It only took 3 years!

For the last 3 years, this is what our fence has looked like. A very sad state of affairs! Please excuse the very neglected backyard. As we finally, finally have a shiny, new fence, we can start the backyard landscaping...when we've recovered from the bathroom reno that is!

And here she is...

The best bit about this improvement was that we didn't have to do it! The colour is Deep Ocean and I like that it seems to change colours throughout the day. We went for a darker colour so it fades into the background a bit more where there is greenery.

So, onwards and upwards with the backyard landscaping! It will be a slow and steady process but at least we have a plan in mind already!

Happy 3rd House Anniversary

As seems to be the tradition, this post is well and truly late! It should have been done in August, much like my taxes which are still on the to do list, ick.

Anyway, the list as it stood August last year...with updates in blue

• New fence - Finally happening next week!
• Painted lounge room + kitchen - Done
• Paint the rest of the doors - Ha! Maybe one day! I'll let you know on the 4th anniversary!
• Floorboards sand and polish - Chose to carpet rooms but main living/dining/hall still need attention. Glad we haven't done this yet as there would have been a lot of damage with all the bathroom renos.
• Finish the spa area - in progress again. The spa is in and usable, just not pretty. No further progress, it'll happen when the deck does.
• Bathroom/laundry reno  Waiting on the replacement bath to arrive but totally get to cross this off!
• Deck out the front - Changed to paving and is DONE!
• Vegie garden - Done
• Chook shed - Done

• Re-hang pictures that have been down since painting (in January) - Done
• Get old wardrobe doors back on or buy and hang new ones (they have been off since February) - Done

So, what is on the agenda for the next year?

• Finish two garden beds in the front yard
• Finish painting toilet
• Stain and varnish French doors on the back of the house
• Deck on the back of the house
• Build two more veggie garden beds
• General maintenance of things we've already done like cleaning and sealing pavers, weeding etc

The deck is the big one and not really likely to happen any time soon as funding will need to come from my return to work and I would rather the extra time off than a deck!

What's on your to-do-list?

More holidays

We've been out and about the last couple of weeks. It hasn't done wonders for J's sleep (don't think he's a fan of the portacot) but it has been good for us!

So, where have we been?

Supporting A doing Tough Mudder in Sydney.  A long day for spectators but certainly an eye opener!

Visiting the beach for the very first time

and taking lots of walks in the pram. This one is on a visit to Nana and Pop.

J is 16 weeks today! He's a total cutie, but I am a little bit biased! He's just started rolling back to front and has front to back so worked out it's difficult to get him to do tummy time as he just flips himself over! Cheeky monkey!

Other than that, I went down to my parents place for a week while A was still at work and came home to a tidy and rearranged house with no remaining reno tools inside. What an awesome husband I have. We still don't have a bath. We are getting a new fence. I need to take a picture of what is there at the moment so you can see just how much we need this to happen!

I want to do a house post but we'll see how J sleeps this afternoon to see if it is going to happen!

Hope you are well!

Wall tiles

Again a post in photos as Jesse is in one arm!

First of the wall tiles, a momentous occasion!

End of day 1

Feature tile in!

End of day 2

Vanity hung, end of day 3 - yes, this took most of the day, it's best not to ask!

A put in the bottom row of tiles last night after cutting them all to fit their specific spot and the fall of the floor so we can finally get someone in to measure and make the shower screen! What a milestone! Still lots to go and we are closing in on 3 months without a bathroom. It's getting a bit old to be honest but we are happy with how it's looking and excited that it's almost painting and grouting time!

Bathroom progress in pictures

Jesse is asleep in one arm and it's darn hard to type with one hand so here is our bathroom progress in pictures...

Where we were up to last bathroom post back at the start of June

Walls sheeted

More walls sheeted

Sheets jointed

    

   

Underfloor heating installed - did this with my sister the day before Jesse was born!

Screes to create fall to drain laid

Dry lay of floor tiles - the green stuff is waterproofing

Laying the tiles

Floor tiles complete!

They should be dry today so we, well A, can start planning the wall tiles!

Laundry progress

The bathroom reno continues. I've stopped counting the days. It's been a long time. However, we now have a functional laundry that only needs a tidy and a coat of paint on the door frame!

