Frank's back!

Well it's been a long, long time and we're STILL not finished the renovation. Current ETA is 3 weeks before we move back in. The painters are finishing up and Dallas has been fitting out all the lights and powerpoints etc which has taken ages because there are just so many. I pretty much decided that since these final stages are taking such a long time I wouldn't bother posting photo updates seeing as nothing really changes much from day to day and I can't be bothered actually driving over to see the house anyway now I'm back at uni.

So like the title of the post says, our resident possum who we evicted way back when the reno started has moved back in. Mick the builder blocked the gaps under the eaves with chicken mesh, which apparently dosn't do a hell of a lot to stop a possum when it wants to move into a brand new, wool insulated roof.



Awwwww - aint he just the cutest widdle guy? I happen to love possums actually but once they're in the roof they cause all sorts of issues - chew electrical wires, shit and piss in the insulation etc etc, so unfortunately he has to go. Dallas is going to board up the gaps with timber from the inside of the roof (what the builder should have done in the first place) and the painter is going to lend us a possum trap to catch him. Once he is removed from the roof, he will be relocated to a nice new possum box in a tree courtesy of a couple of apple slices and hopefully live happily ever after...

Uluru

Oil on canvas 24" x 24"

January Update

No, I haven't died ha ha - just been really busy! Honestly I can't wait until my vac work is over at the end of the month and I go back to uni - I need the holiday!

The reno from hell has been moving along, but not as fast as we would like. I haven't been over there for a few weeks now but do have some photos to post. To tell the truth, I am really put off by the builder's most recent fuck-up - the back door from the kitchen to the deck IS NOT LEVEL! I mean WTF???!!! How can you not install a door straight for Gods sake. So both Dallas and I are not happy Jan but because it has been nailed in, the builder can't remove it without totally damaging it. Apparently he has done something to make it look more even, but I haven't seen it since then so can't comment. His excuse was that because it is an old house, it is not square. Well derrrr! However this pathetic excuse dosn't explain the fact that the kitchen door is in the part of the house that he built from scratch so it should be bloody well square! Grrrrrrr.

It is not the only thing that is all wonky either. In the main bathroom the builder didn't install the door posts in line with each other - one is about 18mm out of line, so the waterproofer used these posts to line up his metal thingy that holds the tilebed, which is not straight, which means the tiles at the door had to be cut all crooked and it's quite obvious. Double grrrrrrr! Honestly, are there any tradesmen around these days that actually do a half decent job and measure things properly before they install things? My guess is no.

The third gripe is about the kitchen installers. Instead of measuring properly (surprise surprise) they just installed the kitchen units flush against the wall, which is not square (it is one of the original internal walls) so when the stonemason went to measure for the benchtop he basically stated that no way was he going to install a benchtop while the cabinets were all out of line. So we had to get the kitchen installers back in to re-install the cabinets so the fronts were in line, not the backs, and hopefully this has all been done and the stonemason has measured for the benchtop and maybe if we are really lucky it is getting made right now to be installed next week! Phew.

Anyway, here are the most recent photos.

The tiles in the main bathroom. So obviously out of whack. Well, the tiles are straight, but the doorway isn't. Absolutely nothing we can do about it now either.

One side of the kitchen. Dallas is also annoyed that the top of the fridge space is white, and not the same as the cabinets. Apparently it is very obvious. He has a bit of left over panel that he is going to get a cabinet-maker to install so the fridge space looks like the rest of it. Also, Kitchen Connection "forgot" to order the glass door for the microwave cabinet, so we are waiting for that.

The second part of the kitchen where the sink and dishwasher will go. They should all be straightened out by now, hopefully!

The kitchen door - currently about as straight as a dog's hind leg. I have no idea what the builder can do to "fix" it but no way will it be a job well done. Maybe they'll reinstall the cornice on all crooked as well so it's not so obvious.



Some photos of the ensuite bathroom and marble freize. It turned out really well, probably because the tiler is a mate of Dallas's and actually does good work.

