Thursday 28th April - Day 28

There was so many plans for today but yet again the weather had other ideas. I must have been mad to think that I could renovate with the roof of during Easter in Sydney. From all those years going to the Bathurst bike races at Easter, I should know that it ALWAYS rains at Easter. This year is no different with the possible exception that there is more rain than normal. With the last remaining sheet of flooring ready to go, this was the obvious starting place. Unfortunately I never even got up onto the 1st floor today and the tarp was nowhere near coming off. We did however achieve quiet a few things. As the 1st floor was off limits we set about to adding the kitchen ceiling joists in between the showers. It was 9:30 when Jo arrived with morning tea and very little had been done. Pete and Jo then planned to investigate the different types of hardwood flooring available when Clay arrived. So they left on their expedition and Clay and I stayed to do what we could. A bit of wiring here and a bit of flooring there. Jo and Pete returned at about midday with the very welcome news that Jo had decided that she wants Blackbutt flooring. I don't care what it is, so long as the decision has been made. Pete called it a day due to the rain and then Gaz turned up as we were getting stuck into the removal of the stairs and the dog tunnel under the house. Our dog Pippi had a "tunnel" to allow her to get from one side of the house to the other without going via the pool yard. As the new stairs will need to be built through her existing tunnel we will have to redo it when we have completed the renovation. In our attempts to remove the old stairs we discovered that the floor between Nichayla's old room and the old hallway was about 6mm different in height. So with Gaz's car jack we managed to lift the offending joists and pack them up with some leftover fibro, it was after 5pm when we finally got the flooring sheeted and actually level. I might make a start of the lower stairs tomorrow. Yet again thanks to both Gaz and Clay for their help and enthusiasm.

Wednesday 27th April - Day 27

With the public holidays Monday and Tuesday both washed out, I was pretty keen to actually get some work done today. The skies were definately menacing but we managed to make a start on the cutting down of the North wall and attempt to get it level. Pete would agree that this is obvioulsy more difficult than it sounds. I heard Pete swear more today that I have in the 12 years that I've known him. Every cut of the saw was either to big or too small.  It was almost funny to me, but not.. Just prior to achieving Nirvana, we were interrupted and forced into a morning tea break when the skies opened. Luckily it was a passing shower and we were only grounded for about 15 minutes. After coffee we managed to get a plate that approximated level and then John turned up. Perfect timing to assist standing up the Yellow Tounge flooring. Thanks John. The skies almost cleared as we put up board after board. Half way done I looked up and Clay was watching from the street. No sooner had he arrived, then he had a work call and had too leave. Maybe tomorrow he'll be able to taste the "sweet sensation" of International Roast coffee that he love sooo much. Around 2:30 with the rain starting to fall, we discovered that we were one piece of yellow tongue short. The mad rush to finish what we had and to cover the new floor with the tarp carried us to beer O'clock. Pete had done his day and I went to the timber yard to for the last piece of flooring and a bunce of 6 * 2 pine. The pine will be used for kitchen ceiling and roof joists. Gaz, as usual was Johnny on the spot and came to help unload the timber as soon as I arrived. Shit we have good neighbours and friends.

Easter Saturday 23rd April - Day 26

It was 7:38 when Michael called to say where are you? I was a bit dusty after a wonderful evening at Adrian and Sue's. I ran up the road without breakfast found Pete about to take the remaining tarp off to do the upstairs flooring. We decided to partially remove it to try just do the bathroom but the weather had other ideas. The weather forecasts have been surprisingly accurate lately. With only a trivial amount of indoor work to be done, Pete called it a day and left me and Michael to add the stair landing joists and to pad out some walls for the gyprock. We also discovered a very green pool as the power circuit was disconnected about 3 weeks ago. Much cleaning and sweeping of the now rusty nails from the pool pavers and hopefully we will get it back into shape. We may need a few extra chemicals to remove the rust...

