Extensions
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Stairway To Heaven
Every night last week, until all hours PC has been tinkering in the shed, welding, grinding and painting. His latest undertaking has been designing and welding stair frames. His first welding project in years, I confess to being rather impressed. The treads are crafted from our own timber matching in neatly with the verandah timber. Just off the laundry, in direct line to the clothesline, the width of the stairs are perfect for carrying clothes baskets;) After clambering up and down on crates and chairs for the past two years the availability of stairs on the end verandah has simplified living:)
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Exploding Verandahs
Following our decking success and keeping the momentum flowing we began laying the end verandah last Monday (Public Holiday). It was wet, windy and cold but ‘the team’ persevered despite difficult conditions. At the beginning it took some time to establish (it always does … I’m told if we want to do it right…) but then the pace ‘picked up.’ By the end of the first day one quarter of the deck was completed:) At this stage we felt two more weekends would see the job completed. Saturday we had guests and we put Daniel on the job. Whilst the ‘children of the house’ were off at soccer games and work, our guest took their place.…
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All Decked Out
Seven months ago in November we began work on the foundations of our deck. The deck unites the ‘two houses’ together, it is the central meeting spot. Carpenter discovered a love of brick laying and happily enjoyed adding another building skill to his repertoire. We were disconcerted by a seemingly insurmountable problem, the existing house foundation pier clashed for space with the new pier. We discussed the need for a house jack, but where would we source one? and our need was for months. PC recalled he had inherited his father’s house jack, unused for 30 years it still worked well. Goes to show you should never throw anything;) The bearers and joists where milled…
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Laying the First Floor
PC has been rather frustrated with the continual rain as it has hindered progress on deck building. So we have turned to inside projects, namely laying floorboards. We started with the loungerooom. First, the sheeting had to be sanded. As we are using second hand timber, we were keen to secret nail, not wanting more holes in the flooring. This means the floor board ends need to have tongue and grooves to be able to slot together. After research to find what was needed to make these alterations, PC discovered the correct size piece is unavailable in Australia. Never daunted he set up two routers, each set at a different depth to custom make the…
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Trench Digging
When we realised we needed to dig 40metres of trenches for piping; storm water and sewage, hiring a digger was the obvious choice. When we rang to book the digger the machine was only available between 9am-4pm. The pressure was on. Fortunately as it hadn’t rained the digging went more quickly than we estimated. Prior to taking this tangent we’ve been building our deck. Decking had come to a halt though as the trench was to intersect through the decking, unless we wished to dig by hand it was time to take a detour. In no time we had two trenches dug. Whilst PC was on the digger I raced…
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A Sheet Closer
Never one to choose ease and speed over the final result, when we decided to ‘lift’ the eave height on the side verandah, PC set about suspending the ceiling battens from the trusses. The next step was for the front eave to meet with the side eave. A little difficult to see but the edge pieces are on a slight angle. Once the edge pieces were in place, with the aid of his faithful helper, Einstein (and our gyprock lifter) PC began sheeting the length. They settled into a groove and the pace proceeded steadily. Slowing down to attach the side pieces as they moved along. Hammering sheets over the…
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Raindrops Keep Falling
A couple of weeks ago we were most excited to take delivery of two new tanks. 5000UK gallons (22500 litres) each! When the rains come we will be guaranteed of more than an adequate water supply! The tanks were quickly unloaded with the help of our three big boys. The last couple of weeks have seen the children digging holes every afternoon and on the weekends. The dirt has been utilised in building mounds in front of the ‘verandah’. Our hope is to build the ground high enough so we will not have to install railings. Finally it was time to build the base with crusher dust. Ramps and rollers were set up, in preparation…
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Parents Retreat: A Fresh Look
We were very pleased to begin plastering our room. For many months we have looked at dull gyprock sheets. Ours was the last bedroom to be plastered and painted. This was an exciting moment. Once the slower job of plastering and cornices was done, the application of paint went quickly. We were then able to move back in. Every morning we awake and look with pleasure at our room.
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We Have Doors!
We have bedroom doors! PC hung all five doors last weekend and this, his skill and speed in hanging doors is impressive. It has been so long since we’ve had doors, door knocking is a novelty. Our bedrooms are much warmer now.