Anyway, that's it for now. A whole lot of boring things are happening as well eg gas and stormwater getting connected (whole road had to be dug up for that ha ha!). Plastering is being finished and internal painting will start soon. We (I) picked a neutral wall colour called White Shadow (Wattyl colour) which is a very pale pinky brown to compliment the tiles, carpet and timber floor. We are thinking of doing a feature wall but can't figure out a colour just yet - I'm leaning to a dark browny-red but who knows. Also thinking about doing a very big desert scene in oils (approx 6ft x 4ft) to hang on this wall as well. Framed by deep red it should look good.

Once the carpet is laid in the bedrooms and the walls are painted, the floors will be sanded and polished. Estimated date of us moving back in is early March - right when I go back to uni... good timing huh?

Winter in Graz

January invitation to paint on Wet Canvas. Not from one of my own photos unfortunately - although I would love to visit one day.

Binnalong Bay

Binnalong Bay in north eastern Tasmania. One of the prettiest beaches I have ever visited.

Surfers Paradise Skyline

Surfers Paradise (Gold Coast) with the Q1 building (worlds tallest apartment building) as seen from Coolangatta.

Two more paintings

My office has pretty much shut down over the Xmas break so I've knocked up two quick beach paintings in my spare time when not doing the Christmas thing.

This is Dallas on the beach at Broadbeach looking south towards Coolangatta from a pic taken earlier this year when we took a day trip to the Gold Coast. Done on watercolour canvas - not an experience I will undertake again. Not only is it rather expensive, but it is difficult to use and the colour lifts off way to easily making it hard to use multi layers of glazes. Finished last week.

I was inspired to drag out some old holiday snaps from our trip to Tassie last year. This is Wineglass Bay from the Hazards Lookout on the eastern coast of Tassie. A truly beautiful part of the world. Finished today.

Anyway, I'll probably do a heap more before I go back to work on Jan 2 since it is raining non-stop at the moment due to a low off the coast that will miraculously disappear as soon as my holidays are over. I was hoping to take a day trip to Moreton Island and get some more pics of the beach and wrecks for some paintings, but that is unlikely since there is no point if it is not nice and sunny. At least Xmas day was partly sunny - enough to drive to Manly and spend it eating huge prawns by the "beach".

The floor is down!

Woo Hoo! The part I have been waiting and waiting for, apart from the fitout of the kitchen and bathrooms of course. Our new rosewood floor was laid on Friday, and it looks good! The internal stairs are in as well, they were installed earlier in the week and last but not least, the deck railings went on during the week as well. Oh yeah - the wall of doors to the deck and the french door in the second bedroom were installed too. It was obviously a busy week for Michael (our builder) as he probably wants to get as much done before breaking for Xmas.

In other, less exciting news, the waterproofing for all three bathrooms has been laid - very stinky!!! and Pat our tiler will start tiling the top two bathrooms on Friday, because the floor tiles won't arrive from Sydney until Thursday. The wall tiles were delivered by yours truly yesterday, and I can tell you it is not fun unloading 15 boxes of tiles from the back of my Excell all by my little self. The poor Excell didn't think much of transporting that much weight in the back either.

Anyway, enough of the blather - lets see the pics!

Looking up from just inside the main entrance. The stairs are made of Kwila, which is a native timber from Indonesia/Malaysia. Hopefully not from illegal, rainforest logging though.

Looking down the stairs from the living area. This pic still shows the old floor of course. And yes, there will be a handrail and balustrade going in so I don't fall down the stairs in the middle of the night ha ha.

And now for the main event....

The new floor looking in from the upstairs front door, stairwell directly to the right. At the moment it is a pale pinky colour which will darken with age, and also slightly once it is sanded and polished. We are going for a satin finish instead of the usual high-gloss.

The kitchen - looking toward the back door and deck.

From the kitchen again, looking the other way towards the pantry. That wall in front is the only original interior wall still standing and the main bedroom is on the other side.

