2nd duplex reno from A to Z

[Celeste]

Hi all

No.1 is finished, now I start on No.2

As promised a step by step detailed account of the reno on duplex 2.

As no.1 is on the market I will be starting on the outside of no.2 to increase street appeal of no.1.

below are some photos of the front.

Thursday, I will start at the roof line, scraping/sanding and painting the gutters/fascia and eaves. I have the big bin coming Monday, so I need to nick inside and finish gutting the kitchen.

I am waiting for a phone no. from my neighbour for a company that will buy mature trees, I would like to remove the palm from the front yard - its ugly and I have to keep trimming it off the power lines. The front yard will be a lot cleaner without it.

I need to do a plan for the retic of the front yard, locate some hebal panels (light concrete mouldings) to put on the veranda post to hide those ugly saddles at the bottom.

I need to go and make dinner now so to be continued.............

 

[our obsession]

This looks like fun, kinda wanna get in there and help you....thanks for taking the time out (in an obviously busy schedule) and sharing all this (twin) journey with us.

I like the tree........

 

[Celeste]

Hi all

Well it's a cotton palm and they don't buy them So I guess it stays!!

Not much happening. some little bits and peice in no.1 1st home open on sunday. Wish me luck!!

I am using the secret to get a offer on sunday at the top price!!!! L.O.L

 

[yadreamin]

Hi Celeste
Find out when your next verge pick up is on and arrange for the cotton palm to be cut down then. It will save you heaps of $$s if you dont have to pay the tree loppers to cart it away. Spend the money and get rid of it because it will put off some buyers. They look really awful as well.
good luck with the reno and a little tip
when joining retic pipe
SOAK THE ENDS IN HOT WATER FOR VERY EASY JOINS.
cheers yadreamin

 

[ledd]

Thanks for sharing your reno, Celeste. I just bought a duplex and would like to do some renovations myself. Maybe you could recommend good tradesmen? What area did you buy in?

Looking forward to further updates!

Cheers,

Mark

 

[Celeste]

Hi all

Mark they are in Westfield - right next to champion lakes / saville grove.

As for tradies, it depends where. I am still sourcing some of them. Most of the work I do my self- but ask and I will let you know.

Update - I've been a bit slack this week. 1/2 day off yesturday and all day today mooching around the shops / cake coffee / lunch with a girl friend.

Yeh my boss is good lets me take time off when ever I want.

Anyway, I've cleaned up the front yard, hubby helped pull down the old patio and load the big bin, a bit of weeding out back. I've also gutted the kitchen and bathroom, loaded it all in the bin. I also. went around pulling down all the old shelves and picture hooks etc etc. all into the bin.

Already to make good.

RRRRRRR!! tomorrow.

 

[Celeste]

Hi Guys

I've been really BLAH!! the last 2 weeks. I think it's the anti-climax from finishing No.1. Feeling a bit lost. Need to get back into my routine, except it's school holidays, which means Mum's taxi is flat out and needing to source play dates for the little one, so I can go to work. I will only manage 2 days this week.

On a happy note, I've been in Melbourne for the grand final. 5 days kid free, visited all my family, made some money at the Casino (Black Jack) lost some (Pokies) lots of good food and a little retail therapy. Excellant!! Tho I am a bit tied from all the late nights and still waiting for the hang over to kick in!!

Today, I dropped kids off here and there, then nicked out to the duplex's to check, all's fine. Now I have ten tonne of washing (I hate washing!!) and some paper work to finish off for the Tax man.

I have done some bits and peices at duplex 2 - mainly preping walls for the tiler.

That's all for now, I need to purchase a new camera and I will update this thread with some more details on the reno over the next week.

I hope all are well and bye for now.

 

[Celeste]

Hi all

I am feeling a little more motivated now.

As I have had a couple of days were I have got heaps done.

I am jumping around a bit, in / out /side / front etc. because I need to get certain things done for the tradies - the front of the house so it looks nicer whilst no.1 is on the market. The right hand side fascia/eaves/walls so the carport can go up and I do not have to paint around it. Preping the bathroom and kitchen for the plumber / electrician etc.

Gutters and fascia out the front all done - sanded/primed/2 coats of colour.

1 more coat of colour needed on the fascias on the right hand side, it rained yesturday, so I worked inside. I still need to cut in and roll the wall colour.

Kitchen, I have gutted it / removed all the tiles / dug out to expose the wall tap - ready to be changed to a sink mounted mixer / scraped off all the adhesive / patched the walls / skim coated the ones that will not be attacked by the electrican/plumber, they're ready for painting / cut out a little bit of the cornice and dug a channel down the wall (internal wall) for the electrician to run the extra power for the micro / hotplates / cut off switch etc. I have run this channel down the wall where the canopy will go, so that the canopy flu will hide it, therfore I do not have to be spot on with the finish when I bog it up.

Kitchen all preped for the elctrician / plumber !

Bathroom - gutted / tiles removed / adhesive scraped / dug out the bath taps to be replaced - the spout connection broke when I was removing it - bugger!! / walls sanded / ceiling sanded and prep coated. all ready for the plumber to replace bath set and change vanity taps for a mixer.

