Saturday 28th May - Day 49

Today we first tackled the bathroom window and then spent way too long trying to find the frosted louvres. The packages that contain the louvres got wet from the rain and it really hard to read the labels, thus it was a bit of trial and error to discover what goes where. When we eventually found them, we needed to decide which way they went. Smooth side in or out. A quick phone call (and logic if we put any reall thought into it) told us that it waqs smooth side out. The next window was the study windows. Pete did is usual destruction with the chain saw and as this window is smaller than the original, we recycled some 100mm hardwood to create a small frame to sit is on. Again finding the correct louvre blades was very difficult. I needed to make sure that we didn't install the toughtened blades because they have to go on the stair windows. As I found 14 tinted blades with 1 chipped in the corner, I think it was pretty safe that it wasn't toughened.

First tinted louvres installed

We also finished the bi-fold door installation by suspending it correctly and Pete started the frame for the kitchen cupboards behind the oven.
James provoied a nice surprise by being available for a few hours to help out. First task with his help was to get the old patio door up to our bedroom on the 1st floor.

Rccycled door

Nice to see some more recycling. This was followed with yet more recycling as we started putting the old weatherboard back onto the frames. I need it for packing on the new and modified wall sections. I could have removed it all but then I would have had to get rid of it all. By keeping it and BlueBoarding over the top I get better insulation and less waste.

Friday 27th May - Day 48

Pretty simple day today, we fudged around and installed windows that were ready. The outstanding windows are, the study, downstairs bathroom, kitchen and front windows. Neither patio doors are installed yet either. The only window that has the glass installed is the Laundry window. I also noticed in the laundry, that the lock has a broken plastic cover. Not really sure how I will replace it as the reveal is so close to it. Other problems identified and discussed with Trend are that the stair windows and the centre section of the pool window have restricted openings. The sale people tried to tell me that it was for pool safety but as I have ordered (but not yet received) a security fly screen that cannot be removed, I don't need to restrict any of the lovures. Besides, the outside panels of the pool window are not restricted. Go figure !!
I also tried to measure up and for the remaining roof parts. I need some barge capping and custom fascia, not to mention the touch up paint and foam infills. On tomorrows list for things to do.
Gaz came over for a quick visit to check on the current status. Didn't stay long and beers will have to wait as I'm off to dinner with Pete tonight. Fish at the Croatia club. Always a very special feed.
After Gaz left Clay popped in and said he was planning a big Monday on site. As I won't be there, I'll need to have all the power stud brackets installed so he knows where to run the cables. I'll get them and new rolls of cable tomorrow. Clay also popped in yesterday and thought we had left early. I have one day off (at the office) and both Clay and Yvonnie drop in. Sorry Mum!!.

Thursday 26th May

No work today. Pete got something stuck in his eye yesterday and needed to go to the hospital to get it removed. As it was still bothering him, we decided he should have the day off. I could have stayed and done a lot of things but thought I could use a day off too.

Wednesday 25th May - Day 47

OMG it was freakin' freezing today. While the roof was on and pretty much leak free, it was still raining inside bceause it was coming sideways. The windows didn't get any work done on them but we did manage to get the stairs started. The landing and first step down was designed and built to maximise head space below. Fairly simple but time consuming as my hands really didn't want to work.


First window and door installed



We did have one visitor today; Pat from next door popped in to say she had taken a few pictures of us during construction. Another one of our amazing neighbours. Unfortunately they are leaving the Alameda family to head for Narrabeen next year. Pictures from Pats place next door.

After Pat left we worked a bit more then thought that Pizza at the RSL would be a better way to spend the afternoon. Very nice....

A much better option

Tuesday 24th May - Day 46

With the weather forecast for rain and blue skies above, I was trying to get the 3 different roofs finished. Pete was busy preparing for the windows and doors. Specifically the 5 door bi-fold. I completed the kitchen roof and was almost finished the front roof when the Trend delivery truck arrived. The guys were very nice and even helped us carry all the windows and doors around the back and into the house. The only issue was how to get the bi-fold door into position. Unfortunately the easiest path was around the right side of the house after a quick prune of the Frangipani tree. Sorry Jo!
The day was done after we got the bi-fold and the window over looking the pool installed. Sorry, no pictures of the installed items. It was too dark when I thought about it.
For the record, the weather forecast was right and the rain did start. We were trying to dry out the big tarp and forgot about it so that it got very wet again. At least we don't need them on the roof anymore.

