Monday, October 22, 2012

Day 50 - halfway

Eek! It doesn't feel like half way. I know a lot has been done, and certainly the budget has been hit pretty hard, but there is still so far to go.

Today we decided on the kitchen/ yay! Tomorrow we start to bring it home. I can't wait. Some more blinds went up today with the help of the junior foremen. No need for the makeshift blanket blind anymore.

Tonight a storm is brewing and I can't help but feel apprehensive. The first time you face natures fury in a new house is always a bit scary. Lets hope there are no nasty surprises.

Day 49-shower screen shopping

We went looking at shower screens etc again today. I feel like my whole life I spend in bathroom/ kitchen shops. We were at Builders Discount Warehouse today. Very large range but I wasn't blown away by their "discount". Far cheaper online and other outlet places. It looks like we will definitely need a custom shower screen. Need to get some quotes but custom is always more expensive. :( The budget is quickly disappearing. Almost $8500 going to tradies this week! At least Indi is still enjoying herself.

Reno tip for today- make sure you do your research online and don't assume that a discount outlet will be the cheapest. I found under bench sinks for $250 whereas they were $500 at the discount outlet.

Day 48- birthday breaks

Renovating had a bit of a break today while we celebrated a family birthday. I love a good party and it was such a lovely day for it.

The rest of the day we picked up the last of the new appliances for the house including our new tv. We have still had my 13yr old tube tv and have been reluctant to upgrade simply because it isn't broken. This time though we decided to and I am still trying to get used to the picture! I'm so not a fan yet. We had to get an ariel man to come out and replace the ariel and all the cables. We should have got him to hook up all the extra things too. Hubby spent best part of a day and its still not working.

Reno tip for today- when buying a house make sure you check that everything works. Hot water, tv ariel, fans,lights,hardware on the windows etc. all these things are not that expensive to fix( except for the hot water) but they all add up and blow out your budget. For example- the window locks on our windows need to be repaired or replaced. They are only $15 each but we have 20 windows. That's another $300 out of the budget!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Day 47- laminate flooring

I just realised I posted the last two without Reno tips. Don't move with small children and don't do it twice in two months!

Grandad and I laid timber laminate flooring I the playroom today. You must have an underlay which was a bit like the foam they wrap around new TV's etc I their packaging. There is a glue less sealer you can get for in between the boards to help guard again water damage- highly recommended. There is also an installation kit- essential if you ask me! It's pretty easy although a bit diddly. You start in the left hand corner and basically wiggle and click bits together a bit like you do with cheap jigsaw puzzles. When you get to the end of a row and have to cut a piece to fit you use the other bit to start the next row.

Could not be easier!

Day 46- back to work

Hubby went back to work today. Not just renovating work but real work. After not being a chef for the last 6 years, he went back today. That meant grandad and I played box Tetris and box lucky dip to find everything we needed. We hubby got home he was right onto fixing the panes of glass to the gaping holes in the kitchen. Up a ladder in the dark with a big bit of glass- work place health and safety nightmare! Thankfully they are all in ok.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Day 43-45 floors,moving and mayhem

Moving is always a stressful time. I personality hate it. Not only because of the time it takes to sort,pack and unpack but also because it makes me confront the fact that we have way more than we need. Being a teacher and a crafter I do like to collect things like fabric, teaching resources etc. the crafter in me thinks that I can use just about anything so it gets saved for future crafting. Disorganisation central!

We have been a little held up with illness and moving. We moved in with no shower screen, no kitchen, skirting boards not painted but we will manage.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Day 42 - almost broken

Today almost broke me. I got a bit of a sleep in and thought it was going to he a great day, first mistake. The plan was to pick up all the lights and get a quote and pick up kitchen cabinets from Ikea. This was not the actuality. You know when you are driving along and the kids are cranky and you think, I could turn this car around right now. Well when I felt that at the Boondall entertainment centre exit- I should have.

The next omen- go via tag didn't go off.

The third omen- light shop closed. ( at this point I'm thinking- ok should have checked- my fault- never mind)

Fourth omen- cars lined up to get into car park at Ikea. I still persist. Find an awesome park and think all is right. With the world again. Did I mention I had to wake up both children to get out!

