10 February 2013

Remember that wall we built last week? Well, we built another one as well. Sorry, the light was not kind. We have now enlarged this little blob by one meter. The Historical people said we can remove it, but we felt the locals all knew the house with it, so we respect that. You will notice that the deck is narrower than the room. In the olden days, part of  the deck was wider than the rest. So we leave it at that.There will be a step in the roof and also in the deck.

It is also clear from the picture that the roof of the room is higher than my ring beam for the veranda. Well, we considered extending the posts to bring them on one level, but we discovered that the curved sheets we have, is too hollow, the water will not run off at that height. (5 m radius) So I tried reusing some of the old iron sheets, but they are beyond saving. It will mean that I will have to have sheets curved to my spec (6 m radius). In the meantime that is on hold.

Elna did a great job of painting the latest wall.

Well, this coming week we will negotiate to have the sheets curved.

In the week we also managed to buy a swing leg table and four colonial chairs which fits better with the style of the house. Only two chairs are useable now, but we have other chairs. The chairs we bought before we got married belongs to Anneke now. Did I mention all of these will eventually require restoration? Well, it will mean that I will never get bored.

Bye for now

3 February 2013

Boy, has this been a hectic week!
I started work on a cabinet for the handbasin in the new bathroom. I have got some lovely Kauri timber, and was working on that. After a day I admitted defeat: My work is not up to standard for nice joinery.

On the south eastern corner of the house, there is a small storage area under the veranda. I started cleaning the old paint of those walls. See the right hand end of the second picture. Then I decided that I have loads of Kauri boards that will fit in better with the character of the house than the (1920) Rimu that they have used. So I removed the old boards and started replacing it. In the process, we also extended it a bit. In the meantime Elna got hold of a paintbrush, and started painting the walls that I have already cleaned. The end result is that we (mostly she) has painted most of the outside walls now, including the part where we replaced the boards.(Excluding the kitchen and bathroom extension.)  She also tackled the walls on the rear deck, on the eastern side. Because that has always been under a veranda, the old paint was in a good condition, and didn't require much preparation. The first picture was taken in bright light, but the colour is the same all around.

For a while now, the people from our church group has been talking about another work bee. I decided that I cannot put the rafters for the replacement veranda up myself, and waited for them to choose a day. Saturday they turned up. I had all the rafters pre made and prepainted  many moons ago, I have repaired the posts. Most of them had the bottom end rotten away. The solution was easy, just cut them all a bit shorter. In the meantime, we have decided to replace the veranda on the southern side as well, although the Historical people said we could do without it. When I started work on the storage area, I realised that I will have to keep the roofs at the same level. That means that all 27 of my pre painted posts will need to be extended by about 100 mm.

Well, the team turned up on Saturday morning, and by 11:30 we had all the rafters joined together and in position. I have put rafters from the house to hold it in place. It could also be added to to look like a pergola/prieel. That way it will be months before I am finished and hopefully will draw less attention from the building inspectors. The posts are not in their proper positions, they are just clamped on to the rafter.

We are impressed with the result. Now I have many months of work ahead of me, getting the framing ready and painting the curved iron sheets and cutting them to size. The paint has already been bought, but with the dry season we are experiencing, and the low humidity, the paint would dry too quickly and not adhere to the iron properly.

13 January 2013

On Monday I went to buy a "weedeater" to trim the edges of the grass. The first one wouldn't work so I took it back and got another. I must admit, tie section looks much better now with the edges trimmed.

I managed to clean the old paint off the Northern wall, and primed and painted it, in short sessions to avoid the heat. That is, only the top half of the wall. It is to  make it easier when we get around to the veranda.

You will notice, I start many jobs, and finish few. That is because we have so much to do, and to avoid boredom.

Wednesday was very hot, and I decided to work inside. There is a rumor going around that insurance will refuse to  pay a claim in case of a fire if there is any scrim (hessian) on the walls. So I tackled the last room and the passageway.  Just wondering why we didn't do it long ago. It looks so much better now. While I was at it, I removed some sarking boards in the area  where we plan to extend the kirchen. See, another new job started!!

Thursday was a day off, we visited James and Wendy. We had a lovely time. Friday we made our regular visit to the good Doctor for the next three months medicine. Just imagine how shocked I was! The cost of a prescription has gone up. It is now $5 instead of the regular $3. Thank God we are living in a country that supports is old and sick people.

Well, that is all I can report on, see you again next week
 

6 January 2013

The first week of the new year is gone, and with it all my new year's resolutions.

