another week has passed - and the progress is still going sloooow after the initial bust and tear of ripping out.
the kitchen doors and ends, which were supposed to arrive last week aren't coming until wednesday. we've been plastering and sanding (my job - look at the muscles!!) this weekend, and everything just takes longer than necessary ... hubby had to move the back door 2cm sideways - no problems because of the packing around the frame - but then it wouldn't shut (despite putting braces across it before taking the frame out), so fiddle fiddle fiddle.
internally we have to meet gyprock up against cement render (the internal walls are double brick with cement render), so trying to get the perfect match, and with the same piece of gyprock going around a 45degree corner, was more fiddle fiddle.
hey!!! i have a working oven now. makes me very happy
we've also hit a snag with the hallway cornicing. we had to take out the end-of-hallway bulkhead due to wall removal - and hence had to raise the hallways ceiling to match the open area ceiling height (removal of battons and new gyprock) but when we came to measure up for the ornate 120x150 cornices to go up - damn - they're not high enough to quite cover the ragged tops of the render edge on the internal brickwork. need to be another 20 high.
we have already bought all the cornice and it's sitting in the shed, so trying to think of options now. we may have to put a thin layer of gyprock from the picture rail up in the hall to cover the chipped and missing render, unfortunately can't just plaster to repair was it would be plaster meeting old brick and render (lime mortar). even new cement rendering would crack against the old render, so not really an option either.
any suggestions from someone who has faced this problem ... go right ahead. we have discussed putting the high side of the cornice on a backing board that hangs down the extra 2cm - but then we'd have to do this around the entire room as well as the hall - maybe ... still thinking about options.
anyhow - otherwise this week - i've bought all the tiles for the kitchen and bathroom while on sale, the electrican wired up the new area so we have power and lighting throughout, been painting the front of the house still, installed the drip watering system in the front garden, cut down two small and very scruffy council strip shrubs (took hubby 3 days to notice), ate the first strawberry from the vege garden, planted carrots and sunflowes (juniors choice).
oh, and the tree lopper was supposed to remove 5 huge sydney blue gums from my yard today ... but the moment he got all the ropes up a howling southerly blasted thru. typical
after 3 days of 30+ days.
hopefully more progress next week.
