Deck and fence update

Here's the latest update on our front deck/yard. With help from our awesome friends and family, we now have a deck to stand on and a fence to give us some privacy. The next stages are to enclose the deck and do some landscaping work, and paint the weather boards and fence. We are looking forward to putting up the next blog, which should hopefully be the finale of the front yard :)

Bayside

Front yard progress

Its been so long since our last blog that we have had to put together a montage of stuff thats been going on at Bayside since winter 2011. We couldnt figure out how to put music to the photos so you'll just have to come up with an 80's montage tune on your own to hum to as you flick through these shots.

This series is of our front section progress. After tackling the task of drawing up the plans and then taking them through the building consent process, we finally started some construction in summer '11....

Front Yard Progress Mar 2012

Indoor Progress

And the next 80's montage is of our indoor renos. I think once we are done with this place we will want a rest from sanding, painting and jib stopping for a while. It's been an enjoyable process on the whole though, and it's now feeling like our place...

Indoor Progress Mar 2012

Demolition Therapy

We have discovered that one of the best forms of therapy is grabbing a sledge hammer and a crow bar and smashing something. So we decided to get therapeutic on our front deck and surrounding concrete. Actually, it was already in state of disrepair, it didn't take much encouragement for it to kind of just, fall over.

While we were at it and had room left in the skip bins, we thought we would top it up with the rat infested insulation from the south-west side of the house. Well, there was probably just as much rat poo up there as pink bats, 3 rats nests, and a few dead rats too, all in different states of decay. Once huddled into a crawl space Houdini would have been proud to get out of, I came eye to eye with what I thought to be a rat that was still alive. I swear that I saw it move! It was one of those "ok, what do I do now?" moments. I wasn't armed with anything. Dexter would have known what to do. Just when I thought I might have to wrestle with it, I realised the rat poison we had put up there a few weeks before had worked its magic and he was stiffer than queens upper lip.  During the commotion I managed to put my right butt check through a section of GIB board. So it was time to get another dose of therapy on our bedroom ceiling....

Deck Destruction

Water Closet Renovations

We have now been in our home for 4 months and we feel settled and ready to get stuck in to our first project. The first renovation challenge... the toilet. We thought beginning in the smallest and arguably the most frequented room in the house would be a good starting point. Plus we were pretty sure that the toilet bowl that came with the house was the original one from '67...and you could tell. 


We started strong, ripping up vinyl, stripping old paint and removing old door handles and light fittings. Then the hard decisions had to be made, which colours, what type of bowl, what kind of light fitting defines you as a person? Geez. Some friends of ours described Bunnings as their Church as they always seem to end up there on a Sunday. Well, we have started a new religion, its called Mitre10 Mega. And what a fine place of worship it is. You know you go there to often when you start to recognise the cashiers and you can find stuff without having to ask one of the 345 staff members (what we now refer to as the "clergy") for directions. 


You can follow our journey of self discovery with these pics....

Water Closet Renovations

Moving in

We moved in in Nov 2010. These shots were taken during the first week.

Bayside