I still need to put levelling compond in shower base, as the fall away is horendous, let that dry then water proof the shower - needs to 2 coats seperate days then a few days to dry properly B4 tiling. wash and sand the walls. The I am ready to tile /paint etc. I still can't find a tiler!!

I have also started preping one of the bedrooms for painting.

I word of warning, buy a elctricity current meter and CHECK all electrical items B4 touching them, I have, I do especially after it was discovered by the electrican that the power point in the bathroom of one of my apartments was not wired to the apartments meter but to the common power. I had pulled out all the fuses for the apartment and it was still LIVE!!!.

In this Reno I had all the ceiling fans removed, I wanted them totally disconnected, hubby's boys did this on one of their slow days. When I went to start patching the wall were the controls had been,( which involved pushing the wires back into the wall/ceiling and patching). I discovered that the wires where not taped so I grabbed my meter and checked them !!! they were still LIVE and not taped - I could have had a fire or worse shocked my self DEAD!!. I rang hubby - the boys got in big trouble, I then turned off the power and taped them up, I still checked them with my meter
B4 I touched them.

Note, I also had the same problem when the electrican did this for me next door, he had not disconnected them all from the power either - hubby fixed it.

So, be very, very cautious (spelling?looks funny) of electrics even when changing a light bulb.!!!!

That's all for now - The amount of work I have got thru this week looks heaps more impressive when I write it all down!! Yippee!

 

[our obsession]

Celeste, you are amazing, inspirational and just an amazing reno queen...

I have a suggestion, something you might like to consider...it is only a thought:

Celeste:

[/Now I have ten tonne of washing (I hate washing!!) QUOTE]

Have you thought of outsourcing this work for somebody?

You have your hands full with creating great property, a family....and out there somewhere is someone that takes great pride in earning a buck or two washing and ironing.....seriously, they get to have an honest dollar for an honest bit of work and you don't need to be whittling your way through bubbles and water...you can concentrate on your priorities and have clothes washed and ironed-done!

Seriously.

 

[Celeste]

Celeste, you are amazing, inspirational and just an amazing reno queen...

I have a suggestion, something you might like to consider...it is only a thought:

Celeste:

[/Now I have ten tonne of washing (I hate washing!!) QUOTE]

Have you thought of outsourcing this work for somebody?

You have your hands full with creating great property, a family....and out there somewhere is someone that takes great pride in earning a buck or two washing and ironing.....seriously, they get to have an honest dollar for an honest bit of work and you don't need to be whittling your way through bubbles and water...you can concentrate on your priorities and have clothes washed and ironed-done!

Seriously.

Thanks our obsession, keep the compliments coming. I only do it for the praise!! Seriously.

Anyway, I have a cleaner that comes once a week for 4hrs and she handles my ironing as well.!! bless her heart

As for the washing mmmmmm... the lagistics of it all is to hard to fathom. I am usually on top of it, except the kids were fostered out from the wed to the monday whilst we partied at the grand final in Melbourne.. every thing comes with a price..mine 10ton of washing rrrrrrrrr!! Tho, I had the best time in Melbourne and the Casino is a little poorer. I invested some $ on the Black Jack tables - apparently I'm not bad at it.

 

[Darren1968]

good work

Good work Celeste and a great read too. I'm looking forward to the pics.

I am an aircraft electrician by trade and I always always always check any wiring with a meter before touching it.

30 seconds effort may save your life. I hope everyone who reads that and doesn't have a meter goes out and gets one if they play with any wiring.

Darren

 

[Celeste]

Hi all

Sorry I've been a bit slack, on the computer side of things anyway.

I have finised painting 1 of the bedrooms, so now I have somewhere for the furniture when I sell duplex 1.

I have preped the side of the house ready for the carport.

I finally picked the bathroom tiles and found a tiler, the earliest I could get is
1st dec. oh well, I should have everything else finished by then.
It took a while to find the right "white" in the paint charts to match the white of the tiles....

Preped bed 2 for painting. found a new electrician, patched the ceiling in the kitchen where the fan was. Kitchen ready for painting. I can start painting the bathroom now I have the paint.

It all sounds a bit boring at the moment, but thats life!

I have some shopping to do - taps / wardrobes / kitchen cabinets etc.

I will try and remember to take some photos tomorrow.

bye for now.

 

[firstmillion]

Hi all

Sorry I've been a bit slack, on the computer side of things anyway.

I have finised painting 1 of the bedrooms, so now I have somewhere for the furniture when I sell duplex 1.

I have preped the side of the house ready for the carport.

I finally picked the bathroom tiles and found a tiler, the earliest I could get is
1st dec. oh well, I should have everything else finished by then.
It took a while to find the right "white" in the paint charts to match the white of the tiles....

Preped bed 2 for painting. found a new electrician, patched the ceiling in the kitchen where the fan was. Kitchen ready for painting. I can start painting the bathroom now I have the paint.

It all sounds a bit boring at the moment, but thats life!

I have some shopping to do - taps / wardrobes / kitchen cabinets etc.

