Showing posts with label Renovations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Renovations. Show all posts

30 December 2019

Garage Project - Evolution

Just for my records -
here are some BEFORE and AFTER photos of the Garage Project.

MAY 2018

Every Aussie Home needs a Lemon Tree in the Backyard

This one was planted Circa 1990 and was riddled with Gall Wasps.

Before
SEPTEMBER 2018

Fascinating for the Visiting Entomologist - Not Good for the Tree
So it had to Go.

At the same time the Bungalow has the foundations replaced.

After
MARCH 2019

Everything gets a coat of paint.

The Lemon Tree is replaced with Potted Lemons, Limes and a Peach.
Pollinator Annuals flourish in the Early Autumn

JUNE 2019

The Garage was completely gutted.

Contents stored on the back verandah for what was supposed to be a week - six at the most while the concrete floor was sealed.

DECEMBER 2019
We did not set out to do this 18 months ago when we decided to pull out the Lemon Tree.

It just kind of EVOLVED

Just a few things left to do, but that is for DH to potter with.

I am delighted with the transformation
We have truly made a "Silk Purse from a Sow's Ear."

NOW can I get back to my Quilting?





Garage Project - The Next Step

...Putting Our Garage back together again and fitting everything into it!


It has been almost 7 months since we removed the old Plywood lining so the floor repair could have clear walls to work to.

It is now time to replace it.





After a fair amount of research we chose 6 mm MDF panels to do the job.



Time to get ALL the Toys out.

Honestly, our yard looked like an advertisement for Ryobi !



DS#2 was able to help now he is on holiday,  and the extra height was appreciated.

(He also was hoping to have it finished for Christmas - so we could empty the deck and maybe find the BBQ!)



Once everything was up (and to their satisfaction) it was my job to paint it!
And the colour?
Mix together 2 tins of Bunnings mis-tints, throw in some extra White that you have laying about and Voilá the perfect shade of Pot-Luck!

New Shelving, and the move back begins!

Time to stop procrastinating and start THROWING stuff out.

A lot of the clutter in our Garage was either there when we moved in or imposed on us by others.

But there is ONE thing that I just won't part with - My Grandmother's Airing Cupboard.

Every time I open it I am transported to her outdoor Laundry room watching my Grandfather tinkering with his mowers on the lawn outside.

I am delighted with the Result.

An unexpected bonus - No longer Cold and Damp, it is so comfortable in there we are considering other ways of using the space.

That is, when Bessie isn't needing it of course!


* * * * *




Just for my Records - Some "Before and After" Photos are in the next post.




29 December 2019

Garage Floor - The Final Chapter

I have recently realised that I have not put in an update on out "Garage Floor Project". I left the story on July 13 stating that the Tradesmen "would be back on Monday"

Many Mondays came and went by without a trace of a Tradie. - When they did turn up, they sealed and sanded back once again and left a "sample section" where these White patches are -

And now we wait. . . . . . and wait. . . .

And the bubbles came back.

And when we got tired of waiting - we called in on them at their Office, walking in on a Colleague who suggested a different product.

"It's expensive - and it has to come from Queensland"

Their reply.... "I don't care - There is some 'Serious *bleep*' going on here - 
and We have to fix this!"

OK - so now we wait once more for Stuff to be sourced and sent down from Qld.


And here we are - AGAIN, having the concrete sanded back and undercoated.

I am sure the neighbours must be wondering what the (insert descriptive term here) is going on!


And Once again there was an issue - the original problem has resurfaced. This time it is not so difficult to rectify.

It looks like we MIGHT be winning the battle!




With the few issues in the undercoat "Spot treated" 
- it was now time to apply 
THE Product.

Honestly, These Guys have been doing some very serious Penance!

No painting on with a roller this time.
This time it had to be trowelled on!

Another week to cure. . .

And on one of the hottest days this year, with a mean North wind blowing right into the garage -
They sent someone to put the final coat on.

I tried to send him home but ended up plying him with glasses of ice water instead.

For Two Full weeks, we put this new Product through our 
'Ultimate Test'

when we pulled the Carpet back. . .

It was DRY
And there were NO bubbles.


Six months after we started - We called it DONE!
* * * * *

  
On a footnote to this whole saga. The company we dealt with had to fit us in around other jobs, but never gave up on us. The product they eventually tried was New to Them, so we became their Test Case and they are now using it on another Job in the new year.
When they said all those months ago that they had 'Never met a floor they couldn't fix' they can now say "no seriously - we had this garage floor and........"








1 November 2019

Not a Gardenia

I thought it was a million years ago but in actual fact it has only been just over 12 months since this major Backyard renovation started.

Today I went delving into my archived progress photos looking for a Before Shot of the Path between our Garage and House, (finally finding one that was actually taken of the Neighbours Cat.)

All the plants here unfortunately, had to go - including my Gardenias.

I will miss the shade of the Maple but not cleaning the leaves out of the Gutters or slipping on them on the path, and the fact it got burnt every time the Sun shone.

The Tree roots were also in the Storm Water pipes which had to be replaced along with guttering and some rotted boards on the Garage wall.

(This photo was taken exactly 12 months ago.)

I had raised the Gardenias from Tube Stock and they were a beautiful fragrant "Hedge" at the start of the Path.

So, we decided it was worth the attempt to Save them.  We lifted them and placed any that came up roots attached into Pots.

I planted annuals in the spot and they looked great for DS#2s Engagement Party.

And the pots with my precious Gardenias sheltered under the trees over winter.

All but one Survived.

But....
Flowering happily under the Trees
That is NOT a Gardenia

It is much more Precious -

My long lost 'thought it was dead' Vireya!

