17 September 2011

Sorry we missed last week.

Spent a few days making and repairing our fence with the neighbours to protect our sheep. I would love to see the underside of a dog after he passed over our barbed wire fence!!.

I also worked on a further shed, for storing timber. Framing is up, and we made a floor of pallets, but nothing further.

Next door neighbour, who is building a house, came on Monday to say that part of  our veranda has blown away. They have secured it temporarily. That was when I was working on the shed, they thought we were away. We had to take it down, and then found that we had rotten framing and weatherboard (we knew about it, but hoped  it would go away if we ignore it. It didn't.) We repaired the framing and replaced some weatherboard, then proceeded to fit a roof over the bay window. It had one ages ago, but it has disappeared, and relied on the veranda roof. Anyhow,  we installed insulation and fitted a roof. The veranda is not back yet.

We also started removing the sarking boards between the living room and the to be lounge. To save the old timber, I had to punch the nails right through the board, and take the board off. Yesterday we finished breaking the wall out. Made an enormous difference to the place, much lighter and much more spacious. We also removed the cast iron fireplace. We found a newspaper dated 1937 behind the mantle. This proved it was a later installation. We cleaned it out to original, and proceeded to cover it up with gib.(or plasterboard for the non Kiwis)

Being Saturday, we obviously could not finish the gibbing, but we cleaned all out and moved in. It makes an enormous difference, much more light and space. It was a good move..

The previous Saturday, we drove to Auckland to pick up six patio doors, or French doors we bought on Trademe. These are intended to be installed in the northern wall once we removed the silly little bathroom.We do not have a frame, but it allows us to plan a good layout.

We also closed the door from the passage with gib from the inside. We would never have used that door.

4 September 2011

Monday morning saw me clearing all the plants we have taken out on Saturday. After that, I decided the southern side of the house looks bad, and washed it with bleach to get rid of the mold, on the wall and the deck. Nice improvement. But, since we have done no work on that side yet, it needs a bit of a lean up.  Removed all the leftover rubbish and cut some of the broken deck boards down. Much safer now. Then I noticed the condition of the paint, peeling and flaking. Called the Resene helpline. (This is our local paint manufacturer) They recommended taking a sample for analysis. Guess what, I got on the ladder and it slipped from under me, whilst I had a nice sharp paint scraper in my hand. A cut in my forehead of 40 mm. In to Hamilton A&E and got eight stitches. Not Harry Potter, but Gary Potterer now. Healing nicely.

Had the paint analysed. It is a lead base. The reason for the flaking seems to be water penetration from the leaking roof before that was replaced. I have proven that the original colour was a sort of khaki paint, not the white that became the norm on Victorian villas some years later. It will take some convincing to get the local historian "experts" to accept that.

Most of the remainder of the week spent on the shed. That is done now, apart from the floor. The floor has to be clear of the ground. On Friday we moved the metal lathe and large saw table to the shed, but left it outside because of the floor. I didn't mention that the one side wall of the shed hinges up, forming a nice work area. The best thing of the shed it that I haven't spent a cent on it, all built from material I had saved up, or being given by friends.

Saturday was a lazy day, not much work done. Today we had the local children over and had a nice "potjie". Discussed all the nice "things we can do" with them. Nice to dream, even if you have no money.

28 August 2011

Monday morning we went somewhere, and when we returned there were sheep in the pen. But not as we expected. There was an ewe and a lamb. I knew Howard had can empty ewe, but "Mary had a little lamb" We ended up with Mary and Anne the lamb, bought at a reasonable price. Sheep sorted.

I decided to work on the shed I need for my timber. I started building it from cast off material. Three garage doors, (two forms the roof) some nice angle iron, and corrugated steel that I had saved for 6 years just for such an event. Nice welded frame and two walls and the roof is up. Then I got distracted......

We decided not  to start any work on the house before the section is cleared of all my rubbish. So I started clearing rubbish to the dump, put away the cut firewood, and do a general clean up.

