Relining the hallway

The hallway has always been a freezing area of our home. The painted board seemed really thin and there was obviously no insulation. Here is Karl starting at the top bit looking at what looked like an alarm or something - turns out it was just wire (No.8) and an electrical wire attached to nothing!??? Mysterious!

Glen taking off the skirting board very carefully - it is native Kauri and we dont' want it damaged! :)

So the first bit of board is off and we can see the skeleton of the house behind. As you can see now we know now why we were so cold - there was nothing basically between us and the exterior weather boards!

I love it when a small bit of the past emerges - here is some old wallpaper that has been stuck to scrim. I wonder when this was up and who was living in the home then!

Garden Shed - Storage Organisation

The house seemed so big 12 years ago. It is amazing how one amasses stuff which then needs storing. To top it off we end up not finding the tool or item needed for jobs and having to buy another one - which of course is a waste of hard earned do-ray-me....

Today we purchased 3 storage units (3 x $80) for the garden shed. Glen is putting them together as I type this (having finished my Danish Oiling bathroom project):

There are a lot of f..... words coming from the shed I have to say...!  Let's see the progress so far!  He had just discovered the floor isn't level - and a string of profanities came forth from his lovely mouth.  I had to say "cheese" to get a pleasant look on his face.......!!!! :)  The storage (and Glen of course ) is looking good so far though!! :)

Future Projects:
(a)  To install pegboarding or wire (which is lighter) on the inside of the door of both the garden shed and understair cupboard to hang small items like screwdrivers etc - old style organisation which makes a lot of sense.

(b)  To have LABELLED buckets with like things in them ie one for paint brushes; another for nails; another for screws on the shelves...

Bathroom - Wood Restoration

You need to zoom in to see the tiny bay trees!!  The larger ones at the garden shhop were too tall and spindly and we want to promote good bushy trees to make a hedge - so have to wait!! :)

Every year or so, the wooden wainscotting on the walls of the bathroom will need restoring.  They are, like the paintman says in Bunnings like a plant and will tell you when they need a bit of TLC - ie an oil as the wood will look dry (oil) and a plant wilts when it needs water.

Today I coated the wainscotting with Danish Oil (500 ml @ $32). I learnt that if you just paint it on and leave it - the result is a high sheen vanish look making the wood look like plastic!  Not the look that is wanted. Painting it on - waiting 10 minutes for it to soak into the wood then rubbing it in with an old cotton T-Towel.  Rubbing it in ensures that the Danish Oil is evenly coating the wood and also that the wood has a "protective natural sheen".  I used half a can for the whole room.  I will recoat it tomorrow to make sure it is completely waterproof.  http://danish-oil.com/how-to-apply-danish-oil/



It is a stinking hot summer's day - one that should have been spent at the beach.  Note to self to schedule this job for the winter months.......

You need to zoom in to see the tiny bay trees!!  The larger ones at the garden shhop were too tall and spindly and we want to promote good bushy trees to make a hedge - so have to wait!! :)

The Roof - The Hip Roof Replacement

The Hip Roof Replacement

The hip roof is the last part of the roof to be replaced.  We have had a roof painter in who says because it is so high up and possibly so old it is cheaper to replace the whole roof rather than paint and repair it.  I think we should ring another painter to get a second opinion on this....

However, we called Shamrock Roofing again to get a cost of the replacement of the roof.  We intend to paint the top half the house whilst the scaffolding is up for the roofers and avoid the cost of putting up scaffolding twice.

Geoff from Shamrock Roofing phoned to confirm that he was coming tomorrow (15th January) to start the job and asked about the chimney.  He advised that we would need to contact the Auckland City Council before doing anything regarding fixing/removing the chimney.

Therefore phoned the Council.  The chimney has lime mortar (sand and what looks like shells but is the lime part of the composite) which is quite dry looking.

Because the house is pre-1900 we have to get a permit to do anything to the chimney.  There are options open to us eg heritage houses in Wellington have made a copy of the roof in plywood.  This is to preserve the look and illustrate historical usage of the house.  

The advantage of not having the chimney is that it would open up the master bedroom and allow for a wardrobe to be installed.  

We will be working with Brian Pooley (021 2449123) who will give us advice about how to progress.  The house was almost put on the scheduled category last time they had the historical scheduling meetings - we missed out by 2 points.  We may be put on the list in the near future and will be able to access funds to assist with restoring/preserving the house. The council have copy of the profile of our house on their files.  The Local Board has access to discretionary funds for heritage buildings which we may be able to apply for.

Therefore Shamrock Roofing has been phoned and we have delayed the job until April school break - so that we can get the resource consent needed from Auckland Council.

Right-of-Way Side Garden

We went to Roger's Garden Centre yesterday and got the 30 bay trees; 3 hydrangeas to complete the low hedge that we are putting at the side of the house.  Thanks Mum and Dad - your $150 Christmas money has been put to good use! :) They only had little wee ones  in stock yesterday  (you will need to zoom in to see them on the photo!) but they grow reasonably fast and I can prune them to make them bushier.   The nice sales lady said as we dig the holes for the plants to drop in a teaspoon of fertiliser and some water then plant the plant to hurry things along a bit....

We will grow the hedge as high as the verandah or 3 weather boards up -  around 3 foot high - and it will hide the pipes and under house area.   It will also be a barrier for the weed eater man that the owner of the driveway gets in - he sprays lawn clippings up the side of our house every time.  We have planted all but two or three of them as we need to get Les in to fix the side of the house and the under-verandah-door before doing so.  It will mirror/match the neighbour's bay tree hedge eventually - 3rd photo shows the trees when they get older - we would keep them about the height of theirs at the moment.

You need to zoom in to see the tiny bay trees!!  The larger ones at the garden shop were too tall and spindly and we want to promote good bushy trees to make a hedge - so have to wait!! :)

The hydrangeas at the brown end of the house were transported from the front garden where they didn't do very well at all.   They mostly all 'took' to their new home - so we just had to replace three of them that didn't survive the transplant!  So the back of the side of the house will have a hydrangea hedge and the front is bay tree hedge! 

You need to zoom in to see the tiny bay trees!!  The larger ones at the garden shhop were too tall and spindly and we want to promote good bushy trees to make a hedge - so have to wait!! :)

  

  

  

We also got 4 star jasmine to fill in the gaps in the front garden as we didn't get enough.  Glen had run out of puff by the time he got to this area of planting - there are a lot of roots that need to be dug out before the star jasmin can be planted!  So they will be put in today!  I will grow this as a hedge too and have it the height of the verandah.  it will hide the ugly wall on the right hand side too.

  

Next door neighbour's that we are mirroring for consistency