Greater then the sum of its parts (1)

4th April

Any time you add tow parts together to make something you hope that it will be greater than the sum of its parts, however there is always the risk that the final product will be less, It could be that what your left with wasn't worth the effort. the tiny bathroom and toilet room at my place are becoming one decent sized bathroom and I'm  hoping it turns out well!

As you may have read previously I have ripped out the dividing wall and the floor, now it was time to start framing up the doorway of the old toilet room. I got myself the timber I needed and headed out to the house, once I had measured up I notched out the beams and got the frame ready. 

once the pieces were all cut to size its a fairly easy job to slip them all together to form the section that will form the wall in place of the old doorway. 

With a bit of luck and I like to think a little bit of skill the new wall section fitted snug into place and I fixed it in position with a few screws. 

Come to think of it whenever you build anything you have to put things together in the hope that they will make something bigger and better. whether its putting to small rooms together to make a bigger one or seven pieces of timber together to make a section of a wall you always hope that it will work out. sofar the new section of Wall looks good. lets hope the new bathroom as a whole is as successful!

Happy Birthday! My very own front door.

April 2nd

the second of April is my birthday and this year I turned 24 and I gave myself the day to install a new door frame for the front door. unfortunately having realized the frame was the  wrong size I had to change the plan for the day to include installing a new front door as well.

The old door frame came out very easily, it was quite clear that it had been very badly treated and left in such a bad state that the main jamb on the lock side of the door was pretty much split in half. that is what made it so easy for the kids to keep breaking in and inflicting so much damage on the rest of the house. There is a saying; a chain is only as strong as its weakest link and when it comes to home security that is very true. after the fire a few months ago I had reinforced the frame with an aluminum angle and extra padlocks but it was never a permanent fix and this new frame was needed urgently.  

We got quite involved in a job that turned out to be way more involved and time consuming then I initially thought and I forgot to take photos until the frame and the door were in and I had chiseled out the hole for the lock. the whole process has to be fairly accurate so that the lock fit well and match up so that the door works properly and is completely secure. This was the first time myself or Dad had fitted a door and new hardware (locks hinges etc.) so the job continued later and later.  

This last photo was taken showing the new door in place and ready to go, or so we thought until we closed it fully and found that there was still an issue. by the time we had it right. we had lost daylight and were far to late to make it to my own Birthday dinner.

Despite the trouble, the time and the lack of a birthday dinner I was quite pleased with the days work; I now have a working front door that I can enter through with one key from the outside, the weak link is gone. That night was also the first time I had been at my house after dark and I felt like things were starting to move forward. It was odd but in the dark of night I caught a glimpse of this house turning back in to a home. with a proper front door and the lights on, inside seemed safe and inviting compared to the dark streets outside. I said in my first post; a home should be a refuge and this house is on its way back, before long it will be doing its job once again.

Just a little more time!

From the 29th of January until the present; time has been passing by too quickly in my little world, however contrary to what this blog might have lead you to believe work has been progressing at my place, even if quite slowly. Time is a strange thing, how much time do we have, how much do we need & how much do we waste? What does time take and what does it leave behind? I think time often shows things for what they really are but it can also be very harsh in its treatment of people. Whether it paints a grand picture of some great accomplishment or only leaves footprints on a dust covered floor the perspective time brings always leaves you thinking, but is it worth waiting for it?

I'm afraid lately when it comes to working on my house time has been scarce and when it comes to blogging about it I've been able to find even less. I've let it go for so long that catching up seems somewhat overwhelming so I've decided to go for this one massive post bringing us right up to date, so here we go:

29th Jan

We got most of the larger sheets of gyprock in place and Bill came over and gave us a hand with it!

31st Jan

Until now the house had been quite drafty, It was time to have new glass installed. There were 8 smashed windows. it was good to have the house sealed up. they are still boarded up unfortunately because while no one is living there I really don't want them smashed again.

I ordered new internal doors  and picked them up, I still haven't had a chance to install any of them but they're there.

I had my main power switch stolen and found out you could get a special energy Australia pad lock to keep the fuse box secure!

Once we had pulled up the Lino and Masonite we had to pull up all the small tacks; Thanks to Bill and Mum another good job!

The old bathroom was past its prime and so it was time for it all to come out to make way for a new one. once the wall between the bath and the toilet was out we had to rip up the old floor.

Once the old tiles were cleared out we had to put in a new sill in the bathroom doorway because the old one had gotten wet and had begun to rot.

Then we put down the first layer of floor leveler!

So work at the house is moving on slowly and hopefully time will prove this venture to be a success, but as time passes bye things are already beginning to turn out differently than I expected, but more about that in the future I guess!