As our deadline approaches at a sickening rate, I find myself once again knee-deep in the pits of 'renovation'.
This is what I learnt this week:
* You can not get a crowbar through solid concrete
* When things look 'broken' they usually are
* No matter how prepared you are, it always takes 3 times longer and costs 5 times as much.
* Wet weatherboards weigh a TONNE
* Handling concrete makes your hands feel like... concrete
* When hammering, it is essential to hit the nail. Not your hand, arm, finger, forehead.
* It is impossible to have fingernails and do anything remotely constructive.
* You sleep really, really well after a hard day's work.
Our list is exhaustive and no matter how much we chip away at it, it just seems to get longer. Granted, that's because I keep adding to the darn thing, but seriously. Is the end even NEAR???
True to form, our house threw EVERYTHING it could at us. I swear it can smell fear. We ripped off the back of the house and our new window/sliding door unit arrived (of course said window frame did not fit into the trailer I spent 2 hours plus sourcing). Nevertheless, it arrived. As soon as it did, the heavens opened up. And I don't mean in a nice way, showering us in golden rays of light. No, the other way. The rain poured down, and just when you thought 'that's about enough', it got heavier. Of course, the timber wall frame was completely rotten. That part we'd expected. Finding out the corner had fallen off the slab was something we didn't factor in. What should have taken 2 hours on saturday (tops) was finally completed yesterday. 4 days late, but probably 3 days earlier than we should have done it - considering it required new concrete, but hey, you can't leave a house with no rear end in the dead of a Melbourne winter with 2 children in the house.
The windows are now in, but of course the plaster has not been hung - no point doing that when the room is open to the unhospitable elements. When our window installation failed, we moved on to plan B. Erect picket fence. Hmmm. Turns out the foundations to our old fence (bric - knocked down by me a few years ago) had the BEST foundations in the suburb, perhaps country. Despite repeated attempts (all in vain) NOTHING got through that sucker - refer point one above. Dear Uncle Scotty left today nursing 3 of the best blisters I've seen in a long while. Crowbar = 0, Concrete footing = 1. We had to call in the heavy artillery. We hired a jack-hammer. It took about an hour of heavy drilling. But at least now we have post holes. Unfortunately they are still empty. And here's why. The ceiling dudes came on my planned day off (which I wanted to use to strip, sand and fill the weatherboards for painting) to clean out our putrid ceiling cavity for new insulation.... and of course they turned the power off. For 4 hours. No one could do ANYTHING. Scott was in charge of erecting the fence. Impossible without power tools. I was in charge of paint prep. Heat gun doesn't work without power either it would seem. Who'd have thunk it.
Honestly, the world is against me.
Whilst our new window/sliding door unit is finally in, it is not air tight. I had to forego bathing the girls tonight because the back of our house is just too darn cold. I can't believe this either, but I actually miss our crappy, old, horrible, dirty insulation. Unbekonwn to me, it actually did make a difference. Since it's gone, our house is so cold!!!
Yet another item on my to do list. Buy insulation.
