26 August 2012

This week belonged to the kitchen. As I have said before, I am no joiner or cabinet maker. The units came together, but it is far from acceptable quality for the final kitchen. All is in and working well. At least ,I have learned to what dimensions I will have to cut the NEW boards for the new kitchen. We also bought new hinges for the oven door, and Elna has tested  the oven and declared it satisfactory.

On Saturday we had a lovely sunny day, and the church group came to work in the veggie patch. The even managed to sow some seeds.

In the week I got some more "firewood" from the builder Ron next door. I have realised, if I don't close the gate, the timber I am storing will spill over into the street!! The result is that I have started clearing some space behind the hoarding wall to build another shed. If the weather holds, that will be the flavour of the week. If it gets rainy again, I will continue the work on the bathroom.

Have a nice week!!

19 August 2012

On Monday we offloaded the curved iron. To prevent oxidisation, there needs to be ab gap betewwn the sheets. I have run out of suitable scrap timber, so I started cutting No 8 wire (bloudraad) in suitable lengths. It was very hard and crooked, so I had to straighten it on an anvil. I required 60 pieces of wire. Well, we finished that and stacked them all. Now we had a new problem, the sheets started rolling off. Two Waratah posts (Iron fencing posts) sorted that, and we put a shade net over it to protect it from wind.That project will now have to wait for summer.

The ceiling in the new bathroom was made of board and batten, 30 mm boards with a slight gap between them, covered at the gaps with an ornamental molding. The boards were beyond repair, eaten by border, cracked and rotted out. We decided to put a false ceiling of gib board just below the original, and then replace the battens and cornices. I got treated timber and cut it into cleats, and nailed that in between the original boards. The nailing was done with the nail gun. Some nails didn't go in all the way, and I had to ask Barry/Barco to help me out. It turned out the ceiling beams are made of a very hard timber, and in the end he had to hammer the nails down by bending it over. Now the job of leveling. There I ran out of steam, and gave up.

That night, our power tripped out several times while Elna was cooking. It turned out it was the stove/range. We have already bought a replacement, but it is a unit that is to be built into the cabinets (under counter) with a glass top. This became a job of urgency now. Previously we have bought a kitset kitchen, but the new prices are just beyond our reach. I have decided to make the units myself, but remember, I am no joiner. Previously we have bought an old kitchen, which I have dismantled. I stared cutting the panels required to make up a few units. I am still working at that. The hinges of the oven are worn out (we knew about that), so I started removing them for repair. I did manage to improve it, but it seems I will have to buy new ones. That is for next week.

Our weather is improving, we do get some days without rain. The forecast normally shows a sun, clouds and rain. Today is a typical Waikato winters day, rainy all the way

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12 August 2012

We had a wonderful week, in many respects.

I am still working on the bathroom, and on Thursday had somebody take a 30 km detour to deliver me a shower head I have bought on Trademe, at no cost!. Wonderful people all around.

On Tuesday we had a visit from Willie, an SA friend who came over to visit his daughter (or was it granddaughter?) The family all took the day to visit us from Auckland. Now there is not much more a friend can do for you, is there? We had a nice chat and I could show him around. He is one of our serious Blog followers. Baie dankie Willie!!!

Remember the problem we have with the curved corrugated steel we need to reinstate the veranda? All the sheets we need are available, but at what cost!. I managed to buy 40 sheets, 3 m long (we need 2.1m) used curved iron on Trademe for $ 465. On Tuesday afternoon we went to fetch it from Matamata, about 60 km away. We loaded about half the batch because out trailer's tyres are old and perished. After we loaded, the seller noticed one wheel was low, and inflated it. We got home safely. The next morning that wheel was flat. I removed the wheel and had it stripped. There was a nail in it. But there was another problem, the wheel had a tube in it and the hole where the valve comes through on the rim was rusted out. I spent the morning considering options, as I have spare rims and hubs, but it doesn't fit the axle. In the end I cut a piece out of another rim and welded that in place. I also bought two secondhand tyres and had it fitted. Friday afternoon we collected the remainder of our purchase. It turned out that we got 50 sheets, some had slight damage. That won't bother us as we will need to cut some on the corners anyhow. We have to keep in mind that we will have to repair and seal the nail holes and paint the sheets inside and out. It will mean a lot of work but we will save lots of money. That will be a spray paint job for the summer months.

On Saturday our church group turned up and started digging the soil for the Community Garden project. They did an excellent job, but got only half way.

We also managed to do some work on the bathroom. It takes a lot of money and time. Please be patient, we will get there.

5  August 2012

The week started slow, mainly because there was a lot of planning to do. We had a problem positioning the shower. The preferred position was against the inner wall, but then the bathroom door would interfere with the all glass shower door. We had a visit from Jaco, a friend who suggested a sliding door for the bathroom. Now that is radical for an old house. In the end we accepted his logic, especially since the original door frame was so decayed from borer that it would have to be replaced anyway. We will still be using the original door, but as a slider now. The picture shows the door in the cavity, and the "new" wall to the right. The shower tray is still standing upright.

So I could proceed building the frames for the sliding door, and also for the new wall between the bathroom and the new kitchen. We also sealed gaps on the outside wall weatherboards and floor. That is ready now for insulation. The insulation on the inside wall on the bath side got done, and on Saturday Jaco and his kids turned up to help. We managed to do the gibbing of that whole wall. The next picture shows the newly gibbed wall on the left, and part of the doorway to the right

We still have some detail to sort out on the frameless shower we want to install. Remember, once the gib is up, there is no going back to add another nog or stud.

The water pipes will all be new, and be installed behind the gib. In new construction, the building inspector insists that the pipes be connected and be under pressure before it may be covered up. I might have to do a temporary coupling of the pipes before we cover it up.

We also experienced problems with the strips of nails I use on the nail gun. Because the box was stored in the tool shed, it got moist and if you try to lift a strip of nails, it just falls apart. There are 3000 nails in a box, and I cannot afford to throw it away and buy new, at $ 120 per box. So Elna started repacking, re aligning  the nails, 60 to a strip, and we reglued it with construction adhesive. It was an enormous job, but it is nearly done now. I have used some of the "new" strips and it works well.