The Shadow at home to continue writing her essay and went down the house. I spent the next 60 minutes or so throwing plaster off-cuts in the trailer and filling it up. It only just fit, but fit it did. One full trailer, one backyard devoid of plaster off-cuts. Good for me!
Meanwhile, the plastererers kept a'plasterin and the Master continued to add the touches to the House, building in the frame for the robe in the first bedroom and the frame for the cupboard in the laundry.
Yes, the house is full of plaster. I'm happy to say, the plaster is [mostly] on the walls, where it is supposed to be. Good for them! There is some plaster-products in other places, like the floors. I assume that will be cleaned up (probably by me) at some point. A minor, snide remark: wow, could plasterers get any more messy? (I'm tired and snarky after daylight-savings screwed with me yesterday and today. I hate the transition period.)
The house, after being naked on the inside for so long, looks very strange clothed. It both feels embiggened and ensmallened at the same time. The ceiling certainly feels very tall, and each of the rooms feels quite large. I was impressed with how large the master bedroom feels, and how large the walk-in-robe looks. But at the same time, I can't now look down the length of the house, through its naked studs.
It is quite difficult to take photos of the rooms, the camera just cannot capture enough detail for the room to really makes sense. The only place where you get some sense of it is down the passageway. This, too, is somewhat misleading. The two archways just have the plaster in place and dropped to about 6ft from the floor. These will be turned into proper arches, extending their height.
I'm impressed with the amount of light coming in from the glass above the front door. In time this window will be replaced with stained glass, which should create interesting effects as the northern sun passes through it to alight the north-south passageway.
The plastering is not yet complete. The cornices (I think that's the term) need to be put in place. These connect the walls to the ceiling and cover the gap between the two. I think the ceiling plaster does not come in contact with the wall plaster, instead the ornamental cornice goes over the top. This allows the house to move and reduces the likelihood of cracks appearing. I prefer the wall-ceiling aesthetic (with no cornice) - but as my current townhouse has developed cracks in places after only 4 years I'm reasonably comfortable not going for that look. Instead, the passageway, which we are trying to build with a classical look, will have a period pattern, while the rooms, which are contemporary, will have a modern pattern.
I was finished and back at home just after midday, so it wasn't a great deal of time lost. But it felt like it.
I assume the plasterer's are back at it today and will hopefully be finished early this week.
View from the passageway looking north towards the front door:
Bedroom 2/Study:
Future site of Walk-In-Pantry:
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
Progress
Mini mid-week update:
The plastererers started today. Yes!
Council prepared the advertising signs that are required to be placed at the house for two weeks. We paid for and picked them up this morning and then dropped them off at the house. They will be at the front and rear of the house until the 16th alerting people of the planning request currently before Council.
Things are moving along, people.
Monday, 30 September 2013
The end of the beginning
A final morning of work to prepare the house for a new assault of labourers. From today the Master takes a more critical, managerial role in the process as he has others do his bidding.
The final piece was replacing the front door frame. The old was removed, I was covered in a century of dust as it was tipped my way, and the new frame was put in place. As with all the other parts of the house the door frame area was far from square, and so it took some time buffering up the walls and floor so a square frame can fit in a square hole.
I had to leave before the door itself was put in place, so no pictures of the final product. However, I drove past it this morning and can confirm that a $5 door looks remarkably plain and boring. A solid white-ish color that's only trimming is a lockwood deadlock. Needless, we will not be keeping this door, it is a filler. The new door will be grand. Grand! Plans are afoot for its GRANDNESS!
This week the plasterers start plastererin'. The Master will be onsite with them to stuff the insulation in the internal walls and 'keep an eye on things'. By the end of this week the ceiling and all walls will be plastered.
I think the checklist looks something like this:
I'll let the Master's rain on my parade with 'details' another day. For now, we are nearing the Happy Dance!
The final piece was replacing the front door frame. The old was removed, I was covered in a century of dust as it was tipped my way, and the new frame was put in place. As with all the other parts of the house the door frame area was far from square, and so it took some time buffering up the walls and floor so a square frame can fit in a square hole.