Saturday we picked up a small Ferguson tractor (Vaaljapie) with an auger from a friend. I made all the required holes for fence posts in no time. It took longer to unhitch the auger afterward than to make the seven holes. Now we had a tractor on site. We proceeded to remove all the shrubs and trees growing close to the house and some where the deck should be. Pulled out 20 in all. Some were just cut off in 2006, and had huge root balls. Afterward we returned the tractor, and came home. As I stopped the car, I noticed two trees that I forgot about and left them standing, on the eastern side of the house. That will have to wait for a next time.

Now the trees are out, the urgency for getting the deck sorted has become much greater. Today I started taking dimensions and made enquiries about material. See, I like to plan ahead, or shall we call it: "Dream on...."?

We did notice that there are several deep holes in the section where large trees were removed in 2006. Also  there is a huge pile of dirt just over the fence where they are building a new house. We will go and talk to Rob, the builder. (And also see if we can borrow a tractor with a loader.)

We have made another list of things to do, before we start on the house. There were 26 items, and so far I could cross off eight of them. Enough to keep me busy for at least another two to three weeks.

21 August 2011
The predicted cold spell turned up, and we even had some snow, admittedly only for about 30 seconds.

If you can't see it, I don't blame you. it was very brief. We even had snow in Auckland for the first time since 1939.

In this last week, we spent three days helping our friends move. It involved clearing surplus stuff out of his garage, and generally being a nuisance. That meant we didn't get much done.

At least, we managed to finish the work on the cookhouse / gardener's cottage. I even put lining in, using the cheapest hardboard. This picture shows the door in the dividing wall, and to the left the surviving cladding and below that the hardboard.

On Saturday we moved all of the tools that occupied the space in the original lounge (number 7 on the plan) into the shed. Then we stripped the room of sarking (hessian) and wallpaper. After a good sweep, we moved a double bed in there. Now we can receive sleepover guests. All welcome!!

We have just finished that, and was still sitting on the bed, when we had a knock on the door. "Tell us what work is your highest priority, we have come to help" Dear friends gave us their afternoon. Some cleared the grass under the deck, or where the deck is supposed to be. Others helped me cutting up the tree that blew over before we moved in. At the end of the day the whole tree was cut up for firewood, and the grass was cleared. Thank you very much. We are no drinkers, and we had no beer, but we had a nice barbie with boerewors & pap. A very enjoyable afternoon.

On Friday I created a small pen for three sheep we will get on loan, "green lawnmowers". I have been trying to put up a fence for the last three weeks. Maybe it will force me to work on that now.

Still no insulation, but just as well, I would not have had time to start putting that in. Once we start putting that in, the mode changes from first aid to restoration.

Today, a neighbour gave me a photo of a house that was built in Kihikihi in 1880, and very similar to our place. It was built for Rewi, the Maori chief who was defeated and driven from Kihikihi.

The house is larger, and has an extra room on the left, but it helps to clear up some of my questions. Take note of the finials on the end of the gables, and also the bargeboards or facias on the roof. It will be a valuable reference in future.

Hope my spelling is better than last week.

Love
G&E

14 August 2011

As I have said, there is no method in my madness. Amongst the things from Willie, who moved, was a small garden shed. I started putting that up, only to realise that he had his dimensions wrong when he built it. The roof was too small by 200 mm. I cut the frame down and used gifted corrugated iron to clad the walls. Because we cannot dig into the ground, I had to fit floor joists and a MDF floor. That done, I used the remainder of the timber I had to buy to work on the floor of the large shed/cookhouse. It turned out that the height I chose for the floor initially was too high, because of the internal wall resting on the floor. So I had to change everything. The whole floor is level now, and I started repairing or replacing the rotted out floorboards. That done, I can move all of my machines and tools into the large shed. The small one will be used for bolts and nuts, etc. Then I will have to devise a roof for all the timber that is currently stored under a tarp.