Play centre full so I soldier on, along with the population of the south east corner of Queensland, and make it to the kitchen section. They now have a Medicare style machine to get a ticket for help. Ticket in hand my two well behaved kids and I get to planning to kitchen. Kitchen planned, hit print, number called. The world has aligned and then I hear it. " I really need to do wees." No chance of holding on I pass my ticket to the lady, place both kids in the trolley and like a salmon in mating season swim upstream through the population of greater Brisbane dodging the bears scowling at me for going in the wrong direction. Toilet stop complete we waited in the food line for another half an hour and had a delicious lunch.

My energy renewed, and toddler in the play centre, I grab my ticket and get planning again. I did get my quote just as the time in play land ran out. Now to get out of ikea with a baby who has developed a temperature and a toddler wanting to push their own little trolley. Fast forward through an hour and a half, an ankle tap from a trolley, abandoning the trolley to avoid the purchase line only to wait 15mins in the line for an ice cream bribe for good behaviour. I swore I wouldn't resort to caffeine- I cracked right there in the soft serve line. It did little for my approaching migraine.

Travelled most if the way home at 80km/hr for no apparent reason and go via tag worked! Pulled into the driveway only to realise I'd forgotten to get money for tradies. Off to the ATM and back again. Pull into the driveway- hubby rings. He gas forgotten floor estapol. Two really cranky kids and I got to bunnings and get all essential tools. Drive it over. Dumb on footpath. Beep horn. Drive home.

Showered, kids fed and waiting for the boys to return. Sorry to rant but today was definitely a day I want to forget. You know it must be bad if you get out of ikea without buying anything. I am so ready to curl up in bed. Shame the girls are both sick. A long night ahead I fear.

Oh - first coat should be on the floors.

Reno tip for today- don't go to ikea on Sundays. Period.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Day 41- carpet be gone

All the carpet is up.

More kitchen shopping for me today- thankfully masters had another cool trolley for the kids to try as I chatted with the lady. Excellent customer service again. Well done masters!

Hubby has been ripping up the floors and sanding today.

Reno tip for today- if you are sanding floors for the first time make sure you punch the nails in and putty over the holes with a matching putty before you sand the floors with a drum sander.

Day 40- goofing off!

I went to look at kitchens today. We lived in Beijing for a while and this reminded me so much of being there! Nothing like a good smoke filled tiny falling down office in a warehouse to get you a good deal.

Under the Lino tiles in the kitchen was a tar like substance that was proving quite stubborn to remove. Thankfully there was Goof off. Nothing like getting your dad to handle the toxic chemicals. The guy at bunnings assured me it even smelled nice. I think he'd been doing a bit too much goofing off if you ask me.

Hubby painted his first(and I think his last) ceiling today. I didn't realise he hasn't painted one before. I assured him it was better than cutting in the walls. I of course lied. He asked me about 2 mins in why would I think it was better- what isn't good about doing the limbo permanently for 1hr or so.

Paint is done!

Today's Reno tip- get out of painting the ceilings by conning someone into it who has never painted one!

Day 39 - concreting in the rain

Now I know concrete can set underwater but it didn't need to rain for the first time in 90 days the day we were pouring concrete slabs for the air conditioners! Thanks to the help of all the tradies and my dad we ended the day with the kitchen walls rebuilt, the bathroom downstairs with new walls, concrete slabs for the aircons and done painting.

I know the muchy crunchers had been upstairs but I think that must have been their holiday home- their crunchy commune was definitely in the bathroom downstairs.

Today's Reno tip- if you are getting air conditioning fitted remember that it will cost about another $800 to install, more if you are on the second level and you must have a large area to place them. You can buy large pavers or pour a small concrete slab.

Day 38 - ikea again

Those of you who follow Facebook will know that I arrived at ikea before it opened today. I always forget the open at 10am but never fear- spotlight is here! Indi and I got our fabric fix and some yarn for the baby blankets before fitting the hordes of people lined up to get into ikea. I know their breakfast is cheap but the line up was crazy. Today's task was wardrobes. After nearly 4hrs,multiple phone calls and a quick feed for miss I in the aisle of the self help area I realised we couldn't fit the doors in the car anyway! Decided to get the man to come and quote on Tuesday.