I had to leave before the door itself was put in place, so no pictures of the final product. However, I drove past it this morning and can confirm that a $5 door looks remarkably plain and boring. A solid white-ish color that's only trimming is a lockwood deadlock. Needless, we will not be keeping this door, it is a filler. The new door will be grand. Grand! Plans are afoot for its GRANDNESS!
This week the plasterers start plastererin'. The Master will be onsite with them to stuff the insulation in the internal walls and 'keep an eye on things'. By the end of this week the ceiling and all walls will be plastered.
I think the checklist looks something like this:
- Plaster
- Painting
- Flooring
- Fittings
- Happy dance
I'll let the Master's rain on my parade with 'details' another day. For now, we are nearing the Happy Dance!
Doorless.
Also, The Master's 'Good Side'.
So long, old door.
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Nephews are tiring, and something about a house
Wow! By the end of the weekend the house was [mostly] clean, [mostly] devoid of 'stuff' in each room, all the external walls were filled with insulation, the external and internal walls are as straight as they are going to be, the ceiling insulation is sitting in the ceiling awaiting the lights and power to be finished so it can be laid, the power box has moved from its stupid position next to the front door to being tucked away in the side, we found that power tools are more effective at removing paint than paint stripper AND all the lathers have been removed from the property - we are officially lather free. And we didnt have to resort to burning the storage shed down to get rid of them, despite it being an option right to the last minute.
I also found that my throwing arm is pretty good.
I am somewhat happy to announce that I had limited participation in all the above. The Shadow's nephews were down for the weekend and so most of my time was spent throwing and kicking balls in the nearby park. This activity was actually started the week before when they came for a day, and we spent about three hours throwing my Official NFL football around. I barely moved for three days as my muscles complained heavily. The nephews were enthralled with the NFL and demanded more, More, MORE! So I think about 5 hours was spent this past weekend throwing the ol' pigskin around. Actually, I bought them a replica gameball each so it wasnt pigskin, unless the pig was heavily into botox before giving up its life for the great good [Greater good = NFL football].
The nephews (aged 9 and 7, with a star appearance from the 16yo) are getting to be pretty good quarterbacks and cornerbacks (defenders, in that they like interrupting other people catching the ball). I'm not convinced of their wide receiver status, and they certainly aren't up to linesman level (let's call the minimum requirement 6ft 2in and 310lbs. They have some growing up to do). I might give them extra points in the wide receiver column for being 'precious' at times with the occasional hissy fit - a very WR trait.
Meanwhile, The Shadow and the Masters finished off the house. Good for them! I remain insulation-irritation-free. But they retain free use of their muscles. Touche.
Next weekend the Masters will replace the front door frame with the new one and a new temporary front door, and then the plasterererers can begin plastering the house with plaster. It should then be a slippery slope to painting, tiling, carpeting, fixturing and moving. I have a feeling that the moving bit won't be as slippery as we'd like.
The Shadow dropped off the planning permit for the back extension to council yesterday. I'm sure council is all over it by now and we should be getting the approval any day now. Council work quick like that right?
In awful news, some clown scraped the front of our beautiful car this morning. Not happy :(
I also found that my throwing arm is pretty good.
 |
| Unverified photo of Dan with his nephews, living large in his money bin. |
The nephews (aged 9 and 7, with a star appearance from the 16yo) are getting to be pretty good quarterbacks and cornerbacks (defenders, in that they like interrupting other people catching the ball). I'm not convinced of their wide receiver status, and they certainly aren't up to linesman level (let's call the minimum requirement 6ft 2in and 310lbs. They have some growing up to do). I might give them extra points in the wide receiver column for being 'precious' at times with the occasional hissy fit - a very WR trait.
Meanwhile, The Shadow and the Masters finished off the house. Good for them! I remain insulation-irritation-free. But they retain free use of their muscles. Touche.
Next weekend the Masters will replace the front door frame with the new one and a new temporary front door, and then the plasterererers can begin plastering the house with plaster. It should then be a slippery slope to painting, tiling, carpeting, fixturing and moving. I have a feeling that the moving bit won't be as slippery as we'd like.
The Shadow dropped off the planning permit for the back extension to council yesterday. I'm sure council is all over it by now and we should be getting the approval any day now. Council work quick like that right?
In awful news, some clown scraped the front of our beautiful car this morning. Not happy :(
Confused House is Confused with not having a power box right next to the front door.