Good Friday, 22nd April - Day 25

Being a public holiday and Pete deciding that he wasn't going work due to wine making duties, I thought I'd have a sleep in before starting. At 8:54 I got a text from Clay saying "I'm here, where are you?". A quick trip to site and Clay was almost finished the wiring. He didn't want to be the one holding up the roof. In discussing the roof he said let's do it. Not needing any more prompting we got stuck into it. As soon as theft tarp hit the ground, he said "bye, got to go". Bastard.... It was about 4pm when we called it a day. Clay was having a beer while I finished the second row of screws for both sides of the roof. He needed to chill after his near death experience when he tried to fall arse first through the roof. The pollycarbonate is thankfully very strong.
I am now one very happy camper as the roof is on. Perfect timing as rain is forecast for the next 7 days....

Thursday 21st April - Day 24

Today we finally got all the joists measured, cut and installed. Clay wasn't available so the roof still can't go on but it can't be far away. Pete went the the specialist and got the all clear from the doctor about his lungs, so that was great news. When he returned we got the last two joists up and then rebated the joists for the girls ensuite. This will allow the tiles to be at the same level as the carpet in their rooms. First thing Saturday we can lay the yellow tongue flooring. Things should move quicker with a level floor to work with....

Wednesday 20th April - Day 23

Today we made a start on the upper 1st floor joists. As with all other changes to the existing house the modifications were slow because nothing is level or square. The plate that the joists sit on isn't flat and thus needed to be individually measured and cut. We were very lucky to again have Ian helping until 12, and Clay joined us at about 10:30 to try and finish the wiring so that we can finally get the roof on. Unfortunately it wasn't quiet complete but I have to say Clay's wiring is absolutely perfect. Not a single twisted or unclipped wire.

Tuesday 19th April - Day 22

It was one of those days where it really doesn't look like we achieved alot. What we did do is to set up for a big day tomorrow. All the plates are on and through 7.2m joists are in through house and ready to put up. Preparing the levels took longer than expected, plus Pete had a doctors appointment too. We find out the details on Thursday. Hopefully all good.

Friday 15th April - Day 21

Today yet again Ian joined us till lunchtime. He cleaned up all the area around the house to allow scaffold to be used later. Pete and I removed all the old hardwood joists above the upper ground floor and started the cut down to new joists. The biggest drama of the day was putting up the tarp so that everything stayed dry without the joists to hold it up. Pete also spat the dummy when he tripped over the tools and cut himself. I hope he's OK for grape picking this weekend....

Thursday 14th April - Day 20

A good day today. Ian yet again came to help all day which was huge. He even gave up his bat ball game. A bit of fudging to get the upstairs square and the the lower first floor was laid. While Pete and Ian were doing the physical work, I was busy welding one of the steel beams; just to make sure.... A pretty good view from our room now. We get a great view of the Bahai Temple from our bathroom. Once Pete left to take Ivanka to the airport Ian and I finished the flooring and the removed the cathedral ceiling from the bathroom and the study. The work day ended after picking up Kayla from her day at the show, by having a quick beer with Gaz. Nice.

Wednesday 13th April - Day 19

Oops. 1 step back, 2 steps forward. Pete had a bit of a nightmare last night that became reality this morning when we discovered that height of the steel was 140mm to low. After much discussion based around the way the stairs need to work we decided to lift the floor and add the 140mm pine ceiling joists as a plate for all the walls. 5 hours lateral the floor joists and steel were at the correct height. The alternative was to add another step but then our bedroom would have had almost a 3m ceiling. The rest of the day was spent getting the remaining clot joists in position. We are now ready GUI add the floor tomorrow.

Tuesday 12th April - Day 18

Today was pretty simple really. We made a "best attempt" at getting the steel square and then added the floor joints for our ensuite and the entrance of our room. Because we used an extra steel beam at the ensuite boundary we were able to run the joists perpendicular to the main room. This allows the plumbing to go towards the garage without cutting any joists. It also allows us to use smaller joists and get the ensuite floor at the same level as the bedroom after the tiles are added. Everything looking good.