Sunday 22nd May - Day 45

8:30 am drop off of Kayla at work and then of to grab Gaz. Half an hour before being expected, Gaz and Paula were both in their robes and about to half pancakes in bed. Do I know how spoil a moment !
After a second breakfast of pancakes Gaz and started to put the last 1 & 1/2 roof sections on. We actually thought we would have finished by 12ish but at 12:30 when I sliced my finger, we still had to finish the cuts for the valley, add the insulation then screw the sheets down. There was also the extra corner pieces above our verandah and the ridge capping. All this while Jo and Carmel were busy doing a major cleanup.
When the sun started to set Be the dew started, we knew we weren't going to get as finished as we had wanted. We finished with all but 4 of the ridge caps on. Amazing it took that long but we weren't bludging. Roofing is damn hard and dangerous work.

Saturday 21st May - Day 44

Long story short, Pete was gopher while Gaz and I worked as fast as we could to get the sheet up. Very slow going with all the hips. In between running errands, Pete was packing window headers and strapping the roof rafters and joists. He even managed to get Tiarna's window out in one piece and then frame the new stair window. Narn's old window will be making the trip to Johns farm in Capertee.
Unfortunately we didn't get all the sheets on but we figured an easy Sunday would see the job out.

Friday 20th May - Day 43

A bit of a slow start this morning, the steel roofing didn't arrive till about 10am and it arrived without the valleys. They arrived about 11am. The upside of of the delayed start was that I had a chance to finish the battons. Gaz came over looking for a start couple of times but as I wasn't confident that the roof would arrive, so he went to the marina and did some outstanding work before I called him to say game on.

It took a while before we actually got into our stride, but we finally found some rhythm. Pete was busy working on the valleys while Gaz and I worked on the roof. We managed to get the roof above our balcony and the west side of our bedroom done. I have to say that I thought we would have done more but we were at it most of the day and it was slow going. I really should have thought more about adding so many hips and valleys. A gable roof would have been so much easier...

  

Tomorrow we should get all the remaining roof on but I'm not too sure about the ridge capping. Fingers crossed.

Thursday 19th May - Day 42

Today we finished the fascia and only one fuck up. Yay! We measured once and cut twice. We had it right after the first cut. Luckily only a minor issue that is easily fixed. We also got stuck into the roof batons and got both valleys done. The steel should turn up tomorrow morning if I am to believe the shop. We need to put on a few more batons and then start. The only real issue was today was that the rain got into the compressor and it kept tripping the elcb. That means that the gas gun got a work out and I couldn't use any of the old hardwood batons. Hopefully by tomorrow it will have dried out. Bloody rain....

Wednesday 18th May - Day 42

Today was yet again more fart arsing around but we did manage to get some of the fascia installed. The roof was ordered and promised to be delivered on Friday. Fingers crossed. I have Gaz from across the road going to give me a couple of days when needed to put the roof up. Hopefully that will simply be Friday, but we will see.
It is really surprising how difficult it is to get the fascia up. 600mm past the outside wall and a very long way up. Up to about 5.5m up. I built a small jig that puts a board out past the outside edge and uses triangulation to provide strength and wrap around the spud while sitting on the noggin. So long as the noggin and stud can support my weight (72kg) them no prob. Just in case the worst happens I am also wearing a harness. Worst case is, I fall about 1.5m.

It has been very handy to put a plank on to allow me to cut all the rafters to length and then nail the fascia. Using the jig, I have cut all of the rafters but for the south roof line off our bathroom and wardrobe. While working above the pool, I did manage to drop a few pieces of wood and unfortunately my spirit level. Amazingly, it appears to have survived to 5m drop without damage.
 Speaking of damage, Pete managed to drop his compound mitre saw. It fell off the table because it wasn't screwed down. Unfortunately it was not as lucky as the spirit level. There is a nasty crack in the alloy frame and while it has been bent back to where it appears to be cutting straight, I don't think it is very long for this world. I am only glad that it was not me...
As we are presuming that the roof will arrive on Friday, we need to have all the fascia, batons and valleys installed and ready to go. Tomorrow will be a big day.

Tuesday 17th May - Day 41

Well, it was another one of those days where you feel you didn't achieve a lot.
Josh and Andy, the plumbers were on site and managed to get both sewerage stacks for the bathrooms completed so I guess not all was lost.