Is it me, or does anybody else see a bit of George W. in that face?
[Mostly] Clean rooms with insulation
No sound, just delicious power and data
Covered walls:
Going deep down the hallway, not a lather in sight:
New look:
OMFG MY CAR, YOU MONSTER!!!!
 |
| Details are sketchy but it is thought Dan had to apologise for his outburst at the perpetrator of this cruel act of wanton violence against the innocent. He was not proud of his actions. |
Monday, 16 September 2013
Moat: Denied. Fine, insulate the crap out of the house
For some reason the Council* decided to reject our request to build a moat around our house. We may have over-stepped in the request by building it over our neighbours and therefore knocking their houses down. It seemed like a logical thing to do at the time the plans were being drawn up. I blame tequila.**
The Masters, who had objected to the whole moat idea to begin with for some reason, suggested just putting insulation in all the walls. They alerted us to insulation that provides not just heating and cooling benefits, but also blocks sound. We grudgingly accepted, for now. We'll keep the moat plan for another opportunity. On on other hand, screw you sound!
Interestingly, now that the external walls are filled with insulation it makes the house feel closer, more like rooms in a house. When all the lights were off and we were on our way out we stopped for a moment in the hallway, and maybe it was just me but it felt cool and quiet. I can hope.
The Master's continue to do their best to straighten the rhomboidal walls. I think rhomboidal walls add character, apparently it makes it hard to plaster, etc. Fiiiine.
The Shadow and I used up a small tin of paint stripper to peel the decades of paintal abuse from the front window. I will refrain from laying down more curses upon the previous owners/builders, but the sentiment is there. Bastards! The top coat of white paint came off easily enough, the two under-layers of pink and green - they were total asshats.
The Shadow and I would also like to thank the sun for smiling down upon us while we worked. Wait, not thank, curse! We curse the sun - it was a spiteful jerk, shooting rays at us and trying to hurt us. Don't think the sun is your friend! Especially when you're called The Shadow. Thankfully our 50+ sunscreen blocked its vile, harmful rays - so we won. Hah! Take that sun!
Which reminds me:
*Add to checklist* Complete council permit to erect structure to block the sun.
*This part of the story may or may not be a fictionalised retelling.
**I apologise to the tequila, it was an innocent and should not have been blamed.
The Masters, who had objected to the whole moat idea to begin with for some reason, suggested just putting insulation in all the walls. They alerted us to insulation that provides not just heating and cooling benefits, but also blocks sound. We grudgingly accepted, for now. We'll keep the moat plan for another opportunity. On on other hand, screw you sound!
Interestingly, now that the external walls are filled with insulation it makes the house feel closer, more like rooms in a house. When all the lights were off and we were on our way out we stopped for a moment in the hallway, and maybe it was just me but it felt cool and quiet. I can hope.
The Master's continue to do their best to straighten the rhomboidal walls. I think rhomboidal walls add character, apparently it makes it hard to plaster, etc. Fiiiine.
The Shadow and I used up a small tin of paint stripper to peel the decades of paintal abuse from the front window. I will refrain from laying down more curses upon the previous owners/builders, but the sentiment is there. Bastards! The top coat of white paint came off easily enough, the two under-layers of pink and green - they were total asshats.
The Shadow and I would also like to thank the sun for smiling down upon us while we worked. Wait, not thank, curse! We curse the sun - it was a spiteful jerk, shooting rays at us and trying to hurt us. Don't think the sun is your friend! Especially when you're called The Shadow. Thankfully our 50+ sunscreen blocked its vile, harmful rays - so we won. Hah! Take that sun!
Which reminds me:
*Add to checklist* Complete council permit to erect structure to block the sun.
Fat stacks of insulation:
Elevated flooring that the bath will sit on:
Front window after a tin of painstripper:
Insulation in the front bedrooms:
More insulation:
Dramatisation of The Shadow and I preparing our business case for 'The Device That Will Block The Sun Out Over An Enlarged Area Of The Surrounding Square Kilometers Of Which Our House Is In The Middle'
*This part of the story may or may not be a fictionalised retelling.
**I apologise to the tequila, it was an innocent and should not have been blamed.
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