Looking toward the back, right corner of the house (where the original kitchen was). You can see the doors leading onto the deck and the doorway leads to the main bathroom and two smaller bedrooms.

Looking back towards the wall of doors (there are 5 in all). The kitchen is on the other side of that wall.

Just pics of the floor itself to show the colour and grain.

Looking in towards the front door from the deck. The room on the right is the main bedroom - you can just see the doorway near the stairs.

The deck complete with railings. Dallas chose a "lady's waist" stule of rail which is rounded on top, nipped in the middle and flat on the bottom. I wanted a flat railing so you could set your bevvy down anywhere on the deck without it spilling. We also chose a "tulip" pattern for the feature railings, which are bloody expensive at $7.00 each.

. And finally, the wall of doors from the outside. These will be left open most of the time we are home so we get the cool breezes all through the house, along with the flies and bugs. The thing is, outdoor living is pretty much essential in most places these days, so a house without an indoor/outdoor living area is pretty passe. Now if only it had an ocean view...

Anyway, thats all from the house for now. I don't expect much to be happening with it over the next few weeks due to Christmas / New Years apart from whatever they get completed over the next week eg finishing the plastering and cornices. The bathroom floors should be done by the end of the week, but I doubt the walls will be done before Pat goes on holidays. We'll see.

Reno Update - Week 3026

Well, that's what it feels like anyway ;-D

Actually, quite a bit has been done in the past few weeks since my last post. The painters got most of the job done before they had to move on to another job. Unfortunately they won't be back now until February. We got them to make sure the front and top story were pretty much done since they needed the scaffolding to do it, and it was removed last weekend. There are still some parts that need weatherboards too, so of course those bits weren't painted.

The front all painted, well except for one wall in the verandah which hasn't been competely boarded up yet. It looks so much better now all the scaffolding has been removed.

The downstairs living room and the entrance hall. All of the granny flat has finally been gyprocked and is much lighter than it was. The internal staircase will be installed next week and will lead up from a doorway just near the front wires sticking out the wall.

Upstairs looking towards the front door from the back deck. The ceiling has all been finished today. The staircase will be where the floorboards have been removed to where the left wall is. Looking forward to having it finally installed.

The main bedroom looking towards the front window and the new walk-in-robe. The ensuite is just to the right.

Saturday was spent choosing tiles, carpet for the bedrooms and interior paint colours. I decided (note the "I") that the upstairs bathrooms will have chocolate floor tiles and a dark brown marble mosaic frieze which dosn't end up being very expensive at all. The vanities Dallas has baught are all white. We also decided on a chocolate brown plush pile carpet for the bedrooms which goes quite well with most floor colours so shouldn't clash with the rosewood floors. Interior walls will be an off-white and we will pick a colour for a feature wall after the floor is laid, if we have a feature wall. I like them, but maybe they are becoming too dated? Not sure yet but the verdict is open at the moment. The downstairs bathroom will be dealt with later - we had to order the upstairs bathroom tiles in a hurry because our tiler has to start the job next Monday before he leaves for Xmas holidays.

Another last minute change that was made (my fault) is that instead of boring old bunker lights on the front verandah I suggested we have traditional coach lights. I walked past a house one evening last week and the coachlights all lit up looked so romantic and old fashioned classy I convinced Dallas we should have them instead. It meant doing a wee bit of moving around of electrical wires, but not a big job. The end effect will be much nicer I think.

At the moment we are sort of on schedule to move back in sometime in February. It won't be totally finished, but it will be about 95% done and what isn't done isn't really important anyway.

Two new paintings

The Beachwalker - Brooms Head.

This is actually my darling other half painted from one of the pics I took on our short break last summer. There was a bit of an afternoon change coming through which made a dramatic backdrop to the afternoon sun. My favourite part of this painting is the sparkles on the water which turned out surprisingly well I thought. Much better than expected anyway.