My day revolved around a lot organising. I had to provide direction for the plumbers, I defined the gyprock requirement to Christian for a quote, I measured up the roof requirements for the steel so that it will be delivery by Friday, I measured and marked the eaves for the east roof line. It was starting to get dark when I finished so I didn't think cutting the eaves 600mm past the wall was a great idea, safety harness or not..
I really need to get the roof steel paid for tomorrow and start getting the fascias installed. That will involve hanging of the edge of the roof. Lots of fun :)

Pete's day consisted of completing adding the supports for the roof and added some of the ceiling joist brackets to those supports. I think our bedroom is still to be done.

Saturday 14 May - Day 40

Ceiling joists and rafters was again the order of the day. At 3pm, Pete called it a day but I figured that I could get the last 7 rafters up before dark. Having mastered the compound cuts for both roof directions this wasn't too hard. Very satisfying to see them all up The only thing remaining is to add the final supports and add the brackets to ensure they are tied down properly. The brackets, facia and battons should turn up on Tuesday. Hopefully that will be only 1 or 2 days and allow me to order the roofing.
I asked Gaz if he wanted to work a couple of days to help with the roof. Being 2 storeys up on a roof is too much for Pete and Gaz is a really good worker, it might allow me to get it done in a single day. Fingers crossed.

Friday 13 May - Day 39

Another perfect day and not a cold as Wednesday and Thursday. We progressed with the roof and of course had another discussion about how the facia boards were going to be mounted. We will see if my plans are rational or not.
Initially we tackled the two valleys of the roof. One pitch is set at 10 degrees, the other at 13. A bit of fudging and measuring in position and the job was done. A bit of a side track, but Pete really is amazing for a 65 year old. He is up and down the ladder between floors to cut and pass timber to me. I hope I am as capable at his age..
With the valleys complete, and the decision made to move the compound saw to the first floor, I suggested that our target for the afternoon was to get the ceiling joists and rafters up over the girls room so that the saw would be protected using the tarp. Pete agreed and he started throwing timber at me so I could nail it together. We were progressing really well until Jo was just about to leave and there was a big thump. Pete was "adjusting" a temporary hardwood overhead rafter that was holding up the tarp  when the other end fell and it landed on his head. A very good thing the site nurse had not left for the day. Jo swung into action and patched him up, but as usual he simply brushed it off (along with a bit of blood). When he left, I still had a few joists and rafters to nail down and then secure the tarps. It was quiet difficult as Huey (weather God) kept the wind blowing whenever I didn't want it. When finally happy that the rain would be kept out and it wouldn't fly away, I had a quick beer with Joe and Carmel and headed home to burgers and beer :).
Another successful day on the job.

Thursday 12 May - Day 38

Today we completed the ceiling joists in the our bedroom, specifically the bathroom and walk-in robe. The next task was to build the rafters for the bedroom. A difficult task due to the number of different angles involved. The biggest issue of the day was the debate about who the pitch of the different roofs would fit together. Thankfully I  had already had this discussion with Kevin (our draftsman), who set me straight. Pete and I got the two north hips built and the rafters up to the bathroom. At about 2:30 Pete had to go to the quack for blood tests so I stayed and complete the last hip over our bedroom. Tomorrow we'll start with ceiling joists over the girls rooms and then join the rafters in the middle. Quiet tricky as the ridges are at different heights.

Wednesday 11 May - Day 37

A much better day today. We finished our bedroom verandah and started the ceiling joists.
The verandah had a few issues, mainly due to the differences in the timber sizes. The north beam between the two corner posts (4.8m long) is made of Hyspan and the other two beams (1.5m long) are exterior primed pine. The pine is 230mm high and the hyspan is 240mm high. As we were expecting them both to be 240mm we needed to add 10mm of packing at the top so that the bottom lines up correctly. Luckily the corner quad will cover the issue.

 The ceiling joist were fairly stright forward and we managed to get main part of our bedroom done.

The first ceiling joist.

Joists installed

Tuesday 10 May - Day 36

Well, not a lot seemed to get done today. We seemed to fart arse around and not achieve a lot. What was partially achieved was the verandah off our bedroom. We got the joists up but not the floor. The timber for the roof arrived but I also needed to go and get some that wasn't ready till the afternoon. Gaz once again helped move all the timber off the street. Not a lot of room to move now.

Saturday 7th May

How good was Groovin The Moo. It was bloody great. I think it's safe to say that we'll be back next year for more. The train ride from Newcastle to Maitland was interesting. Under age boozers everywhere. Apparently we were one of the oldest, at least we were on the train in. There was a "hotel" section that only 18 and over were allowed in but they were only selling mid-strength drinks. I think there was more alcohol and drugs in the all ages section. As you would expect they were not mid priced.

