More demolition!!!!

Well what an exciting time. We finally demolished some of the 

inside of the house. We removed the old bedroom we use to live

in and now have created space for the kitchen, dinning room and

lounge room. The house finally has it final shape. Though there is

a lot of work to do. You no longer really need to try and image 

the space.

\\ Before Before After After

Demolition fun!

Well out with the out and in with the new. The front office had to go. As it faces the north it would be blocking the sun into out living room. This marks the beginning of the third phase of the build and a significant one. The area we are creating space for will be the front veranda and some major windows. Heather and I have been eager to get to this part of the build ever since we began.

Tiling

I have to admit i found the tiling nerve racking. The first tile was the hardest but the rest weren't too bad. At first I thought i didn't do a terrific job however after closer inspection of some shopping centre floors etc.... I didn't do to bad especially considering I used rectified porcelain tiles. This is a close up of the decal tile we used.  Walls first Floor second The tricky shower bit... I had to get some stiff cardboard and make some templates.  I got the curve right then used an angle grinder to cut the curve.  I used an angle grinder for this hole as well.  I used an angle grinder here as well.  Finally the last row of wall tiles where they  met the floor. I used alot of cardboard shims to get it right.
Grouting was messy and fun
I had to wash it twice

How it looked after the final polish.

Dad v's the shower

Well the shower was the first struggle i had. As mentioned in a previous blog it all started with the base. Well now it came time to glue the acrylic liner to the wall. I applied the adhesive, placed the wall liner and rubbed all over it for the required time. However the internal courner wanted to remain at a 45 degree angle not the 90 degree angle that I had put it in. Well after a long long long time of rubbing it, it was still refusing to stay in place. So i had to prop it however i didnt want to prop it using the walls as the grey water proof membrane handnt fully cured. so i had to become more creative. I started off bracing it against the shower base using some wood and my level. However the higher braces didnt exert enough pressure to keep it in place. in the end i lay a door across the level and placed a 20kg bag of plaster on the bottom. Bit crazy really but it worked.

this is the end result out new shower!!!!

Bathroom: Waterproofing and tile prep

I gave myself 2 weeks to do the bathroom.... in the end it took me 3. It was a bit of a nightmare as it was a first time for everything and the repercussions of getting it wrong are pretty big. I was really pleased with my plastering. I think that i am finally getting the hang of it. The job looked pretty good in the end. Is it just me or does this photo remind me of a zombie movie i saw?

This is the primer sealer. In its own right it is a water proofer as well. I used it on my cement slab, however it doesn't bridge cracks well. I excited that i managed to coat the whole room with it until i realised that I was meant to do two coats only on the tiled areas.... oh well.

Next i had to tape the joints. first I applied a coat of a flexible membrane (think liquid silicone) then bed a cloth tape into it which reinforced the joints, and finally put another coat on top.

Paint all the sections that are going to be tiled.

Balustrades

One thing that has gone really well is my balustrades. I think they look great. i have only done one side as a trial. I used rebar (the stuff they put in cement to strengthen it) as the balusters. I coated them with three coats of Penetrol then put on a spray matt finish so they look like raw iron. They are 12mm in diameter and add a bit of weight to the structure but have cost a fraction of the cost of wrought iron balusters. I also made the newels out of the old oak stud work i pulled out of the apple shed. they are rustic looking and have lots of character. The hand rails were reclaimed from the carport I pulled down. The photos don't quite to them justice but you can decide. This section of balustrade probably has cost me only $20.