I will try and remember to take some photos tomorrow.

bye for now.

Celeste, is it possible for you to post the pics ? Would be nice to see how your reno is coming up ?

 

[Celeste]

Hi all

I took an early mark today, my plumber rang, apparently the weather will be bad tomorrow so he can't go out in his boat , so he wants to do my reno instead . So I had to rush out and get all the gear, he wasn't expected until mid Nov.

I did some good deals on my taps etc this morning, it pays to shop at the same place all the time and build a relationship with the sales people (best if its the owner) you get better deals than running all over the place.

I found the bath / shower taps I wanted cheaper than I have seen them and they had a flick for the vanity that matched $ 60 cheaper than I have seen them. I even got a kitchen flick in the same style - sweet all matching.

The fellow added it all up and then discounted them a further $50.00, then I mentioned I had picked up a clarke double kitchen sink cheap $50 but its missing 1 x waste / the seal and the clips to attach it to the bench. so he went out the back and came in with a waste / bag of clips and the seal strip, all for me FREE!!. = shower set (with the fancy shower head) / bath set / vanity flick / kitchen flick $450

Then I went down the road for a laundry cabinet / taps and spout (the other guy doesn't carry much laundry stuff) found what I wanted on sale and as I also know the salesman from previous visits, I got another $50 discount. landry trough (the white version of sailors black one) / laundry taps - the double ones to operate the sink and washing machine / and a flexible spout - the long one that folds in half. $356

I managed to get some photos today, will post over the weekend. Its time to pick up the little one from school now.

 

[Celeste]

Hi all

Some photos at last.

1. bed 3 - painting finished - left to do - wardrobe/light fitting/blind/carpets
2. bed 2 - preped ready for painting - the skirting boards/window/door frame has since been undercoated - ceiling touch up / walls next.
3. bathroom - stripped ready for plumber since this photo - ceiling painted / the plumber has been, now I have holes to patch / walls patched (other than the plumbers holes), sanded, washed / window, door frame, shave cabinet all undercoated.
I need to patch where the plumber has been / paint the walls / waterproof the shower. Also, due to the time factor mainly for the shower screen (5 weeks!! ) I will be tiling the bathroom.

more....... next reply

 

[Celeste]

More photos

1. kitchen - gutted walls in various stages of patching and sanding. since this photo the plumber has been, redirected the taps for a flick, removed waste.

2. other side of kitchen, waiting on electrician, thursday. Parts of the wall have been patched and sanded, a channel has been cut in the wall for the extra electrics. the caramel coloured stuff is the "final finish" compound I am using to patch the walls. It goes on nicely, it's already made up and cheap compared to the other stuff in the DIY section, you will find it in Bunnings in the tradies plaster section. $10 a tub.

3. the shower base after I used the self levelling cement.

More next reply

 

[Celeste]

More photos

1. fascia and gutters B4
2. front of house after fascia / gutters / eaves painted. I have gone with a bluey green (taubmans - ligwina) gutters etc which compliments the brown (colorbond - riversand)I used next door. The walls will be the same colour.
3. side of house where the carport will go. I have painted enough so I do not have to paint around it. Note the brakedts on the wall are from the old carport, which the guy the quoted for it said he would re-use. Except the guy that came and measured for ordering said they would not be using them. So now I have to take them down / patch and paint.

wait there's more.........

 

[Celeste]

Last one for now

1. the back of the house - now wait till you see this transformed.
It may be last, as I decided after the patio plans had be approved by council to change them. so they are back at council, hopefully they will be approved by mid nov. If so I will be on schedule.

2. the tools I use for the demo work. Starting from the left.

- dogs nail clippers - they are the best thing for all those nails tenants seem to knock into wooden window frames. Alos, good for those screws that just go around and around - pop them over it close them enough so they do not slip over the head of the screw and the screw can still rotate, pull forward applying a little pressure and unscrew.

- chisel price wise mid range - when using it to remove wall tiles, place the curved side toward the wall. it prises the tile forward and causes less damage to the walls.

- I have gone blank - cannot for the life of me remember what the correct name for this is. I am sure you have seen them and will know. I have 2 one about 4cm wide and 1 about 10 cm. Good for scraping stuff and then patching them.

- trusty old hammer. to bang on any other tool to help

- a really big screw driver, so the places the chisel won't fit

- sponge type sander - excellant for the places that a power tool will not fit, really good on the to sand the ceiling patches as it causes less dust in the air than the power sander. Also, if it gets clogges up a bit wash it let it dry and use again. I've had mine for ages.

- window scraper, get a good one, this shape works well for most situations. the square ones are harder to hold. this cost $6 avoid the $2 one not stronge enough the warp/ clogg etc.

Well, that's the end of today's blurb, if you have any question feel free...

 

[Celeste]

Hi all


Is anyone really interested or am I talking to my self???

 

[kissfan]

Hi Celeste.

I for one am reading.

It's good the progress of your, Tizzy & Letihas' developments (that doesn't sound too politically correct , but you know what I mean).

I'm sure many others are reading and enjoying as well.

Regards
Marty