27 November 2011
Not much to report this week. We worked on the outside where the verandah roof is supposed to be. Used some paint given to us, actually mixed two cans and now have 15l of green paint. After the gable was painted, Elna decided she actually likes the colour. Will see. I Also started sanding the verandah posts down, with the belt sander. The Rimu timber is in a remarkably good condition. The bottom ends are somewhat rotten, but i will splice it together with a short replacement piece. Thursday was rainy, and I started working on the electrics inside. Remember the old rubber insulated wires? They have been replaced now, and cabling for TV into the other bedroom done. Now the grandkids can watch their cartoon TV while the other people have a quiet chat. We also did a external light by the back door, and a hand bell we bought when we got the house.
Sunday
20 November 2011
We finished the gibbing in the living room. It makes a big difference. It feels like a room now, and the draughts will be much less. But, and there is always a but, I have not done the gib stopping (polyfilla) or any of the painting yet. I was too eager to start work outside.
We did get a relpy from NZHPT (Historical people) about our request to demolish the second bathroom and install large French doors. They have no problem with that, provided we do not dig any trenches for the sewer lines for the new bathroom. I told them that the new pipes will be suspended from the floor joists. All approved, but first things first.
Next on the agenda is securing the outside. We got the scaffolding pipes from the neighbour, but it is 6 m lengths and very awkward to handle. In the end I removed it all and put a sheet of ply over the bay window roof. It works. Yesterday I got up there and started scraping at the old paint. No luck. It is too hard. Then I got my baby angle grinder with a sanding disc. Perfect. I can grind through the flaking paint until I get to good timber. I removed about 80% of the old paint. It will need smoothing out, but for that I will use the belt sander. It will now give us a solid base to start painting on. We were given two cans of wall paint, in any odd colour. That will be good enough for a base coat. Once we have the western and southern walls done, and if we have the money, we will start painting the final colour. First of all, our big priority is to make it secure and rebuild the verandah.
We finished the gibbing in the living room. It makes a big difference. It feels like a room now, and the draughts will be much less. But, and there is always a but, I have not done the gib stopping (polyfilla) or any of the painting yet. I was too eager to start work outside.
We did get a relpy from NZHPT (Historical people) about our request to demolish the second bathroom and install large French doors. They have no problem with that, provided we do not dig any trenches for the sewer lines for the new bathroom. I told them that the new pipes will be suspended from the floor joists. All approved, but first things first.
Next on the agenda is securing the outside. We got the scaffolding pipes from the neighbour, but it is 6 m lengths and very awkward to handle. In the end I removed it all and put a sheet of ply over the bay window roof. It works. Yesterday I got up there and started scraping at the old paint. No luck. It is too hard. Then I got my baby angle grinder with a sanding disc. Perfect. I can grind through the flaking paint until I get to good timber. I removed about 80% of the old paint. It will need smoothing out, but for that I will use the belt sander. It will now give us a solid base to start painting on. We were given two cans of wall paint, in any odd colour. That will be good enough for a base coat. Once we have the western and southern walls done, and if we have the money, we will start painting the final colour. First of all, our big priority is to make it secure and rebuild the verandah.
13 November 2011
We have finished the work on the walls, and also spent a lot of time repairing the sliding sash window. It turned out that the window frames are in a sad state, and will eventually need to be remade. In the meantime, we want to move on and ignore the problem. Next week we will install the last of the gib on the opposite wall.
I am getting impatient to start work on the outside walls. We have managed to borrow some scaffolding pipes from our neighbour. We also found clamps and fittings when we moved in here. Hopefully we will be able to build some decent scaffolds. We plan to clean the weatherboards, fill holes and apply a base coat of paint. It will not be the final colour, but having done that, we will be in a position to reinstate the verandah at least partially.
The grass is growing, and we had to move the sheep. They are not very happy, but they need to earn their keep. We had started a veggie patch, but the lambs got in there and mad a clean sweep of all our seedlings. Now we will have to put up a proper fence before we can try veggies again.
We have finished the work on the walls, and also spent a lot of time repairing the sliding sash window. It turned out that the window frames are in a sad state, and will eventually need to be remade. In the meantime, we want to move on and ignore the problem. Next week we will install the last of the gib on the opposite wall.
I am getting impatient to start work on the outside walls. We have managed to borrow some scaffolding pipes from our neighbour. We also found clamps and fittings when we moved in here. Hopefully we will be able to build some decent scaffolds. We plan to clean the weatherboards, fill holes and apply a base coat of paint. It will not be the final colour, but having done that, we will be in a position to reinstate the verandah at least partially.
The grass is growing, and we had to move the sheep. They are not very happy, but they need to earn their keep. We had started a veggie patch, but the lambs got in there and mad a clean sweep of all our seedlings. Now we will have to put up a proper fence before we can try veggies again.
Monday
7 November 2011
We did however achieve some during the week. We removed the fire surround on the Northern wall, next to where we have been working, and covered the air gaps and put insulation there as well. We discovered some very interesting history. The fireplace is back to back, but it seems that, originally, we had an external fireplace there. A kitchen has been added at a later stage and the fireplace was extended. We even discovered weatherboard with original lime paint. The picture was taken with the camera held in the cavity. We started relining as before, using recycled boards.
Today, Monday was chosen to mow the grass on the sidewalk (it is not a lawn) After the grass was cut, I proceeded to clear the ivy growing on our Rimu tree by the entrance. Hopefully the ivy in the tree will die now. We will still have to kill the roots.
The house in the background still looks terrible, but at least we know that we are making progress. Once the inside lining is completed where we are working now, we plan to remove the verandah roof on the outside and repair the weatherboards on the outside. Only after that we will start working on the verandah on the main entrance side. That is, provided we do not decide to do something completely different.
Missed Sunday again!! Sorry.
Last week was a short one. On Monday I had to go to Hamilton, no work done. Friday I had a runny tummy, no work done.
The house in the background still looks terrible, but at least we know that we are making progress. Once the inside lining is completed where we are working now, we plan to remove the verandah roof on the outside and repair the weatherboards on the outside. Only after that we will start working on the verandah on the main entrance side. That is, provided we do not decide to do something completely different.
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