No bedroom wall!!!!

Today Peter was back.....yay

When I got home today we were missing our bedroom wall.

It will be very interesting of a morning when the builders arrive. I guess I won't be sleeping in anymore!

No bedroom door!!!

Oh no, our bedroom door has been taken off!!!!

Yesterday when we got home the gyprock had been put up on the ceiling in the en-suite and walk in robe. The hallway in our bedroom was also had gyprock on it and our bedroom door was removed because they needed to gyprock right up to the wall in the bedroom. The door frame which is the new entry to our bedroom has all been squared up and looks more like a door now.

Unfortunately at night time our bedroom is really cold because it is open right through to the tiles on the roof.

Our en-suite and walk in robe.

I also asked the builders to cut out a recess in the shower for the shampoo bottles. They have very kindly done this which is great.

Today all was quiet at 7am as Peter didn't work on our house today. It's amazing how quickly you get into a routine in the mornings in an effort not to get in the builders way. Phillip arrived just as I was leaving for work but was then going to take some scaffolding to another site.
Today when I got home Philip had been back and had plastered up all of the joins in the gyprock, but apart from that nothing really got done.
Hopefully tomorrow both Peter and Phillip will turn up and we will see great progress again.

The beginning of a new week - week 3 of building

This morning the builders turned up bright and early to start the week.

Happily my awesome boss asked me to work today so I was able to escape the building site for the day. I also got to teach art which was a lot of fun, although slightly noisy.

When I got home it was to see that the bath had been installed and the gyprock had been placed around the walls in the en-suite and walk in robe. It was very exciting.

After work tonight Simon our kitchen man came to design our new kitchen. He has just left after working out the design. He has nearly convinced me to get a larger stove top. Not sure why I would possibly need it though given all of the cooking I don't do. He was also very enthusiastic about using stone for the bench top and I am thrilled to say that he thinks it is a good idea to make the cupboards go all of the way to the roof so I haven't got a dust collecting area at the top.....  So despite my lack of interest in a new kitchen it appears that Wayne has set us up with an awesome kitchen man who wants to build us an amazing kitchen.

The last day of the working week

Today Peter was here working hard all by himself. He worked really hard all day.

The day started off with him removing all of the slate from the hallway. We are now left with floor boards that seem to be covered in a waterproofing tar. Apparently it should be able to come off and we will be able to polish them.

He also spent a lot of time removing the beams from above where the staircase will be going. It was time consuming work up the ladder.

It looks like the weekend will be really cold inside the house as the only thing between us and the outside are the roof tiles.

Peter also attached some gyprock to the wall beside the staircase.

The builders have worked really hard all week so I hope they can have a really relaxing enjoyable weekend in preparation for another huge week next week.

No photos today

This morning the electrician arrived and did all of the electrical work for our en-suite/stairs/walk in robe.

The builders collected all of the scaffolding and brought it to our place so now we have scaffolding piled up in our yard.

There is nothing else to report today I don't think. We are still 'camping'.

Wednesday update

Today when I got home from work it was to find that the window in the dining room had been removed and there was gyprock over the hole in the wall.

 I now have a spare set of timber venetian blinds.

The other thing that you immediately notice when you walk in the back door of the house is that we have no fibro at all on the outside back wall. Hopefully that westerly wind will die down tonight because otherwise it's going to be pretty cold inside.

Looking inside the laundry all of the lining has been taken out and it is now bare in there. The builders have moved the dryer out into the back shed. Hopefully it won't rain tonight because they have just left it on the ground and when it rains the water goes straight through on the floor.

Overall everyone is still being positive about the whole 'camping' experience. Marissa and Joel seem to be constantly fighting because according to Joel, Marissa doesn't put anything away and the room is constantly messy. This is a very accurate report about Marissa's side of the room. Brendan is in heaven because the piano is in his room and he has being playing it endlessly. I sure wish he had played it this much when I was paying for his lessons each week. I think we might leave it in there because you can shut the door to dull the noise when he and Mark are thumping away on it. I absolutely adore my wonderful husband who is working really hard in order to pay for this and he is really patient with me every time I complain about our 'camping' experience. Everyone tells me it will be worth it in the end......I sure hope so.

