Saturday
28 November 2015
It seems a two weekly blog will be OK. Our progress does not warrant a weekly update.
We have fitted the "new" old window sashes, after I had to have one pane cut. The frames were puttied and painted. It works smoothly. After that we started "Gib stopping" (Polyfilla) on the walls. The second coat was put on yesterday, with the intention to finish it today.
First we went to Hamilton to look for floor covering. We took Barco along, since they had their floor done recently. We found a similar click flooring to theirs, but it was quite expensive. In the end we found an alternative click flooring at a reasonable price. We bought that and returned home. After lunch we sat down to coffee, and I got up to open the window in the dining area. When I moved the upper sash down, both the cords broke, the sash came crashing down and caught my fingers between the two frames. Luckily Barco was still here to rescue me. I ended up with nasty cuts on my fingers on one hand. That means that I have time to do the blog now, and no more work for the day.
On Monday I will have to replace the cords and a glass pane that broke in the process. Hopefully we can finish the sanding and start painting as well.
Sunday
15 November 2015
Progress at last. Seems to me I should do this on a two weekly basis.
The outside wall on the eastern side has been painted, and the window fitted. I still need to repair and fit the architraves around the window. Barco found me nice antique stays and catches for the window. I passed it to somebody who sand blasted it, and now I am awaiting the painting of it by Barco, when he next have to paint something at work.
The ceiling in the old kitchen: On Friday Jaco called and announced that he would be bringing two prisoners over on Saturday to do some work. Me must think about what we want done. Elna went into a flat spin, how to treat them, what about a warden? In the end it turned out it was Jaco and Corrie volunteering.
Saturday morning I rented a Gib lift. That is a contraption used to hoist the plasterboard sheet in position. With me "supervising" they fitted the insulation and all of the ceiling in 5 hours. What a blessing! During the last week, I managed to do the Gib stopping (Polyfilla) and I painted the ceiling under supervision of Elna.
Petrus called and volunteered his services for yesterday. We have a planted hedge that was getting out of control. I thought that would be nice to have that trimmed. When that was done, I expected Petrus to want to move on, but he wanted to know hat else? In the end we removed the old window frame on the western side that was rotten. Over time, I have repaired another old frame we have taken out when we fitted the folding doors. It is wider than the original, and we wanted to move it a little. We built the necessary stud frame and fitted the window (without the sliding sashes) Now I expected him to be in a hurry to make his getaway. In the end he replaced the damaged weatherboards as well. We closed the opening with building paper in the meantime. Thanks Petrus!
The next job will be to fit the glass to the sliding sashes, seal the gaps around the window and fit the last of the insulation and plasterboards on the walls.
The outside wall on the eastern side has been painted, and the window fitted. I still need to repair and fit the architraves around the window. Barco found me nice antique stays and catches for the window. I passed it to somebody who sand blasted it, and now I am awaiting the painting of it by Barco, when he next have to paint something at work.
The ceiling in the old kitchen: On Friday Jaco called and announced that he would be bringing two prisoners over on Saturday to do some work. Me must think about what we want done. Elna went into a flat spin, how to treat them, what about a warden? In the end it turned out it was Jaco and Corrie volunteering.
Saturday morning I rented a Gib lift. That is a contraption used to hoist the plasterboard sheet in position. With me "supervising" they fitted the insulation and all of the ceiling in 5 hours. What a blessing! During the last week, I managed to do the Gib stopping (Polyfilla) and I painted the ceiling under supervision of Elna.
Petrus called and volunteered his services for yesterday. We have a planted hedge that was getting out of control. I thought that would be nice to have that trimmed. When that was done, I expected Petrus to want to move on, but he wanted to know hat else? In the end we removed the old window frame on the western side that was rotten. Over time, I have repaired another old frame we have taken out when we fitted the folding doors. It is wider than the original, and we wanted to move it a little. We built the necessary stud frame and fitted the window (without the sliding sashes) Now I expected him to be in a hurry to make his getaway. In the end he replaced the damaged weatherboards as well. We closed the opening with building paper in the meantime. Thanks Petrus!
The next job will be to fit the glass to the sliding sashes, seal the gaps around the window and fit the last of the insulation and plasterboards on the walls.
1 November 2015
In trouble as always.
My medication for controlling my shakes is being changed, and as a result I am shaking much more now (hopefully it will become more effective as time goes by) The result is that I am not as productive as I hoped to be.
We did finish off the eastern wall of the old kitchen, stripped it and painted it. The opening window is not fitted yet, because I was looking for useable used glass. That is sorted now, but I will have to have it cut to size and fit it to the frame.
As you can see from the pictures, I tend to do the wall bit by bit. The new window is covered with building paper.
I have also started working on the ceiling, but the progress is very slow. I hope I can add more pictures next time
My medication for controlling my shakes is being changed, and as a result I am shaking much more now (hopefully it will become more effective as time goes by) The result is that I am not as productive as I hoped to be.
We did finish off the eastern wall of the old kitchen, stripped it and painted it. The opening window is not fitted yet, because I was looking for useable used glass. That is sorted now, but I will have to have it cut to size and fit it to the frame.
As you can see from the pictures, I tend to do the wall bit by bit. The new window is covered with building paper.
