30 June 2013
I read a piece in the local paper about a "Heritage Fund Grant" to assist in restoring heritage buildings. We got the necessary quotations for the veranda and deck, and submitted our application. We have no indication of how long it will take. Fingers crossed that we get all or at least something.
Willie van Zijl is an old friend from our Stellenbosch days and we have kept in contact through the years. He is in New Zealand now, and we enticed him to visit and advise on the patio doors we want to install in the dining room. We had a lot of catching up to do. The work is secondary.
When brother Ben was here 18 months ago, I already had the patio door in mind, but put it on the back burner.
What we have achieved so far was to retrieve Rimu beams from storage under the floor, cut it to the desired size and plane it. The frame is pre assembled now. It would be impossible to move if we do not take it apart again. The next step will be to fit the hinges to the doors and get everything together. Because it is our rainy season, I will need to build a temporary roof over the work area. Then only can we remove the existing door and window and prepare the opening for the frame.
The Rimu frame looks so nice, we are planning to keep it natural wood. The doors we have bought two years ago on Trademe. They are made of Kauri. If sanded down it will look lovely. The frame is 2 m wide and 2.4 m high or tall. The height corresponds with all our window frames.
Sorry, at the rate we are working now, it should take another four to six weeks. We will keep you posted. No pictures yet.
Sunday
16 June 2013
We have been living in the old house for two years now. What have we achieved?
We have saved the cookhouse from falling down. It is a very temporary repair, but we can use the building as a workshop now.
Originally our target was to do one room every six months. When I set that target, I forgot to take outside work into account.
We have managed to sand down and repaint about 80% of the outside walls. That implied sanding down to bare wood. The remainder is the outside of the current kitchen.
We have also reinstated the posts and ring beam for the veranda .We haven't got the money at this stage to fit the roofing iron. The beams for the deck are in position, but no decking.
We have stripped five rooms of the original sarking (timber boards) and replaced that with Gib or plasterboard and fitted insulation. Four of these rooms are painted and in use. The fifth is the proposed new kitchen, where we are currently holding back a bit.
We have moved the bathroom that was on the northern side on the deck to a previous bedroom. We are currently working on finishing touches, like architraves on the window and door and tiling. The bathroom is already in use.
Every job we tackle tends to explode into something much bigger. Windows need to be repaired and repainted, doors and door frames need sanding and repair, damaged ceilings need repair.
I am enjoying every moment of it, and get wonderful support from Elna. My health is better than two years ago.
Now a brief report on the last week's activities.
We managed to repair our car on Monday. On Tuesday we went to Hamilton for routine medical checks. We also picked up a nice kitchen unit with four large drawers, ideally suited for pots and pans. Willie, a South African friend is visiting at this stage. He sleeps in the new kitchen (to be)and will assist in the manufacture of our Patio Door Frames. He came over on Wednesday and most of the remainder of the week was spent catching up and preparing for the door frame. We had to move a lot of timber around to clear a proper work area. Moving stuff around seems to be the story of my life.
We are into winter now, but it is not really cold yet, only rainy. Our average day temperatures is 15 deg and the minimum night temp was 4. We can clearly feel the benefit of the insulation in the walls.
We have been living in the old house for two years now. What have we achieved?
We have saved the cookhouse from falling down. It is a very temporary repair, but we can use the building as a workshop now.
Originally our target was to do one room every six months. When I set that target, I forgot to take outside work into account.
We have managed to sand down and repaint about 80% of the outside walls. That implied sanding down to bare wood. The remainder is the outside of the current kitchen.
We have also reinstated the posts and ring beam for the veranda .We haven't got the money at this stage to fit the roofing iron. The beams for the deck are in position, but no decking.
We have stripped five rooms of the original sarking (timber boards) and replaced that with Gib or plasterboard and fitted insulation. Four of these rooms are painted and in use. The fifth is the proposed new kitchen, where we are currently holding back a bit.
We have moved the bathroom that was on the northern side on the deck to a previous bedroom. We are currently working on finishing touches, like architraves on the window and door and tiling. The bathroom is already in use.
Every job we tackle tends to explode into something much bigger. Windows need to be repaired and repainted, doors and door frames need sanding and repair, damaged ceilings need repair.
I am enjoying every moment of it, and get wonderful support from Elna. My health is better than two years ago.
Now a brief report on the last week's activities.
We managed to repair our car on Monday. On Tuesday we went to Hamilton for routine medical checks. We also picked up a nice kitchen unit with four large drawers, ideally suited for pots and pans. Willie, a South African friend is visiting at this stage. He sleeps in the new kitchen (to be)and will assist in the manufacture of our Patio Door Frames. He came over on Wednesday and most of the remainder of the week was spent catching up and preparing for the door frame. We had to move a lot of timber around to clear a proper work area. Moving stuff around seems to be the story of my life.
We are into winter now, but it is not really cold yet, only rainy. Our average day temperatures is 15 deg and the minimum night temp was 4. We can clearly feel the benefit of the insulation in the walls.
9 June 2013
What a week!!
