2009 Demolition Derby

Ensuite Operational...(25 - 31 May)

2009-06-01T03:24:00.000-07:00

Simon returned on Monday & finished the tiling...

I will be very happy to get all of the bathroom fittings out of the spare room & our bedroom and into the ensuite. I can't believe how much room a little ensuirte can take up!

Mark put in the toilet, vanity and mirror cupboard. We still need to put in the shower wall and glass but no rush as the hot water is not connected yet. But we now have 75% of the ensuite operational!

Mark spent the rest of the week laying the jarrah floorboards in the study. Having a floor makes the room look a lot bigger.

Slogging on...(18 - 24 May)

2009-06-01T01:59:00.000-07:00

Now that the plumber has done his thing Mark got stuck into getting the ensuite ready for tiling.

Glued the concrete floor sheets down - 2 layers, plus another layer under the floor over each join. It shouldn't move anywhere!
Measured, cut and glued the wall sheets on

Sat - Simon arrived at 8am and had completely tiled & grouted the walls and tiled the floor by 3pm. Amazing and it looks fantastic! He will be back on Monday to grout the floor...then we can install the fittings.

Water tight at last...(11 - 17 May)

2009-05-15T03:32:00.000-07:00

This week...

Mark started work on the floor joists in the study...
I bought wall tiles & gas hot water system for the ensuite
Mark dup holes to access the pipes for the plumber
Fri - The plumber arrived early (hooray) and has completed all the ensuite plumbing. He just needs to come back & connect the water to the new gas heater system
Sat - Nick come over & helped Mark put on the ridge cap on the roof. It is supposed to rain tomorrow so thought we'd better get it done!

Itsy Bitsy stuff...(4 - 10 May)

2009-05-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

This week in renovation land...Mark spent most of the week working on lots of fiddly bits and pieces.

rendered the cracks in the hallway walls
turned our bedroom door so it opens against the wall
replaced a couple of floorboards in our bedroom

and arranged for the tiler & the plumber to come and give us a quote

Booked Simon (tiler) for the weekend of the 23rd (yes May)
The plumber is tentatively booked to come Fri 15/5 pending his quote.

I phoned electricians and grano's to try & tee up quotes

Electrician, said he'd come over on Friday - surprise surprise, he never showed up
2 grano contractors: both need plans to do a quote. I posted a set to one & the other said he'd come over Saturday to pick up plans & discuss what we need. Surprise, surprise...(again) the grano bloke didn't turn up. Grrrr contractors.

Keep on bricking...(27 Apr - 3 May)

2009-05-15T03:18:00.000-07:00

This week we continued bricking up the internal walls in the study.

Floor & ceiling joists...(20th - 26th April)

2009-04-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

Monday 20th
Mark started putting in the floor joists. I soldered my leadlight. I didn't do a very good job, so I'll have to go see Bert to learn how to fix it.

Tuesday 21st
I didn't do much as I was sick with a throat infection. Mark finished the floor joists and started working on the ceiling joists.

Wednesday 22nd
Mark finished the ceiling joists in the ensuite and I rendered the vanity wall. Mark smoothed and leveled my rendered wall - looks great! I helped Mark attach the aircell insulation to the ensuite ceiling joists & roof rafters.

Thursday 23rd
I went to Design glass to fix up my leadlight window. Turned out that I didn't have the iron hot enough, so it was easily fixed and yes the soldering did cover up the most of my leading mistakes. I spent the afternoon cementing my leadlight. Mark spent the day cleaning out the garage so we will have somewhere to store the gyprock when it arrives tomorrow. Wow I haven't seen the garage this clean in ages! But now we have another load of rubbish for the tip.

Friday 24th
I spent the morning cleaning the excess cement off my leadlight - very time consuming as it gets into all the nooks & crannies in the frosted glass. Mark started work on the floor joists in the study. Nick arrived at noon, so we headed off to hire a ute and pick up the cement floor sheets for the ensuite. Mark stayed home to await the arrival of the gyprock. Mark & Nick unloaded the cement floor straight into the ensuite - it is the exact size so no cutting required except for 1 sheet around the door frame - Mark is VERY happy. We loaded the ute with the rubbish and Nick & I did a trip to the tip and then stopped off at Bathroom warehouse to pick up the toilet & the shower unit. The gyprock finally arrived - so now we have everthing we need to finsh off the ensuite and the study.