I remember it came out in its root ball and just got dumped into that Strawberry Pot - no special attention at all.

Now all I have to do is work out what I did right and not kill it with kindness!!!!




30 October 2019

Where has October Gone?

Well, like every other month it started with the 1st and kept Trucking from there!

And on the First day of October our Fencing Contractor finally showed up to install our new fence.

We went with Colorbond Steel this time instead of the  'Replace in 10 years Treated pine' and were happy to let the neighbour choose the colour to match her new paintwork.

I must admit it was worth the wait to get a craftsman who took real pride in his work and was happy to fix a couple of extra bits that weren't really his problem to solve.

But we wondered what we should do with the Plinth board.
Leave it?   Paint it?   Or.....

Remember when Slate Floors were all the rage?
Well, this pile of Slate has been taking up space around our place since my DB couldn't throw it out 3 house moves ago!

What if we used that to face the bottom of the fence?

Hmmm - not bad.
 
A pile of someone else's Stuff is now MUCH smaller and we have a pretty good lookin' fence.

(I just love the way DH manages to look like he does ALL the work - but in fact it is teamwork).


Now it is finally time to deal with THIS.

The Bricks led up to the Bungalow, and behind was a jumble of things stored "Out of Sight, Out of Mind".

The path was partially demolished when the Bungalow was re-stumped and the rest got in the way of a Tree Removal a few months ago.

I do have a recollection that I said I would not ever lay another brick Path again....

Obviously I was not listening!


I kept going until I ran out of Bricks..



This time DH got into the Act.

At 400 mm square these Pavers were too big and heavy for me to work with.

And then -

We Built a shed on top of them. 
It was a bit "Squishy" but we got it in there.

FYI - the sliding door opens to the passage Behind the Bungalow.

Then there are the Wheelie Bins, The Light Green is Garden and now Kitchen waste.
We also have Two of our own - The Purple and Dark Green acquired during the last drought for collecting Rain water and Grey Water from the Washing Machine.

We discovered that the pump from the purple bin still worked so have linked it up to the roof of the Shed and will collect any rain water that comes off it to be used on the Garden.


That part of the Yard is now tidy and has a purpose. (I will continue the path to the shed, when I have more bricks but for now a temporary 'deck' will suffice.)
Also Three of our Five Bins have been given a new more practical home.

Tomorrow I will show you what we did for the Rest of the Month!



15 July 2019

The Saga of the Fence

While we have been waiting for the paint to dry - or not dry in the Garage, we took the opportunity to get some outside work done.

The fence was taken down in sections - Initially to give access to the Arborists to remove the big tree next door.

And then the rest of it went (to save removal fees) in preparation for the new Fence to be installed.

While we had the opportunity we decided it was a good time to say Goodbye to the Old Japanese Maples -

So with heavy heart and a new Chainsaw we began the task of removing these trees.


They really were quite sick and damaged.

And some large branches, which had been concealed by foliage, were quite dead.


It was certainly no easy task to remove the Stumps, especially when they were planted so close to the fence and the neighbours shed and pergola.
(The neighbour has also concreted to the fence-line.)


We dug and chopped and sawed and hacked and even set it on fire!
(This was very safe and never unattended!)

But still it hung on.


We even enlisted help!

Uncovering and sawing through root after root.

But still it hung on....

Until finally,
with a shout of triumph -

It was out!

No Tap-root.  Just held in the ground by years of compacted DIRT!

And the Fence?

Well - it is a month later and the Fencing contractor is still a NO- Show.

We have been waiting so long we have even weeded and pruned the neighbours yard.

I am trying to be patient but I REALLY need to get my new Trees and Garden planted before Spring.

The local Birds are NOT impressed that all their perches are gone.

I will have to ring him and find out if he is still coming!!!!!






13 July 2019

Garage Floor Update


Where do I start?


The Garage is empty,
the lining ply has been removed
and it is is ready for its makeover.

The Tradesmen came full of enthusiasm and sanded the floor.

They then coated it with the special paint that is designed to push the water back into the soil under the concrete.

Leave this to dry and return a couple of days later to put the second coat on.

The final Third coat went on a day or two later, and when they finished we were told "Walk on it in 4 hours and you can put your car back in a week."

And that was it - Job done.........

4 hours later the floor was still wet.
24 hours later, the floor was 'stick your finger in a paint-pot' wet
48 hours later I sent them a message.


The Young workers learnt THREE vital lessons that day

1.  If in doubt - Ring the Boss
2.  Don't use a Water based Catalyst when you should use a Thinners base.
3.  You Muck it up - You fix it!

He worked alone in the freezing cold washing and mopping and scraping until he finally gave up and went home.

The next day a new team arrived and the decision was made to sand it back to bare concrete and start again!

This time everything went as it should.  

I understood that we were being slotted in around other jobs - more drying time between coats.
And the mouldy corner from my previous post? 
What a difference!

4 Hours later we could walk on it 
and when we did.....

We discovered these....
Blisters!

Another email with photo attached resulted in an immediate reply.
It's ok - we can fix that easy!


Famous last words!
Easy it was not.

These Blisters were not in the top finishing coat - They went down all the way into the concrete.

Two days later they were back to sand, fill, patch, coat, re-sand and reapply another top coat.

Yay - We are Finished!

No - we are not.....

When we met them at the Home Show, They said they hadn't met a floor they couldn't fix.

My reply all those weeks ago?
Challenge accepted!


They will be back on Monday.
* * *






Footnote:
I must emphasise that throughout this entire process -  I have not had to wait more than a couple of hours to get a reply to my messages. The Team members who have worked on the project have always been Courteous and Polite.   They have admitted when they have made mistakes and rectified them as soon as possible.  And are committed to finishing the job to the standard they promised.