We went to pick up the kitchen units we had stored with friends. All went well. Because of our small trailer, we had to do two trips. We stacked it all on the back veranda. Then Elna got concerned that we could get rain damage to the units. So I cleared all the tools and material from the kitchen to be, with the intention to store the units in a corner. Remember, we still have to install a new ceiling and stop and paint the walls. Well, we moved the units to their proposed position, just to see how it looks. It is nearly right, except for the position for the dishwasher, that is too narrow.
While we were at it, we went to see a kitchen joiner to find if he could help with some matching counter tops. We need more than we have got. Sorry, the line was discontinued years ago. The finish on the doors is Melteca, in wood grain, even that has been discontinued. We will let it simmer for a while, we might even paint it all white. Gloss white is the fashion of the day an I know a good spray painter.
On Saturday we were on our way to Hamilton to pick up another kitchen unit. We just got to Te Awamutu when the car packed up. Turns out a wrong CV joint has been fitted at some stage. Now we have no transport, and are trying to get the right part. Maybe Monday.
What a week!!
We went to pick up the kitchen units we had stored with friends. All went well. Because of our small trailer, we had to do two trips. We stacked it all on the back veranda. Then Elna got concerned that we could get rain damage to the units. So I cleared all the tools and material from the kitchen to be, with the intention to store the units in a corner. Remember, we still have to install a new ceiling and stop and paint the walls. Well, we moved the units to their proposed position, just to see how it looks. It is nearly right, except for the position for the dishwasher, that is too narrow.
While we were at it, we went to see a kitchen joiner to find if he could help with some matching counter tops. We need more than we have got. Sorry, the line was discontinued years ago. The finish on the doors is Melteca, in wood grain, even that has been discontinued. We will let it simmer for a while, we might even paint it all white. Gloss white is the fashion of the day an I know a good spray painter.
On Saturday we were on our way to Hamilton to pick up another kitchen unit. We just got to Te Awamutu when the car packed up. Turns out a wrong CV joint has been fitted at some stage. Now we have no transport, and are trying to get the right part. Maybe Monday.
2 June 2013
Well, we fitted the tiles to the top of the bathroom vanity. Then priorities suddenly changed. While we waited for the tile adhesive to dry, Elna kept on wondering when the light in the bathroom will be fixed. See, we had to use the light from the streetlamp at night. Installing the switch was not straight forward. Originally, when I did the plasterboard in the bathroom, I left an area next to the door open in case the plumber wanted to install his vent pipe there. So, I started finishing that part off, and eventually fitted the required light switch.
We were still fiddling around on that when the letting agent called: We had a sinkhole in the driveway in our Cambridge house.We went there with a trailer load of dirt (earth) and opened the hole. It turned out that when the soak holes were installed, they didn't back fill it properly, and a nice cavity developed. When the tenant drove over it, it collapsed. We dug it open to the root of the problem, filled it properly, and all's well.
But we had another outstanding problem, the next door neighbor requested that we do something about water running off our "Braai Lapa" so we tackled that while we were there. We installed more spouting. Should do the trick.
The rest of the week was spent on restoring the sliding sash window in the bathroom. Thank Goodness for proper tools. I was able to make all the required parts. Then sanding and painting, with light rain in between. The window had to be closed every night, so progress is slow. Might finish it this coming week.
We are also helping somebody to build a "sleepout" to be used as a beauty salon. Spent Saturday on that and hope to do the same tomorrow (a public holiday)
We also managed to buy two kitchen units for the new kitchen, an we are hoping to get another completer kitchen as well. If we manage that, the kitchen cabinets will be much easier to do.
Well, we fitted the tiles to the top of the bathroom vanity. Then priorities suddenly changed. While we waited for the tile adhesive to dry, Elna kept on wondering when the light in the bathroom will be fixed. See, we had to use the light from the streetlamp at night. Installing the switch was not straight forward. Originally, when I did the plasterboard in the bathroom, I left an area next to the door open in case the plumber wanted to install his vent pipe there. So, I started finishing that part off, and eventually fitted the required light switch.
We were still fiddling around on that when the letting agent called: We had a sinkhole in the driveway in our Cambridge house.We went there with a trailer load of dirt (earth) and opened the hole. It turned out that when the soak holes were installed, they didn't back fill it properly, and a nice cavity developed. When the tenant drove over it, it collapsed. We dug it open to the root of the problem, filled it properly, and all's well.
But we had another outstanding problem, the next door neighbor requested that we do something about water running off our "Braai Lapa" so we tackled that while we were there. We installed more spouting. Should do the trick.
The rest of the week was spent on restoring the sliding sash window in the bathroom. Thank Goodness for proper tools. I was able to make all the required parts. Then sanding and painting, with light rain in between. The window had to be closed every night, so progress is slow. Might finish it this coming week.
We are also helping somebody to build a "sleepout" to be used as a beauty salon. Spent Saturday on that and hope to do the same tomorrow (a public holiday)
We also managed to buy two kitchen units for the new kitchen, an we are hoping to get another completer kitchen as well. If we manage that, the kitchen cabinets will be much easier to do.
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