I have also started working on the ceiling, but the progress is very slow. I hope I can add more pictures next time
11 October 2015
I will not blame you if you are not interested in the Blog anymore. I do apologise
I have lined the insides of the outer walls with building paper. I have also fitted the frame for the special window, and repaired the weatherboard on the outside. Then we fitted insulation in the eastern wall, and added plasterboard.
I also spent time on covering the gap on the outside between the living room and the old kitchen. The timber there was thoroughly rotten. I could not source the sanding/ buffing pads I have used in the past to clear the paint from the weatherboards, and was forced to have it ordered specially for me. That arrived in the week, 5 of them. Yesterday I could start sanding the weatherboards.
The ceiling of that room is very degraded, and I feel it is not fit for a repair (and I am not fit to do a paint strip there). We have bought some timber to build the framing for a new ceiling, below the original one.
Some time was spent to help and advise Jaco who is putting up a veranda by his front door. Amazing how time flies!
I will not blame you if you are not interested in the Blog anymore. I do apologise
I have lined the insides of the outer walls with building paper. I have also fitted the frame for the special window, and repaired the weatherboard on the outside. Then we fitted insulation in the eastern wall, and added plasterboard.
I also spent time on covering the gap on the outside between the living room and the old kitchen. The timber there was thoroughly rotten. I could not source the sanding/ buffing pads I have used in the past to clear the paint from the weatherboards, and was forced to have it ordered specially for me. That arrived in the week, 5 of them. Yesterday I could start sanding the weatherboards.
The ceiling of that room is very degraded, and I feel it is not fit for a repair (and I am not fit to do a paint strip there). We have bought some timber to build the framing for a new ceiling, below the original one.
Some time was spent to help and advise Jaco who is putting up a veranda by his front door. Amazing how time flies!
20 September 2015
Sorry for having been away so long. Our WiFi has failed and it took a while to replace.
I have been working on windows for both sides of the new bedroom. I used half a sliding sash to fit on the eastern side. I had to build a new frame and sill. All went well, everything was good until Barco came around and we measured the sizes for glass. A little background. Most of the windows in the house are 2 meters tall, except one, which is 1.8 meters. That is the one we removed when we fitted the folding doors to the deck. It was still basically sound and I removed all the paint and made repairs as necessary. I have found four tall sliding sashes in the cellar, and took one and cleaned it. Now I was working on two windows at the same time. Only yesterday I realised I have used one of the shorter sashes for my new window.
The result is that I will have to fit new boards on the sides of the single sash window and to rout slots to fit the hinges. Then I will have to fill in the slots in the smaller sash and make new grooves where the sash cord can fit. It will set me back the better part of a week. Only when the windows are fixed can I start repairing the weatherboards and rot in the studs.
In the meantime I was cutting our grass, and the ride on decided to go on strike. I have spent about two days cleaning the fuel tank and carburetor. It still does not run. I will need to get help from outside.
I have been working on windows for both sides of the new bedroom. I used half a sliding sash to fit on the eastern side. I had to build a new frame and sill. All went well, everything was good until Barco came around and we measured the sizes for glass. A little background. Most of the windows in the house are 2 meters tall, except one, which is 1.8 meters. That is the one we removed when we fitted the folding doors to the deck. It was still basically sound and I removed all the paint and made repairs as necessary. I have found four tall sliding sashes in the cellar, and took one and cleaned it. Now I was working on two windows at the same time. Only yesterday I realised I have used one of the shorter sashes for my new window.
The result is that I will have to fit new boards on the sides of the single sash window and to rout slots to fit the hinges. Then I will have to fill in the slots in the smaller sash and make new grooves where the sash cord can fit. It will set me back the better part of a week. Only when the windows are fixed can I start repairing the weatherboards and rot in the studs.
In the meantime I was cutting our grass, and the ride on decided to go on strike. I have spent about two days cleaning the fuel tank and carburetor. It still does not run. I will need to get help from outside.
Saturday
15 August 2015
Nothing to report this week. I have spent a lot of time on the LED lights on the trailer, and then I picked up a cold. It took me some time to get over it. I stayed in the house all of Friday and today, Saturday. That is in spite of semi sunny days. It seems the weather is changing and hopefully most if our rain is something of the past. You will never know.
Sunday
9 August 2015
Now you can see what the inside walls look like. The first picture shows where the kitchen sink used to be. The second one is toward the outside wall where we had the fridges.
I must admit, since we opened the whole lot up, it has got much drier. And the rest of the house has got much colder. In some areas there are gaps of 8 mm between the weatherboards. I am still undecided about windows and doors. The latest line of thinking is to make a special sash window for the outer wall, but to make the lower sash only 100 to 200 mm high and to make it non opening. That will allow us to have a bed head underneath.
For the other side I intend to restore/ repair the old window that we took out where the large folding doors are now. I have done one in a worse condition before (in the bay window). One thing that I will definitely do is to box the weights in both windows, like I have done in Cambridge. It means a lot of work, but it means we wont need to rely on the architraves for weather tightness.
I had great aspirations to start building the floor, but that got delayed. With the new car we could not use the trailer (no tow bar) We went to Hamilton on Friday to pick up a new tow bar, and yesterday Hans sacrificed a whole day to look at our car and fit a tow bar. With the modern vehicles using LED's it took specialist knowledge to get that right. Now I am obliged to fit LED's to the trailer as well.
Never a dull moment!!!!
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