Springhouse

This is a quick painting I did this afternoon from a photo reference on WetCanvas. Every month there is an invitation to paint a scene from somewhere in the world, and this one is a springhouse (whatever that is) in Lancaster P.A. Not a scene I would normally choose to paint - way too much bright green foliage and a distinct lack of red desert sand or ocean. The point is to get outside your comfort zone, so in that regard I was successful. Not so much in regards to the actual quality of work though...

The Surfer

My latest attempt at watercolour. Done from a photo taken during my last visit to dad in Yamba NSW. I'm not happy with the ocean shallows but otherwise I don't hate it too much. Obviously lots more practice is needed though.

View from the top

Hi again, here is my second attempt at watercolour from a pic Dallas took from the top of Ayers Rock (Uluru) when we visited last year. Yes, it wasn't long before my desert photos came out ha ha. The real difficulty with this was getting the sense of the height of the rock - 318 meters high or 986 ft in the old money. Putting it simply, no way on earth would you get me up there! The pic below gives me vertigo just looking at it... and I was mad at Dallas for going so close to the edge!



I'm not entirely happy with my rendition of the Olgas in the distance - not blue enough to show how far away they are but there's nothing I can do about it now so it will have to stay like that. Anyway, all in all I had fun doing this painting - took me around 3 or 4 hours all up so very quick. I think I will go larger from now on so I can really get in details. I'll need to buy bigger brushes tho. The colours I used in this were ultramarine blue, spectrum yellow, spectrum red, yellow ochre, burnt umber and cerulean blue. All Art Spectrum paints. I have a really limited palette at the moment but yesterday I found an American website called Daniel Smith http://www.danielsmith.com/categories/paint/watercolor/ds/default.asp where I placed an order for a whole bunch of exotic sounding colours. They have natural mineral colours which look divine, and very cheap compared to Aussie prices. And with the Aussie almost the same as the $US they are a real bargain. Only drawback is that they'll take 6 - 8 weeks to arrive :( so until then I'm stuck with my current range of 9 colours which is fine because I should be able to mix anything I want from them anyway.

In other news...

Just a quick update on stuff other than the renovation from hell.

I finally had my last uni exam of the year yesterday, so I am free again. Well free until Monday when I start my summer vacation work at Rio Tinto. I'm a bit nervous about it, as one usually is when starting a new job. More so I think because I have absolutely next to 0 experience with occupational health and safety in a mining environment. Well, I suppose in reality I am working in Brisbane head office so it is not really a mining environment. But still nervous anyway. A few of my uni friends got work experience where they get to go on site - one at Burton Coal for Theiss and another at Goonyella mine for BMA Coal. I'm sort of jealous that I don't get to go anywhere, but there might be a site visit to a refinery or smelter even though it will be in my old hometown of Gladstone so yeah so exciting woo hoo.

In other other news now that I have had some free time I have started painting again, but get this I am dabbling in watercolours and not oils. Strange really because I never used to really like watercolours before but lately I have been getting pretty interested in all the lovely effects that can be achieved in watercolour that are just not possible with oil paints. There are a few other plusses to watercolour as well:

1. The paper is much cheaper than buying canvasses 2. Don't take up so much room to store 3. Can use coffee table or kitchen bench to work on so much more portable 4. No stinky turps 5. Much quicker drying time so I can finish a painting in only a few hours rather than a few weeks. 6. I love the way watercolours can be layered over the top of the previous colour much easier than you can with oil paints.

The one downside I can think of so far is that they are so much more expensive to buy than oil paints, but this is countered by the fact that you use so much less paint. So in the long run they are probably a lot more economical.

Anyway, here is my first attempt at watercolour. It is a picture taken in France from the WetCanvas website where they invite everyone to paint a scene. Very different from my usual subject matter - no bright sunshine or desert in sight. I enjoyed it heaps even though it was a challenge.



The colours are a bit duller in the photo than they are in real life. Also, I only have a limited palette at the moment. Now that I will be working in the city every day I can spend all my hard earned at Eckersleys and pick up more supplies as I need them. I'm using some of my new oil brushes that have not been used yet but obviously need to buy proper watercolour brushes and a whole lot of other "necessities" ;-D

The Roof is Finally Finished!!!