Saturday 9th April - Day 17

Pete and I collected the scaffold and when we returned the Warringah timber truck was delivering the steel and timber at 8am. Ian was the first to turn up at about 8:30 and we had the first of the steel in the house. A quick phone call and Adrian and Tom were there to help too. John turned up and about 9:30 and the steel was very quickly moved. Only one beam was ridiculously heavy and really took team work. Adrian suffered the only injury when he was trying to lift using his head... The steel was dropped.from the scaffold on dropped under the weight as Aidy winced. Lucky we all had a good hold of it. Clint and Gaz turned up when the steel was move and installed but were a great help with moving all the hi-span and flooring. Come 12 noon and Pete was calling it a good days work. Little did we know that he and John had got on the piss the night before.... A few screws to keep the steel where it should be and I was off to Trend windows then the netball. Trend was shut but Jo had a HUGE win and was awesome as usual. BBQ for dinner, a really good day.

Friday 8th April - Day 16

Clay yet again was free and to my benefit finds working on the house more enjoyable than sitting around watching TV. Today he started on wiring the lights. In particular, the lights that will be inaccessible when the roof finally goes up. I live in hope. Pete and I finally finished preparation for the steel. The stud for the windows and doors are all done and look great and are actually level. Unlike the previous walls and windows. Once the beams are in, the rafters and floor above will follow quickly.

Thursday 7th April - Day 15

Today Clay and Jo were on the job and were both a great help.Jo was continually de-nailing removed timbers and generally cleaning up after us and Clay was the super labourer. We removed the old rafters from Narn's room and got down all the battons from Kayla's room. I believe that the traps might even keep the water out when it rains again. I got slack again and missed karate. Drinks with Adrian and Sue instead. Pete worked to get the walls all level for the steel beams and new rafters. Harder than you would thick given the starting point....

Wednesday 6th April - Day 14

Too much rain again to be able to put the roof on. Duh. On a brighter note, we had a very nice surprise today when Ian dropped in and offered his labouring services until 12 O'clock. I can only guess that he is really keen for us to move out as he was working like madman today. The help was very much appreciated and we managed to get the kitchen frame built and the bi-fold door frame ready for the steel beam. In the process I managed to scratch the aluminium pool gate post. Really pissed off with myself. When frame was completed, there really isn't much holding up the north and west walls. Hopefully we can get the steel beams delivered and installed soon. Clay and Russell dropped in too. Russell was having a driving lesson so our place was as good a destination as any. Unfortunately they are going away on Saturday so they won't be able to help with moving the steel beams into position...

Tuesday 5th April - Day 13

We now have everything for the roof to be installed but the weather had other ideas. So we set to work building the new internal walls to divide the rumpus room and the lounge room. The old kitchen entrance got re-worked to now be the small passage way to the laundry and rumpus room. Pete got confused about the time, courteous of day light sameing time and thought the day was done at 2pm rather than 3pm. I need to adjust the clock...

Sunday 3rd April - Day 12

Sunday being the day of rest, I got to start work at about 10:30. I removed the last of the gyprock on the lower ground and cleaned all of the Oregon rafters that I removed. We are now ready to cut the east wall and fill the west wall in preparation for the steel beams and new rafters. It was a good days work with Jo busy sealing the bamboo fence and me rescuing the cat who appears scared of heights. Tuesday will bring either steel beams or a new upper ground floor roof. Weather dependant.

Saturday 2nd April - Day 11

Happy birthday bro.
Many people asked but only my brother was available to lend me a hand today. A big cleanup and the removal of most of the remaining gyprock.
Thx Bro.

Asbestos removal, Thursday 31st march - Day 9.

The roof came off today. Alpa demolition did a great job at a good price. Naturally there was more rain than sunshine and the traps had to go up. Unfortunately not much else got done today. The replacement roof for the front section of the house did turn up but the insulation batts didn't, so I couldn't have put the roof up anyway. The only damage was a broken window and front light.

The house with no walls, Thursday 24th March - Day 4

Getting really sick of removing gyprock. Rule number one with an open plan house is that most of the walls are removed. Structurally we are still sound but the walls keep coming down.

Tuesday 22nd March - Day 2

Good progress made today with the demolition of the bathroom that I renovated 3 years ago. Not a nice feeling when you destroy you own handy work. Apart from that and falling in a hole, not to bad.
A big thanks to Clay for helping out.

Complying development

Amazing. We decide to put a second story on and completely remodel our house and neither council nor the neighbours can object. Really easy process and it is definitely working for us.