Tuesday update

It was really buzzing around here all day today.

We had the plumbers here and they have done all of the plumbing for the bathroom. Wayne went up to get the taps and measurements that were needed from James. Thankfully we got the ok with the things that we bought which was a relief.

Peter was busy inside all day today. He took out the window from Joel's room first thing and it has even got gyprock over it tonight. He also framed up the hidden storage room that will be accessed from Brendan's room which will be the new study. The frame is also up where the staircase will be going. The wall of Joel's room that is common with Brendan's room also has new gyprock on it. It's very exciting. Unfortunately the photos don't show the changes very well.

Outside Phillip was kept busy demolishing what was left of our outdoor area. After he took away the floor boards and supports we discovered a step down from the back door and a small path across to the laundry where there are another set of steps. We now have an outside toilet and laundry.

 

Lots happened around the place today and as Peter was leaving he informed me that the small window in the dining room will be going tomorrow and will be gyprocked up. He is also going to take down the awful brick archway in the kitchen/dining room. It will be interesting to see how much is done.

The scaffolding is also going to be brought to our place tomorrow......

Monday's update

I didn't get around to doing my update last night, not sure why really but here is what happened yesterday.

As usual the builders were here bright and early and starting work at 7am. Peter was actually out the front in his car from about 6.15am.

We love our builders, so different from our first experience of building with Jon. This experience sure brings back all of the memories from our first disastrous effort and makes us thank God for the competent  and hard working builders that we have now discovered.

In order to avoid the building site that is my house I bailed and  went to the movies with my very good friend Alyson. When I got home all of the en-suite, walk in robe and doorway was totally framed up. They had also taken off more gyprock from the surrounding walls.

That room is getting colder each night as it is stripped away to a skeleton. Makes trips to the toilet in the middle of the night not very appealing.

Because of the size I couldn't get a very good picture of the entire structure. It is looking like a real room now.

This morning everyone arrived bright and early again and they are now working noisily.

So far they have removed the window that was in Joel's own room, there is lots of banging going on and the plumbers are here which is very exciting. Will post more tonight.

We have been shopping!

This morning Mark and I went shopping to check out all of the things that Sheena and I had sourced yesterday.

Our first stop was the tile shop where we got our bathroom tiles. The wall tiles are  white rectangle and the floor are a square grey. Everyone was happy with that choice.

We then picked out all of our bathroom fittings as James the owner of the shop had them there and he was cheap. It was fun buying off him, we could have been in the markets in the middle of China except you could understand his english. As we picked out something he would tell us his price and then I would just look at him and he would lower it, I didn't even have to bargain with him. It was hilarious. We were happy with the prices and so we have ordered everything for the en-suite which was a bit daunting. Hopefully we got it right.
Below are pictures of our shower and mixer tap.

This is our bath, tap and mixer tap

We decided to get a floating cabinet instead of one on the floor, just like this one.

As Sheena said yesterday it was all a bit easy. I guess we are just not fussy people and I couldn't see the point in driving all around the place when his prices were quite good. I am pleased to say that I am under budget for the bathroom which will now allow me to get the caesar stone benches in the kitchen.

In the daylight this is what the inside looks like with the framing up.The door on the left is for our walk in robe and the one on the right is for our en-suite.

Outside yesterday they took way our outdoor area roof etc and took out the windows of the shed ready to demolish.

I guess there is no turning back now if I change my mind!

We have television!!!!

My absolutely amazing gorgeous resourceful husband fixed the television......Apparently it wasn't plugged into the television cable. Ha Ha.

We have air-conditioning tonight but no television!!!

Well today has been a massive day.