A follow up on the polycarbonate for the catslide veranda roof. Steve responded with a name and I queried them. It turns out that the polycarbonate can be bent on installation to a radius of 4 m, exactly what I will need. Thanks Steve.

We have not received the insulation yet, my contacts are too busy, and there is a cold spell coming. We have got lots of firewood and will make doe.

See ya,
Gary

7 August 2011

We have been quite busy, but have actually achieved very little. We repaired the wall of the second bathroom,and cleaned all up. Then I had a look at the plumbing. Turns out that we have two (or more) separate plumbing systems. The pipe supplying the toilet has got no water. In the end I cut into the pipe supplying the shower, and joined it up. Second bathroom functional now. I must say, I am not prepared to take a shower there, it will be too cold.

I also put a chain and lock on the door to the shed. All is nicely locked up now.

On Friday we went to Hamilton and bought enough plaster board to line the inside of the outside walls of our current bedroom. We are waiting for the delivery of insulation. The recommendation is that we remove some  of the boards lining the inside to install the insulation. A saving grace is that it comes in a 15 m roll, and we will cut it in three on the width.

We also started work on the fencing of the section. You need to dig a hole 800 mm deep. The saving grace is that it is nice soft soil, and not hard at all. All dug with a spade. We have the promise of two sheep on loan as lawnmowers, once the fence is done. Willie, our neighbour is moving, and he kindly donated some pallets which can help in building a fence. I also helped him sorting his stuff.

With the cookhouse in a useable condition now, I started work on a report on the condition of the place as it were, and what we have done to it. That is a "cover your backside" report, just in case somebody decide to question what we have done there. We are not nearly finished, but I would like to get the house insulated before winter is over.

Talking of insulating, we bought hardboard and covered up the entrance door. There was a nasty draught coming in there. A result of our work there is that I was forced to remove my stuff that I had stored in the passageway. That has become part of the "house" now.

At long last, a drawing of the floor plan of the house.
1  Bathroom and laundry
2  Kitchen
3  Living room
4  Current bedroom, will become kitchen with bit if bathroom added
5  bedroom, with outside bathroom (not shown because I want to destroy it)
6  Current study, destined to become bathroom
7  Original lounge, currently tool room, to become study / bedroom
8  Bedroom, currently storeroom
9  Wrap around deck and veranda when reinstated and completed.

I am thinking of opening up between the living room and no5 to create a bigger living area. That would also give us access to the deck on the northern side. The deck is 7 ft wide, and the current bathroom on the deck is 7 ft by 7 ft.

Unfortunately, the roof of the deck is a "catslide", a hollow curved roof. Can anybody tell me how to bend a corrugated polycarbonate sheet to that curve, then I can put a clear roof over the windows?

Bye for now

31 July 2011

Well, this has been a long month, with five weekends. I cannot claim that we have achieved that much,  but we have made some progress.

We were given some roofing iron, and that fitted nicely to cover the lower end of the western wall of the cookhouse. The place is nearly secure now. I also put some of the cladding that has survived the borer back on the inner walls. We also repaired the door, and it is secured with a screw now. We even spent time to move most of the machines into the place.

The chimney has decided to separate, the outer wall and the inner wall decided to part. I spent nearly all of Saturday morning to decide if I could save it and what way would be best. In the end I put planks on both sides and clamped it together with sash clamps.

 This is the area where the plants were growing inside the wall. Now I started building back the outer layer of the chimney stack. It has been about 15 years since I  handled a trowel, and my courses are not too straight, but it will keep the chimney together. The upper part that does not show in the picture leans over too much and will have to be demolished and rebuilt.

On Saturday afternoon Elna decided she has had enough of my rubbish cluttering the lawn in front of the door, so we moved some of the stuff and had a sort of general cleanup. I must admit it looks much better now. (Has anybody been to and seen our "plot" at Rayton?) I am not going to embarrass myself with putting up before and after photos.

Our Heavenly father still provides. IRD sent me a cheque for"over payment of tax", just when we needed it most. Miracles, small and large keep on happening all the time.