Well I know it has been a loooonnnnnngggg time between posts, but over the last 2 - 3weeks nothing much has happened because it has been raining, raining and raining. In fact, as soon as parts of the old roof were peeled back so the carpenters could replace the trims and soffits, it started raining on and off - mostly in the mornings so the roofers didn't bother turning up. It is still raining now as I type and is forecast to keep raining all week (not that I care now the roof is on).

Anyway, because of the intermittent rain the roofers took 2 1/2 weeks to do a job that should have been done in 3 days. The granny flat flooded I don't know how many times and we had water pouring down the inside walls into the garage and granny flat. The roof was finally finished in the two fine days we had last week so it is finally all waterproof YAY! Even the deck roof is on!

It looks good too. The only worry is that right under the gables at the front of the house there is no barrier to stop Frank the Possum and his mates moving back in once the ceiling is sheeted so Dallas is thinking he will have to put some bird wire or something in to stop trespassers.

Another "small" issue that we have is that our large 10,000lt rain tank can only collect the run-off from the back portion of the roof + the deck. The whole front and kitchen side has to run off to the front of the house and get wasted. Our plumber specified that the gutters were to slope to the back corner of the house so most of the run off would collect at the back but apparently they weren't able to do that for some reason. Now it looks like the tank won't ever fill from our average rainfall measurements so we will probably still need to mainly rely on town water. Still, at least we have the capacity in case it does rain unusually heavily, but I just hate that so much run off will end up in the stormwater and not be used.

Pics of the old roof being removed. It stayed like this for two weeks while the roofers started on the back of the house so the builder could build the deck frame.

This pic shows where possums can get in to the roof space. Where the slopey roof meets the gutter above it there are big gaps under the eaves that need to be blocked up securely. Once possums get in it is a pain to get them out again and they are damn noisy during breeding season!



Anyway, I'm just glad that bit is over because now the builders can start gyprocking and putting walls up. It is still pretty hard to tell what the house will look like inside with just the studwork. The whole past few weeks has been mega stressful, especially when Dallas had to climb onto the roof and put tarps over what he could cover to keep as much dry as possible.

Reno update - week 8 (I think)

The house is coming along nicely. Roof is off where the new kitchen, WIR and ensuite will go and hopefully these will be done this week and a new roof put on as it has been raining a bit. The back of the house has been taken out and the beams put it for the folding doors. So much nicer to walk right in off the deck instead of climbing through the old doorway which is mostly over a 13ft drop onto concrete! The scaffolding is all installed as well, so hopefully the new windows and boards will be done soon. At least most of the attractive aluminium sheeting has been taken away!

Front of the house showing new construction - the WIR will be at the front then the ensuite and the kitchen at the back.

The data cable and electrical cabling installed downstairs. The hub/patch panel or whatever it is will be situated under the internal stairs.

The left half of the doorway onto the deck - basically it will be a 5.2 metre wide wall of glass doors.

The right side also showing what will be the kitchen. There will be a seperate door from the kitchen onto the deck. We can see right into the neighbour's kitchen now ha ha, so no privacy for them anymore!

Looking out onto the back yard from the lounge room. Obviously the water tank won't be staying there. It was intended that the beams were to be steel, which would be much thinner but for some reason the builder ordered timber. Not sure yet how the centre beam will look once the ceiling is sheeted up but it dosn't look too bad. We are a little worried that it will hang too low and ruin the effect of the 12ft ceilings.

Looking out to the back yard from the kitchen. It seems quite narrow as the width of the doorway is how wide it will be between the counters. It looked so much wider on the plan.

Our growing pile of rubbish! There have been two full skips taken away so far and this is what is left. No doubt it will get even bigger.

Looking into the kitchen from the back deck. Nothing too exciting to see yet but stay tuned for when the kitchen gets installed - it will be a chef's dream!