This morning Peter took out the window that was in Marissa's bedroom so we had a massive hole in the wall. He then proceeded to work on the frame around the en-suite and walk in robe. It looks great.

The electrician also came to try and work out the mess that our electrical system is. He put in temporary cables so now we have air-conditioning tonight which is a good thing because it is blowing a freezing cold wind. We also have working lights and power points through the house which is also a good thing. Unfortunately thought we don't seem to have a signal for the television so we can't watch it. Maybe Mark will be able to fix it when he gets home. If not it's going to be a really long weekend without it because all soccer has been canceled this weekend.

They also finished demolishing the BBQ and took off the roofing from our outdoor area as well as the walls around it. Tonight we are feeling very exposed out the back door. Hopefully it won't rain because now our laundry and toilet are outside well and truly.

Today I went shopping with Sheena to pick out the tiles and taps etc for our bathroom. Hopefully I wasn't too much of a drama queen or a princess and we are still friends.....

We chose white for the walls and grey for the floor. I then chose a rain forest shower head and square looking taps as well as an off the ground vanity. It should all look really good. Mark and I are going back at 9am in the morning to see if he likes it all before we order everything.

This afternoon I popped up to the lighting shop to see what types of lights we can choose and I am now totally confused. Again, Mark will be coming up tomorrow with me to make a final selection.

Thank goodness soccer has all been cancelled tomorrow so that we can do all of this shopping as Wayne requires some of the bathroom stuff for the plumber on Tuesday.

It was so lovely for Peter to clean up all of the mess before he went home again today. I just love my builders.

I didn't take any photos tonight as it was too dark by the time I got home.

No airconditioning!

Not only do we not have any lights out the back of the house or any working power points in the front of the house, but just before dinner we discovered that the air conditioner isn't working either.....Thank goodness tonight hasn't been as cold as earlier in the week.

Marissa was very excited though because the air conditioner is working in her room. Just not out the back.

Brendan is having a shower in the dark as there are no lights there either, actually I think he may have taken his bedside lamp in there to see where the soap is located.

Last night when I was whinging about there being no working power points in the front of the house my absolutely adorable and resourceful husband went and found two huge extension cords and plugged them in at the back of the house so that I could have power to turn my electric blanket on and so that Marissa's goldfish filter would operate in an effort to prevent dead goldfish this morning.
So tonight, it really does feel like we are camping- no air-conditioning or lights out the back, but we do have working power-points so that I could watch the masterchef elimination episode tonight.
Out the front of the house we have working lights, but no working power-points. As I said, just like camping!

Look what the builders did today.

The builders were here right on 7am again. They are amazing and very prompt.
Arriving home I discovered that there were no lights in the kitchen and dining room. Well actually Brendan greeted me with..."there's no lights!" No hi mum, how was your day or anything like that, just..."there's no lights!". Oh well the joys of building. As a result we have our bedside lamps in the dining room and they are adding a lovely 'romantic' glow to the area.
We were also greeted with one big room where there had once been 2.

In the photo you can see where they ripped up some floor boards and put down flooring for waterproofing for our en-suite.

Looking down the hallway you can see that the wall to our bedroom is still in place...Praise the Lord!! I am not looking forward to them pulling it down as our room is quite cozy and dust free at the  moment.

Out the back the builders demolished the timber box seat and have also started demolishing the BBQ. 

Also as promised here is a photo of the fenced in front of our house.

We have floor boards!

This morning right on the dot of 7am the builders came bursting through our front door to begin work.

It was lovely to see Peter, one of the builders. He had worked on our house at Newtown when we added the attic room. He is now working on our house here. I feel really happy about that as he did a beautiful job at Newtown.

When I got home this afternoon  I couldn't believe it, we have floor boards.

This shows the floorboards that were under the carpet in Marissa and Joel's rooms. They are in pretty good condition so let's hope the ones in the dining room and kitchen are just as good.