Saturday 25th
A slow start today as it's Anzac Day & Bunnings does not open until noon. I finished cleaning my leadlight & Mark played on the computer. Then back to Bunnings to return the ute and buy the adhesive for the wall & ceiling gyprock. Nick arrived at 2.30pm and he and Mark put up the ceiling gyprock. Etsuko arrived and we chatted and inspected the boys work. The ceiling, manhole & ceiling fan were all installed by 5pm - these boys don't mess about!

Sunday 26th
Mark took the study door off and trimmed it down to fit the ensuite doorway which is only 720mm wide (not 820mm). I went back to Bunnings to buy the beading for my leadlight window. Mark mitred the beading to the right length and attached the hinges to the window & frame. I painted the beading and nailed it onto the window. I helped Mark hang the door and window and install the privacy lock in the door. We don't have a catch for the window yet - so wire will do the job for tonight...back to Bunnings again tomorrow to buy the real thing. I think I must own shares in Bunnings by now!

Down with the wall...(10th - 19th April)

2009-04-19T04:23:00.000-07:00

Monday 13th
Easter Monday....another day of leisure. Yeah.

Tuesday 14th
It's been so long since I updated the blog...I can't remember what we did today.

Wednesday 15th
Mark cut out the bricks between the ensuite & our bedroom & I went to pick up the timber for the door frame. Nephew David dropped in to use the gargage & tools to do an oil change & helped me carry out bricks as Mark knocked out the wall. What a mess!

Thursday 16th
Mark built the door frame for the ensuite, screwed it in and bricked up the wall again - well most of it...only 3 bricks to go, but had to knock off because the kids came over for a BBQ dinner. I went to ECU Joondalup for a meeting & printed out all the work I've done for the past 4 months. Had a great dinner with Tara, Nick, Bree, nephew David & niece Kacey. Thanks for the desserts Kacey!

Friday 17th
Mark was not a well puppy this morning...I think it must have been something he drank (?). He got up late & then went back to bed again an hour later. Needless to say not much work got done today! I just pottered around. We went to Jill & Wayne's to catch up with Keith & Kim who are traveling around Australia for 3 months. They live in Canberra & have both recently retired. We watched the sunset over the Indian ocean - it was spectacular - pink, orange & indigo, and helped Keith celebrate his 65th birthday. Hip hip hooray! Kim & Brian took photos...please send me a copy to add to our blog.

Saturday 18th
Mark went to the salvage yard & bought timber for the ensuite floor joists. What a bargain - 8 x 2700 x 100 x 50 jarrah for only $40. I worked on ECU stuff in the morning & started constructing the leadlight window for the ensuite in the afternoon. Bugger it's been 4 months since I did my course & I'm not quite sure what I'm doing! Cross my fingers.

Sunday 19th
Day Off. Went to brunch with the Cleaver family. Jill & Wayne are heading off overseas and won't be back until Christmas. Keith 7 Kim are continuing on their journey around Australia and Brian is heading off to Vietnam this evening. Mark had an afternoon "nanna nap" and I finished constructing my leadlight window. I'm not very happy with it. I've cut some of the lead at the wrong angles and too short...hopefully I can "fix" it when I solder it. Mark worked out what gyprock, cornice & cement sheeting we need for the front rooms & emailed it to Clayton. Quite BBQ at home alone. Aaahhh we love relaxing with a beer & champagne. We phoned Dan to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY for yesterday. He had a great weekend - did his rescue divers course & passed. Went for a couple of dives with Fisher & visited cousin Lyn.