We had REALLY high temperatures, up to 27 deg! And I got a bug, the Holiday Bug. Nothing much happened. We visited friends, and visited friends, and visited friends, and just tinkered along,

I did manage to complete the building of the shelves in the new store room. Now I can move all of the stuff over. The walls are not completed though. If we get rain, some of it will get wet. I did manage to get some sheets of iron from Barry (Barco) and must really get around to fitting it. We are fortunate that we are allowed to build storage huts up to 10 sq m without a permit, and, in my case, only on the ground, no posts or concrete allowed.

I did call the scrap metal dealers, but they only start on Monday, so nothing happened on that front.

30 December 2012

It seems this will be the last post of the year. To all and everybody: We wish you a Happy New Year and the grace to do well with it.

Obviously, with the holidays around, I didn't do as much as I should. I have changed my mind as to work schedule. What is the use of having a mind if you can't change it!!

It must have been two months ago that I built the framing for another storage room. I just got fed up not being able to find my stuff. So I started work on the storage room. I put the roof up, and some of the iron sheets for the walls, but I think I ran out of iron, so I continued with the floor (plywood that was given to me)
 With the floor done I started assembling shelves that I have saved from our move from Cambridge. Most of the shelves are up now, and I have moved most of the stuff out of the small (2 m by 2 m) storage room. I also managed to move stuff out of the cookhouse which is my workshop. The stuff I am talking about are bolts and nuts, hinges, doorknobs, plumbing fittings and everything that is not classified as tools. Because i use screws and nails so often, they will remain in the cook house.

Ever since we moved here, my power tools have been lying on the floor, for a lack of shelving. Now I managed to build proper shelves for all the tools. I think the whole of the next week will be spent on sorting stuff and tidying up. I also plan on visiting the scrap metal dealers to get more iron.

Have a lovely New Year!!

16 December 2012

Since the last post, I sanded down the top part of the wall where I have replaced the weatherboards, and painted it.

I also decided that I do want the fascias on the gable ends white. When the roof was replaced it was painted the same colour as the roof, Ironsand (charcoal). To reach there, I had to build the high scaffold again, and then added a veneer of fibreboard and painted it all white. It had to be done before the veranda goes up, otherwise I would have to stand on the veranda on a ladder. We moved the scaffolds around. While the scaffolds were in position, we also managed to fit all of the beams against the wall for the veranda. Then we dug up the beams that will go on the outer side of the veranda, that part which rests on the posts. They have been cut and waiting for me for nearly a year. We painted them and then decided it will have to wait a little while.

I have been hoarding timber from everywhere. While back I bought some Kauri timber. That was stored outside our, or rather my "hoarding wall". Problem is, if you leave stuff lying around, it is easy to dump more stuff with that. I just decided enough is enough and started tidying up. We are nearly done, with the Kauri stored under the carport behind the hoarding wall. Obviously it meant we had to move some firewood around and also some of the many pallets we have collected. The only problem is that I tire quickly and it means that all work gets done at a very slow pace. Don't worry, we will get there in the end.

The bathroom floor is ready to be varnished, but there is no urgency. We have not got enough money to pay a plumber and besides, everybody will be away. So that one will have to wait a while more.

Everybody is winding down for Christmas. We will be all by ourselves and we will enjoy the festive spirit from our nice house.

Hopefully next time we can offer you a nice view of the house from the street, showing a partly built veranda.

2 December 2012

Sorry, it seems we are really retired! Not too much has been happening here.

We got a call from the lawnmower centre, and went to pick up the brake parts for the ride on. We were very fortunate. All the parts were there, and only needed a proper clean and adjustment. We have brakes now!

We had the church fete, and managed to sell most of Mieke's stuff. The remainder was donated to an op shop (charity shop)

I sanded and painted the top four weatherboards on the southern wall, then moved the scaffold over to the western wall. We fitted the rafters to the wall that will take the veranda. We have to start from that end to get the proper level. I also used the opportunity to repaint the fascia / bargeboard on the western gable. It was painted charcoal before, but it does not fit in with the original character of the house.The other problem is that the paint already started peeling off after 6 years. I put a false cladding of fibreboard over it before painting. It is white now. We will put a cladding over all fascias and paint all of them in white.

We also took a day off to visit friends, it is a luxury we can use now, and not push ourselves too hard.

We have had two weeks without rain now, the farmers are getting worried. And it is HOT, a balmy 24 degrees max. Thank you New Zealand! Aussie is experiencing 40 deg.

Our tenant in Cambridge gave notice. She will be moving out on the 18th. It is a bad time and we really need the money. Let's pray that we get a new tenant soon!