Today's Reno tip- make sure you take into account the size of objects before you attempt to pick them up from the shop. All the best customer service helpers still can't get a square peg in a round hole!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Day 37 - window shopping

With 7 days to go until we move in upstairs it was essential to get s hurry along so today was hire a Tradey for a day. That's right ( it would have been nice to win the money for one) we had some paid help today. What better way to celebrate all this progress than to do a bit of window shopping!

I did the dash this morning to pick up a new window for the kitchen. Im sure the men at the shop would have preferred i wait in the car while they put it together but it was fun to watch. After a bit of baby car seat Tetris we had the window in. A very tentative drive home and I was amazed with the progress.

End if today- kitchen window out and in, kitchen window built in, door built in, bathroom in, toilet in, second bedroom skirting and architrave on!

Reno tip- sometimes it's better to pay someone to do parts of the Reno you feel they would be much quicker at. If its going to take you a week to do something they can do in a day- it's sometimes worth the $500 dollars.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Day 36- job swap

The girls were missing dad so we swapped roles today. They got to go to an indoor play centre (must be what dad thinks I do with them everyday!) and I got stuck into some painting. I am completely over ceiling paint. It's not a job I like at the best of times but when you are painting the equivalent of a whole house it gets a bit tiring on your neck. To make matters worse I apparently used hubby's favourite safety goggles. (Hard to distinguish between one safety goggle and the next if you ask me) by the end of my shift our bedroom is now painted, the ceilings are done and the hallway has one coat. When the kids arrived little miss s needed to do a number 2. Hubby thought it would be a great idea to hook up the toilet so she could use the nice new one. Now most if us mums realise that number twos wait for no man. you can see where this is going! By the time the toilet was functional miss s had caught it in her undies; on to the third set of undies for the day.

Hubby has just arrived home after hopefully laying the last 6 tiles in the bathroom and plastering the girls room.

Reno tip for today- I like to paint in a certain order. Probably not recommended by professionals but it works for me. Ceiling first. Around the windows, doors and skirting boards next. I always over paint all of these so you are sure never to get any of the old colours coming through. Finally cut in the walls( that's just fancy painter talk for the edges) and then roller the walls.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Day 35- all hands on deck

Today was definitely a group effort. Mother in law, father, and both of us on deck. Achievements for today- both ceilings painted, two other ceilings one coat, one coat on bedroom, toilet grouted.

One set back from today- we have a paint colour that we love but unfortunately we are having trouble replicating it. We are now on our third attempt at matching the colour and its still not matched. Bunnings have been really obliging and tried their colour match machine etc but no luck. I don't know whether to accept it or keep trying to get our colour.

Reno tip- if you have a paint colour you love make sure you write down the colour code before it gets painted over or destroyed!

Day 32-34- beach holiday

The girls and I headed to the beach to spend time with nan while I went to a course. In my absence, thankfully some progress was being made. The bathroom is almost tiled.

Day 31- a wasted day

Today felt like such a wasted day. Not much got done this morning and then just before lunch the terrible discovery was made. Tiles that were supposed to be the same size and require the same grout space turned out not to be the same. A call to the tile shop and they assured us they could swap them. 30 boxes of tiles loaded in the car and a trip down to the tile shop.

The tile man had a number of theories- none of which explained why the sample tile was the right size but the delivered tiles weren't. His theories included offsetting the tiles, laying them on their side, rip up the already laid tiles and pay for new ones. No theory that offered a swap of tiles. We did get some glue etc but it just felt like such a wasted trip!

Reno tip for today- just because a tile says 300x300 or the sales assistant assures you they are the same- double check the actual size of the tiles before you accept the delivery.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Day 30 - kitchen planning

Lots of errands today. Pick up a tile cutter, fix the paint that was tinted the wrong colour, pick up air conditioners and plan the kitchen.

This is probably the most important decision to be made for us. Hubby being a chef he has as much say as I would. 3hrs moving rearranging and stacking boxes and we are decided. A bit of compromise here and there. You can see some of the finished design drawn skillfully by hubby on a piece if card.

Hubby still isn't back so hopefully the toilet is painted and tiled by now!

Today's Reno tip- you can use packing boxes to mock up kitchen designs . Make sure to leave 1.2m in the aisles to move around!