There were so many great bands but the highlight for Narn and me was the Birds Of Tokyo with Gyroscope and Jezabels coming a close second.

Nichayla's hightlight was definately Bliss N Eso, both the set and getting her shirt being signed. Jo really enjoyed Cut Copy and was surprised how many songs of theirs she knew.

All in all, a huge day out for all of us.



Friday 6th May - Day 35

Sunshine again today. I must have done something right recently.. The timber supplies were just adequate and we were able to get all the upstairs wall framing completed by recycling a few of the older wall that I had pulled down. Amazingly, just as we were finishing the last frame, the kitchen roof and skylight turned up.
After unloading the truck we discovered that one of the sheets was actually 30mm too long. I guess that's better than being 30mm too short.

We cut the kitchen joists to allow the Skylight and then got the 4 sheets of 5.6m roof iron onto the existing roof and then rolled out the 75mm blanket. Achieving the full width of the kitchen roof was a a bit of a stretch, but by using a 1 & 1/2 overlap rather than the normal 2 & 1/2, it was a perfect fit.

It was about 4 O'clock when I ran out of screws, the bag was just enough to get 2 full rows done. That's enough to stop it from blowing away until I get a chance to complete the job.

Pippy had her first and probably last visit to the first floor. I can't see Jo being very happy if she goes upstairs when the job is done. A quick cleanup, feed the animals and then off home for a shower and trip to Newcastle. It's Groovin The Moo time. 

Thursday 5th May - Day 34

Perfect sunshine today. Yay; about time. Today we fixed our outstanding issues and added a few more wall to our bedroom. Only the internal bathroom and built-in wardrobe to go. I Hope we can get them knocked over tomorrow but we are again running short of timber.






Clay came over and started drilling holes and running the lighting cables to their destinations. A couple of small issues that he would like to resolve with the hammer but hopefully I can find a nicer method.

With a bit of luck the kitchen roof and skylight will arrive tomorrow. I would think that it will be a priority to get up so we can use the second tarp elsewhere.
Tiarna caught the bus home and was full of amazement at how we are progressing. Jo turned a bit later and was "concerned" about the layout of the built-in and the east window. We will see where this goes. The built-in wardrobe is limited in space and the windows are already being made. Perhaps a nice blind will resolve the issue..

Wednesday 4th May - Day 33

Holy shit it was cold this morning. With the wind blowing and being on the 1st floor without any walls, it went straight through me. Nothing like some hard work to warm you up, and that hard work was 3 and 1/2 walls.
The first new wall to be raised was the north wall above the stairs. While the wall is now up, there is still work to be done as each stud needs 30mm of padding before any Gyprock can be installed. The lower wall is made from 100mm hardwood with 20mm weatherboard on the outside. The new wall is built from 90mm pine, thus a 30mm difference. This is the only wall where this matters because it is the only wall where the Gyprock goes all the way from the lower floor to the 1st floor ceiling.
The second wall wasn't without its own drama either. The east wall from our bedroom door to the verandah is a big wall and thus bloody heavy to lift. Once positioned it was found to be 7mm too low. It lines up perfectly with the north wall above the stairs but was a touch too low joining onto Nichayla's room. We will need to get the Dumpy out to determine where the difference lies. Nothing a power planer can't fix....
The 3rd wall for the day was our north wall that opens onto the verandah. It sits on the biggest steel beam which is 10mm lower than the rest of the floor. Guess what. We forgot to allow for that too. When the swearing subsided we decided a 10mm plate ontop would fix the problem.
The 4th wall was started a bit late. Pete asked me if I'd had enough. Silly question really. I said, "the wood is cut let's just throw this one together too". This was again a big and heavy wall for two people to lift. We did manage to get it up and in position, but only to find that the length of the north verandah wall was about 2.5mm too long. The result was that the west wall that joins it perpendicularly was 2.5mm out. As the north wall is already fixed, we dropped the new west wall down and will add a small rebate to it tomorrow.
Pete was definately ready for a beer. He's worked amazingly hard for a 65 year old. I can't think of anybody else who could handle the workload at his age. On ya Pete...
When he left, I fixed the tarps up and braced the new wall then set about filling the wall where the original stairs were. As the wall was an existing 100mm hardwood wall, I scrounged around and found some 100mm hardwood scraps from some of the many walls that we have removed. I reckon this is one wall that is not going anywhere anytime soon. 50year old dried hardwood is VERY hard...