The bedrooms also have no walls which is a bit freaky. The builders put up a plastic curtain in the hallway to stop the dust from going into the dining room and kitchen area. It has done a pretty good job although there is a very fine layer of dust over most things.

These photos show Marissa's room, looking into Joel's room complete with the Asterix poster and you can see the plastic in the hallway.

As I arrived home there is a huge gate across our driveway so I can't drive in. I must take a photo of that tomorrow when it is still light.

First official day of building

Well today saw our builder and his mate arrive bright and early despite the grey sky and the rain clouds.

They started work outside finishing off the fence around our property. It is a fairly impressive fence. 

They were here all day working hard in between the heavy rain showers that were on and off all through the day.

Just before they left Wayne came and informed me that tomorrow they would start working on the inside of the house. I knew that it had to happen but I am still dreading it. 

He very patiently told me AGAIN that he will be putting up plastic sheeting in the hallway to stop the dust but I am still anxious about it, because as all of my friends know I just LOVE a clean house and spend a great amount of time dusting to keep it clean.......oh wait, that's in my dreams! If the truth be told my family probably won't even notice all of the dust through the house because they pretty much live with dust all through the house now.

Tomorrow there will be photos of what has taken place I hope.

Photos as promised.

Well it is Monday of the Queen's birthday long weekend and I think we are about as ready as we ever will for the builders to commence work on our house tomorrow. Although as the weather is so bad at the moment it wouldn't surprise me if they delay starting.

Marissa and Joel have now moved into the lounge room and tonight will be their first night sharing a room....EVER!

This tiny cupboard holds all of their clothes. It's amazing how many clothes were in their cupboards that didn't fit. Vinnies has been the recipient of many of their clothes and old toys.

Marissa's now empty (well almost empty) bedroom all ready for demolition!

 Joel's now empty room.

This is now our lounge room, dining room and kitchen. should be an interesting few months!

It has been a big few weeks getting packed up and ready for building, but an especially big weekend as we had a deadline to get ready by tomorrow.

Changing Rooms

Well today has been massive in our house.

We (by that I mean Mark and the boys) moved all of the furniture out of the lounge room so that we can turn it into Marissa and Joel's room until their new rooms are built.

Thankfully the bookcase had already been taken out by my eBay buyer, but they had to move out the lounge and entertainment unit.

Thank goodness Mark is good at puzzles because he had to use all of his skills to work out how to get it all out. After breaking the light in the hall it was decided to take it down completely before they finished moving out the furniture. The entertainment unit was a great cause for concern and it looked like it would be stuck in there forever until we were rescued by our GREAT friends Micheal and Mitchell who helped get it out the door in seconds. We were really fortunate that they were able to drop everything and come down to help or it would probably still be stuck in the doorway. All of the furniture is now safely in storage until we need it again.

I am also pleased to say that my boys worked really well as a team and considering the enormous job there was very little yelling at each other. Probably the biggest achievement as far as I am concerned. In hindsight I should have videoed them, it would have been extremely entertaining viewing!!

The television is now installed in the dining room and the lounge room has two desks and a cupboard full of clothes. Tomorrow it will also have two beds in it.

It feels like we are camping, which for a family that doesn't camp is a big achievement. It is a bonus having air conditioning in this cold weather though.

Tomorrow when everything is finished being moved I will take some photos so that you can see the completed rooms.

The boys came back

Well I spoke too soon.

The builders came back to deliver more stuff for the building. Our place is certainly looking more like a building site.

Some random guy from a tree removal company just came to our door and gave us a card to use his services. Obviously saw the building materials and thought he might get lucky with a job. Who knows?

Bookcase sold

Well it is very exciting to note that the bookcase has been sold on eBay and picked up by the very nice gentleman named Mark. It took him about 1 1/2hours to get it out so we had a lovely chat.