Dad's 80th...(9th - 12th April)

2009-04-19T04:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday 9th
5am wakeup for our flight to Sydney. Dan was at the airport to pick us up. Went to Camden for a late lunch then Dan dropped us at Jim & Michelle's. Had a quiet dinner, chatted & an early night.

Friday 10th
Slept in (wonderful). Dan & Fisher arrived and then Ben - all the family is here. We had a lazy day and then a big family dinner to celebrate Dad's 80th, Katie & Fisher's 14th, Marks 53rd & Dan's 47th birthdays. Lots of good reasons to celebrate!

Saturday 11th
Saturday is race day...and Dad is always pissed off with people having birthdays, wedding etc on HIS race day...so we went to the races with Dad. Unfortunately it was not a winning day but we had fun critiquing the ladies outfits & shoes (a very amusing pastime).

Sunday 12th
Another late morning...isn't that what holidays are for? A big BBQ breakfast and a lazy afternoon trying to beat the kids at pool (snooker or whatever). Then back to the airport for our flight home.

Roof...(1st - 8th April)

2009-04-19T03:47:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 1st - Friday 3rd
Mark went to Esperence with his brother, Ken & his mother, Joyce for Aunty Rita's funeral (Thurs 2nd). The Downsborough clan farewelled Aunt Rita in style (& alcohol). It's a shame that funerals seem to be the main reason to get together at the moment...we need a few more weddings, birthdays & christenings! I sent my condolences & stayed home to try & finish my ECU work. I'm on the last unit - hooray!

Saturday 4th
Mark was jet lagged from traveling & was moving very slowly today. Not much progress to report!

Sunday 5th
Day Off.

Monday 6th
Dad & Tim's birthdays - Happy Birthday Guys!!! Mark ordered the ridge cap & put up more roof sheets. I handed him tools, clouts, tin etc thru the study nook so he didn't have to climb up & down the ladder. Knocked off early to go to dinner with the LuClay family to celebrate Tim's 15th birthday.

Tuesday 7th
More roof sheets went up - yeah we've finished everything except the ridge cap. I knocked off early to go to a TADA meeting and Mark dismantled the scaffolding & repositioned it ready to put up the ridge cap which is due to arrive tomorrow.

Wednesday 8th
Phoned at 11am to see if the ridge cap had arrived - advised No call back at 12. Called again at 12pm still hadn't arrived. Tried again at 1pm....the truck still hadn't arrived. Called again at 2pm...the truck had just arrived...so Mark set off to Bunning to hire the ute & then to Stratco to pick up the ridge cap. By the time he collected it & returned the ute....it was 5pm. Too late to fit the ridge cap today and the scaffolding is being collected tomorrow. So down with the scaffolding. Then we packed our bags for our trip to Sydney tomorrow & went out to dinner with Brian, Etsuko, Jill & Wayne.

Rafters...(16th - 31st March)

2009-03-30T00:00:00.001-07:00

Monday 16th - Thursday 19th
Mark spent most of this week working out what timber he needed for the roof rafters and then commenced building the roof. He bought 2 new toys - a pipe cutter and a pipe bender. There's not much I can help him with at this stage, so I spent my time writing modules for ECU.

Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd
We spent most of the day cleaning as Mark's mother is coming over for the weekend. Saturday night a crowd of us (16) went to The Indian Garden Restuarant in North Perth to celebrate Mark's birthday. Sunday we had a quiet day!

Monday 23rd
Back to work. Mark on the roof and me on ECU stuff.

Tuesday 24th
Mark worked on the house and I took his Mother to the Dr's. It's Mark's birthday today...so I cooked a roast dinner. Bree, Tara & Nick came over to help us celebrate.

Wednesday 25th
Same story...more roof & ECU work. I knocked off early to pick up Tim & Andrew from school as Aunty Jayne & I took them to see Cirque du Soleil. It was fabulous. We all went back to Luisa & Clayton's afterwards for pizza & pasta.

Thursday 26th
Mark's still slogging away on the roof rafter and battens. He's happy as his finally put up enough timber to attached some guttering.

Friday 27th
We knocked off work early today as it's Joyce's birthday. