17 March 2013

Sorry, I missed a week. It has been a hectic time (for me).

First, back to the bath. I used a lot of sanding discs. Then I decided to try scraping the coating off, and guess what? It came off easily with a wood chisel. The original enamel is still in good condition. There are a few stains, but that has to wait for a later day. Then we turned the bath over. and cleaned the outside. I found a casting date of 1926. I removed the feet. Only one of the bolts broke. Elna painted the outside a light green, and the feet ended up a bronze/ gold colour. Feet back on and we got two tough guys to move the bath in position.

The matter of cleaning off the lacquer on the doors and skirting boards is not resolved yet. The historical people wants us to wipe it with Methylated  Spirits.That is a big job, and does not repair scratches made by kids.We considered stripping it off and applying a new coat of lacquer, but that does not seem right. Our trusted paint stripper is Polystrippa, but it works out that you would need more than two cans on a door, both sides. Now several people have told me about "Coopers" which seems to be very effective in stripping, but also very expensive. I contacted them and they promised to do a house visit sometime in April. In the meantime we tried cleaning a door with Polystrippa, but we could not get one side cleaned with one liter. So that is on hold for now. We might end up stripping and maybe polishing it.

Next job was the shower cubicle. I have bought this frameless shower surround to use in Cambridge, but got wary of the inspector. See, all glass in a bathroom has to be safety glass. I did some internet research and found that the symbol printed on it is actually a Chinese standard. We spent about two days fitting the glass, learning how wide it will be and how the edges meet. Next was to cut all the holes for water and waste pipes in the handbasin bench and the floor. That done, I could call the plumber to arrange for him to send one of the guys over. He promised it could hopefully be in the coming week.

The next door neighbours started building a framework and put a tarp over it. We were expecting a party. My dumpsite is just over the fence from them. I felt obliged to build an corrugated iron fence between us. We had the iron left over from the garage we bought 15 months ago. Elna painted it, and helped me put it up. Now my junk is hidden from their view. It turned out the guy is very sick, and they are getting a constant stream of visitors.

We also moved two large wardrobes from the kitchen to be. When we find the time, we will start planning the new kitchen. The waste pipe for the sink has to be located as well.

I have put the curved iron that I had earmarked for the veranda on Trademe, and got a good price for it. I could also return the 10 liter roof paint for a credit of  $ 200 (Yes, that is the price of paint in NZ)

The whole of North Island was declared a drought zone. We had very dry weather since January, and the farmers are suffering. The forecast was for severe rain today, but we are getting some light rain. When we put the new roof on the little corner storage area, I left a gap between the wall and the roof. Elna insisted that it be closed in, because of the threat of rain. First, I had to decide by how much I will lift the veranda beam. Remember, it was so low it would interfere with the bay window, because I took a shortcut when repairing the posts. I have cut them all to the same length. It now turns out I will have to extend all by 150 mm.

Once that was decided, I could attach the ring beam to the cross wall and fit the last weatherboard. I have a stock of "knotty pine" planks in Rimu and thought it would be easier to fit narrow planks than wide ones. It turned out to be a big job. Each plank needs to be cut at the top at the right angle (which changes as you go), then beveled and cut to length. sometimes it is too long, sometimes too short. I think I walked between the job and the shed more than 100 times, for there are more than 27 planks, and each one took fitting. In the end I think we have a nice job. We have run out of wall paint, and will need another can of paint to finish that one off. At least, the rain cannot get in there any more.

One of the next jobs will now be to extend all thirty of the veranda posts by 150 mm.

We were also given some material that was used in the local museum to make a mock street scene from the 1800's. We picked up what we thought we could use, and I spent most of a day de-nailing it. The remainder  will become firewood. At some stage I will also have to take a load of junk to the dump.

I nearly forgot, I made a load of scrap metal that I have collected over time to the scrap merchants. Made some good money. But I missed some, so I will have to go again. Slowly our section is getting more tidy, but I am not taking pictures of that yet..