Among other things I found out that his 40 year old son has developed MS which is really sad as his marriage has broken up as a result of it and he has lost his business too. He also has another son who lives in Brisbane but has just bought a block of land down near Nowra to build a house on. Mark's wife works in an old people's home and is doing extra shifts until they find a new worker to replace her friend that left recently.

Mark is an accountant and has a brother who is a builder, one is a plumber and one is an electrician. he wonders why they never started a building company together.

I know I would be happy to have any of those trades in my family about now.

As you can see I have had quite an enjoyable morning.

Anyway the bookcase is sold and gone. I hope his wife enjoys it as much as we did.

The builders  came yesterday and started to construct the fence around our place all set for the renos to start on Tuesday. They didn't finish and I expected them back today but there has been no sign of them.....Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come! I will put up a photo once the fence is all up.

Meeting with the builders

This morning the builders came around to work out their plan of attack.

They told us they will be bringing things around this week and will then start building/demolishing on the Tuesday after the long weekend.

Oh my goodness, it is starting to be real.

One good thing that they discovered was that there are floorboards under the cork tiles in the kitchen and dining room, all they will have to do is check them , sand them and polish them. Hopefully when the floor is ripped up they will be in good order.

While the builders were here the people that bought our buffet and hutch arrived to collect it......a day early.

It worked out really well because Mark was here to help carry it out to the trailer with the man. Hopefully it was what they expected.

Buffet and hutch sold

I am very excited because the buffet and hutch has been sold on ebay.
It was the first time I have sold anything on ebay so I am feeling quite happy.
The people are picking it up on Sunday afternoon which means one less thing we have to put into storage. Yay.

The house as it is now

I thought I should put some photos on this blog so that we can remember what it looked like when the whole thing is finished.

This is what the front of the house currently looks like.

This is the view of the house from the backyard.

Here is my wonderful hills hoist with part of the days washing hanging on it. I will miss the old clothesline when we replace it.

 This is our current entry. I am really looking forward to getting rid of these steps.

 Our entry foyer with the lounge room on the immediate left.

Our lounge room with the lounge that is way too big for the space. In the shop it didn't look that big.

 The hallway leading to our main bedroom. Notice the rocking horse made by my clever grandfather.

 The main bedroom with the unmade bed and my winter coat thrown on the bed after a long day at work.

We are really looking forward to getting new windows that are sealed properly because it gets REALLY cold in here during winter.

 The youngest child's room. She actually makes her bed each day. Not sure where that comes from.....certainly not me. This room will form part of the master bedrooms en suite and walk in robe.

The middle child's bedroom who loves the colour red.

 The eldest child's room which will become a study in the renovation.

The hideous bathroom. I am not an apricot girl and I have hated this bathroom since we moved in, although not enough to do anything about it before this it seems.

 

The dining room. I was in the middle of packing up all of the things from the china cabinet when I decided to take these photos so that is why there is mess everywhere. Well more mess than usual.

Looking from the kitchen through to the dining room.

Although there are boxes from packing I love to sit in those lounge chairs in winter as the sun streams in through those windows until the afternoon. I have wasted many hours sitting there reading.

 

I hoped you liked the tour of our house as it currently stands.

The builder called in last night with the contracts to sign. As soon as we sign them there will be a 5 day cooling off period and then he will start work. He has already said that he will start bringing materials over at the end of the week. 

It is getting very exciting, although I am starting to get anxious as there is still quite a bit to do in terms of getting prepared for the start of building.

 

 

Currently I have packed up everything that was in the buffets and hutches. All of the books have been packed into boxes from the bookcase. I have also thrown out a whole lot of books and china too. Well actually Vinnies benefited from that.

I have listed the book case and buffet and hutch on ebay. So far there have been no bids but it tells me that 8 people are watching them. I think that is good, but if they don't bid it won't be.

 

We still have to move Marissa and Joel into their temporary bedroom in the lounge room and we also have to move the tv out to the dining room.

The lounge and good china cabinet will go into storage and hopefully we will live to tell the story of our building.