Tuesday 3rd May - Day 32

Without much timber there was little to do apart from planning our tasks for the day. Thanksfully The Warringah Timber truck arrived at 7:20am with 40, 6m lengths and 40, 5.4m lengths. Through the front window (or lack of a window) into the lounge dining room and then to work creating the remainging frames for the girls rooms.

Half the delivered timber

In between nailing together the frames I cleaned a few more pieces of hardwood to be used for the pergola and ordered the colorbond roof with skylight fo rthe kitchen. Getting the girls rooms finished is a good place to leave it for the day.

In the girls bathroom towards the stairs

Onto Jo and my room tomorrow.

Monday 2nd May - Day 31

Today was a bit short but we did manage to get the kitchen roof joists, and facia installed. Clay stopped in briefly to re-connect the wiring for the pool and warned me about commenting on the use of "BP" connectors and tape. I promised to say nothing..
Just as we started putting the second tarp (8m * 10m) the rain started again. At least with the kitchen roof frame up with the tarp, well be now able to work downstairs and remain dry.
The next load of 4 * 2 timbers should be arriving tomorrow so that will allow us to do some more upstairs walls. It should be an interesting challenge doing it under the half erected tarp.
Trend Window called and said our windows and doors should be available about the 18th May. Plenty of work to be done before they arrive. I need to order some more roofing for kitchen and get a Skylight too, I will NOT be using Ridgeway Roofing again after a $125 deliveryt fee. "Not happy Jan."

Saturday 30 April - Day 30

Today I had 3 showers, only the last one was planned. The forecast was for showers in the morning and it didn't disappoint. It rained all the way to Warriewood at 7am. When Pete arrived on site at about 7:20, the blue sky was just becoming visible so I spent 3o minutes getting all the water off the tarp and folding it back so that we could erect our first wall. Pete was busy preparing the framing for the second wall. No sooner than I collected all the timber for the frame, I turned around and the sky was was becoming very dark. Shower number 1. It stared pissing down. So I scrambled to put the tarp back up again and got completely soaked. As I wasn't prepared and I didn't have any spare clothes, I re-connected the dryer and stripped to my jocks and threw everything in for the duration of a coffee break. I reckon I looked a real site with nothing but steel caps and underpants on. By the time I dried out the clouds had disappeared and I took off the tarp yet again. I then nailed together the south wall in Nichayla's room and Pete was preparing Nichayla's East wall. Once together, we erected the first frames to our second storey.

While I nailed together the third wall, the skies opened again. As we couldn't throw the tarp over the two erected frames I continued in the rain until finished. Shower number two. Pete was a whole lot mote prepared than I and actually bought a rain jacket with him, I however was drenched again. Rather than using the dryer I just took off my shirt and kept going. We managed to get the third frame built and then Pete started on the fourth while I tried to rotate and position the tarp on the new frames. Sounds easy but moving a 10m * 12m tarp that is wet and gritty from dirt and sawdust etc, is really very difficult. Especially trying to raise it 2.4m above you head by yourself. Chris and Marty to the rescue. Marty was coming to borrow my grinder and offered his assistance when Chris next door came home and saw us struggling so he also came to help. With three of us it was a lot easier and we managed to get Nichayla's room covered and then built a ridge to allow any water to run off without pooling.

Pete threw up the timber for wall number 4 and I started nailing it together. We were now starting to run low on timber supplies so we needed to scrounge around for any 2*4 lengths, this included what we had used for the make shift roof that was holding the tarp up. Marty was now in supervisor mode we put up the 4th wall, and then we started fabricating the 5th and last wall for the day. Both time and timber had run out for the day. With the 5th wall up and braced it, with the tarp over it, Pete called it a day.

I finished getting the tarp tied down to my satisfaction, fed the animals and went home for a well deserved home brew. I'll be back later to re-attach the ridge capping I removed earlier and then have dinner with Peter and Leonnie.

Friday 29th April - Day 29

We had great plans today to get the frames up but yet again the rain got in the way. We did managed get a frame onto the second floor but not get it erected. One frame by itself is probably not terribly stable...

Before starting the frames, in between the showers we finished the ceiling joists above the kitchen, we finished off the second storey yellow tongue and then finished the rebating for the girls bathroom and laid the flooring there. Jo came and did her usual magical cleanup and of course Gaz and Clay popped in to see where we were at. Pete got pissed off with the rain and left a bit early so we tidied up and I had an early too. Jo was nice enough to drive me to the "Timo" where I met Clay for several beers and the rugby.