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Been waiting a month for a loan to do the bigger things - finally got it today after pestering the bank a lot because it had been 'cancelled' ... stupid internet loans. So we're going to run off and get the cabinetmaker in (been quoted $4500 for a new kitchen, installed), buy floor coverings, an...

I planted tomatoes in the backyard of the cottage today and dug up the smallest horseshoe I've ever seen. Ponyshoe! Unsurprisingly, given the price, that block is still for sale, there's only 3 properties in the town that have got 'stuck' without selling ... that one, and two that are over...

The IP is in a one-plumber town in the middle of a building boom, the plumber is flat-strap and then some, as are the plumbers in nearby towns. The hardware store pointed me at an old bloke who is a retired plumber but since the house has an order on it and this guy might not be licensed I think...

So, we've got most of the new floors in and have made a good start on the outside landscaping. Today we were looking at the kitchen ceiling. The kitchen ceiling is beige gloss masonite. Big sheets, kind of sagging off in a very unattractive fashion, with half-round over the joins, also kind...

In that corner there was one joist that was damn close to buried (I guess the boards were nailed to it once before they got eaten) and there was about a square metre of just ... bricks. The boards were simply sitting on these bricks ... and then there was a joist on the other side (about a metre...

Have a few of the floors out now and been advised that two of the floors are good enough to keep so I've been able to cancel some of the plywood sheets I have on order. One floor is still baltic but too damaged to polish, so we're going to get it sanded level to put floating floors over. Floor...

Septic, there is no sewer in the town. Seems to be a remarkably shiny new septic system installed too, the bank must have done it while the house was vacant, it disappeared off the order to improve between 2007 and 2008. FYI, if I was to replace the header tank, I'd be looking at about $700...

Went there today and *now* I get what the problem with the cold supply is - there isn't any cold water! We missed that, since all the garden taps and the toilets work. The header tank that was filled by the windmill IS the cold water supply. It was obviously more recently fed by a pump from the...

Oi, don't be posting while I'm posting :P I've got an older, less square and more anciently constructed PPoR (and I had another one before that) so I'm well aware of how the little buggers always get more expensive. There's a leak in the roof on the r-h side of the stove, the flashing around...

That photo is the 'good' side of the back verandah, the other side has a half-smashed 'built in' cupboard and the slate flagstones on the ground have subsided really badly so we need to pry them up, put fresh sand under them and re-lay them, and I'm going to gravel the area behind the verandah...

Its 22mmx3600x800 tongue and groove 'structure floor' termite treated particleboard. Replacing really damaged baltic with it. We can't really afford to recarpet or do laminate floors over the entire house straight away, but we might in a year or two. This is an *extremely* tight budget reno...

We found an upright electric stove and a letterbox - in the father-in-law's shed. He's a licensed electrician and a hoarder, so whenever he replaces an oven in someone's kitchen ... :) So that saves us a few $100. We went to look at flatpax kitchens in the flesh, discussed freight options, and...

Woodstoves are really common out here - I have one in my own kitchen. Practically everyone has a wood fire, we get to -10 or so here in winter and airconditioners don't make the grade. Its in Jamestown in regional SA. Despite what I paid for that house, it is *not* a cheap town. Most...

We're in, we have the low budget from hell to fix the house from hell, so here's the lowdown. I'll add stuff as we do it to this thread. Purchase price - $65,000 + $3000 in setup fees (bank, stamp duty etc) Current value - $96,000 if you believe the rates notice Current rental - $60pw We have...