Here is our progress in pictures...

Short of the plumbing and electrics we've done the whole thing ourselves and are really happy with how functional it is. It's such a better use of space to stand in the hallway than to have a dedicated room with standing space that only serves one purpose.

As you can see there is still a lot of reno junk on the floor. The bathroom is still in progress but shouldn't be much longer as the floor tiles were laid yesterday.

Can't believe we might be finished soon!

Day 24

Another big weekend of work and we finally have some walls. I can't tell you how good it feels to have bathroom walls. It's visible progress compared to the plumbing and electrics of last week, most of which we couldn't see!

We also have the computer back this week so here are a few catch up photos...

Chicken checking out our progress before we filled in the doorway.

What the cat does while we work our butts off.

Measure three times, cut once. We've learnt this the hard way in the past.

New laundry space - found another little hole in the floor!

Adding insulation in the walls, how novel! It'll end up being the warmest room in the house!

The first wall is up! Woo hoo!

Still lots to go. Still no baby. A thinks this is very considerate given how much we have to do, I am less convinced of this by the day. I hate waiting at the best of times so it's driving me a little crazy!

Day 19

Phew. The weather was kind. It stayed sunny even if it was beanie and glove weather in the mornings.

As you saw in the last post A pulled out the window and door. He then bricked up the bottom half of the door, installed the new window and this morning we got the shaving cabinet in. I think we need to make a couple of adjustments to it though as it was done in a hurry to get out of the electricians way and is just a smige off level.

We also, finally, got to pick up our bath and shower heads! Took 4 weeks longer than expected to get them but as the shop were good about swapping a couple of things and refunding the difference I'm not going to hold the delays against them!

I think A is a bit disappointed the brickwork doesn't look 'prettier' but as we were on a tight schedule and using recycled bricks an plan on rendering at some point anyway I'm not too concerned. So long as it is sturdy, I am happy!

Here are some snaps of the process...sorry they are totally out of order as I still haven't worked out how to use blogger properly on the ipad!

Day 17 - am

The sun is shining. The door and window are gone. Please hold weather, please hold!

Day 15

Taking a leaf out of The Block's book. We have a day count on our bathroom wall. We are at 15. If we get to 50 (what the block was at last night) I think I'll cry!

So far we've filled the hole with new concrete, removed and replaced one of the windows, built the stud wall to seperate the new laundry space from the bathroom and measured and planned where everything is going.

We've got another big weekend ahead to get ready for the electrician on Monday and plumber on Tuesday.

Really hope the weather improves as I'm typing this I'm trying to decide if I can see little rain drops being blown about in the wind or if they are little snowflakes that are melting just before they hit the ground! Brrr. Doesn't bode well for creating a whopping big hole in the back of your house! Even if you do plan on filling it up in the same day!

Concrete Day

Yesterday we pulled down what remained of wall between the bathroom and laundry and put in the formwork for the concrete we need to fill the gap under the old bath. A had a ball bashing the wall down. I think it will be his favourite part of the whole process!

Today is concrete day! And hopefully stud wall day too.

A is working flat out. I am chief gofer, measurer and general stay-out-of-the-way-of-the-dusty-and-noisy-jobs girl. At 38 weeks now, I'm not much good for anything else! Apart from maybe providing food!

So far we haven't had any more nasty suprises so all is going pretty well!

Here are some pics of how we are puttng in the missing bit of slab.

Hope you are having a good weekend!

Bathroom Suprise No. 1

I don't know if you can make it out in this photo but there is a great big gaping hole under our bath and shower base. They totally just didn't continue the concrete slab there. There is slab either side, just not in that section. A little bit of an issue given this will be where we want to stand to use the basin and part of our new shower floor!

So, job number 1 becomes removal of shower base, some formwork and making a new section of slab to fill the gap.

Got to love the unexpected extras you come across!

Our 5 star bathroom

Named so as if we are brave or stupid enough to shower at night, we would be able to see the stars!

The asbestos is gone. We did not DIY this part of the job. We were told we could but as a percentage of the total budget it wasn't expensive so better to be safe than sorry were my thoughts!

Technically I could still have a bath tonight!