Renovation - handover

The renovation is finally 'complete' and we are moving back in tomorrow. There are a few things still to be tidied up, particularly outside the house but the inside is done. The last few days were focussed on the big issues like exactly where the towel rails go and what height to put the feature door handles.

We got possession of the house back yesterday so we have taken lots of photos of the house looking beautiful and new and clean. The next few days we have to pack up our rental house ready for the move on Monday.

Lots of photos of the house and not so many words today. This photo shows the front door and the unfinished path and driveway area.

The kitchen looks pretty good with a few minor things to be fixed like replacing the white power points with black ones and taking the sticker off the oven. The benchtop/splashback was a bit experimental but looks really good.

This high window lets in winter sun and has a nice little view of the roof of the old house.

There are so many types of wood around the house. All of the old floorboards have been polished and the wood in every room looks different. The hallway has four different types of wood including the new section.

This is the new section seen from the steps. The door normally sits against the wall but is partly closed for the photo. Note the mix of old and new light switches at the meeting point of the old and new houses.

This is from a few steps back and shows the new steps in the hallway.

This is the kids new room, previously the lounge room.

 The hallway has very old floorboards and are full of character.

This is half of what used to be the big room and it has lovely light. The fireplace still needs to be finished off.

And this is the kids old room, sans wallpaper and manky carpet.

The sunroom has also had its  carpets removed, floorboards polished and the sliding door replaced with french doors. The view is now without power cable.

There is a window in the shower so we can watch the sun rise - a great way to start the day. Will get a shot of this once we move in.

This is our new woodheater in the room that used to be our guest room.

The old kitchen has been turned into a bathroom and a new door to the back yard. This room is very dark and we'll see how the colour goes. This door is just where the old oven was.

Across from this is a wall that was meant to be left unpainted, but there was a bit of a mis-communication and the painter started to cut in around the edges. We're still working out what to do with this. They are really beautiful old handmade bricks.

The bathroom is complete apart from the mirror on the cabinet. 

When the kids came around to have a look they did an interpretive dance in the dining room to celebrate.

We had a celebratory fish and chip picnic dinner (with Miranda's sister Jenny), just like the day we took possession of the house in December 2011.

We are looking forward to moving back in!

PS Miranda should be back with some 52 portraits sometime soon.

Renovation - the final countdown

This is probably the last blog post before completion. We are still on track to finish next Friday and the floor sander was working hard today. Things are really close now and the builders are working on the final details so it's difficult to find any photos that show the progress. We are down to the big decisions like door colours, positioning of lights and finishing off outside. This means there are less photos this week and you have to look harder to spot the differences... although the difference between the first two photos should be fairly obvious.

 Otto is pretty excited about this door (the back door).

Both the toilet door and the bathroom door are painted yellow.
The orange and the yellow colours have been carried over from functionally similar doors in parts of the house that were demolished.

And the door between the kitchen and the laundry is this blueish colour.

Most of the heaters are fitted to the hydronic system but it's not quite finished off yet.

Things are also going on outside the house. The trellis has been removed from around the verandah and unfortunately it couldn't be repaired. We've gone instead for this mesh which has been painted black and which you can sort of see in this photo. The idea is that the sandstone footings of the house are more visible. The posts will be painted white.

Overall the verandah is progressing. The electrical cable has gone, the footings and supports are being stabilised and the rotton wood is being replaced

But the biggest change is that the brick steps have now gone and the new railing has been installed. This might take a bit of getting used to.

There are lots more things that we don't have photos of but from next weekend we have the place back and can take all of the photos we want!

Renovation - the final month

We are pretty close to the end of our renovation now and while there is still quite a lot to do, most of it is finishing things off. Here is one of the windows that will house a seat and as you can see, the finishing touches need to be added.

These are the seats that go in the windows and double as storage drawers. They are sitting on their backs so the open side in this photo is actually the top which gets a wooden cover, then some cushions. The side facing up in this photo is the front of the drawers.

Above the new steps in the hallway is the new raised floor with everything starting to come together here. The windows on the left are installed in the old door frames and the new door frame has been installed for the big pivot door to separate the old and new parts of the house.

This is the big pivot door that goes about where Miranda is standing in the photo above.

These are the shelves in the pantry/laundry which have just been installed. 

 The tiling has been done outside the backdoor. It's the same bluestone tiles as in the bathroom and laundry.

There are lots of little things going on like finishing off this door frame - and obviously the corner window next to it.

In the big room where the new wall was installed the bookshelves have been fitted. This photo doesn't really give the impression of scale but they will hold a lot of books.

The bathroom is progressing with the vanity due to be installed in the next few days on the left hand side of this photo. The bricks on the wall are very old and are being painted and left as a feature.

Here is the shower. The shower window is currently boarded up but will be replaced with clear glass. The view from the shower at sunrise is one of the highlights of the house.

 And the bath. The windows are going to be replaced soon with opaque glass.

The electricity supply was switched over this week. The wire now goes to a pole near our driveway then underground to the house. The old wire was removed so there is now a clearer view.

In the next few days the kitchen cupboards will be installed and then the floors will be sanded throughout the house later next week. We are expecting to finish two weeks later than initially planned but that means we will be moving back in early November.

Renovation - getting close now

Progress continues on the house and these photos were mostly taken early this week by Miranda. All of the structural work has been done and the house is mostly in its final stages.

The new wall now has sound baffling and the bookshelves are almost ready to go in.

The bathroom is being tiled. There are still a few more things to be fitted in here like the vanity and the toilet.

The steps are in for the raised section of hallway leading to the new room and new front door.

This is a kookaburra sitting on the electricity wire which is soon to be removed. But don't worry - there are lots of other places for them to sit once this wire has gone. Apparently they have been around quite a bit during the build.

The outside of the house is getting a coat of paint so first it needed to be cleaned.

The new floor is in the kitchen and dining area. 

The sunroom is also looking pretty good with the old carpet removed and floors sanded. The floor is actually in two halves. There was an original sunroom which was a closed in section of verandah and then later on it was extended further out. There are other signs of how it evolved over time like a verandah post which is now covered up inside the wall.

I went round to the house today to do some work in the garden and took a few snaps on the phone. This is the old house with fresh coat of paint. It still needs another coat and the roof still needs to be painted but the impact is pretty dramatic already.

And there was a bit of a show while I was there - the Roulettes were doing some aerobatics over Sandy Bay and Battery Point. They were actually much closer than they look in this photo.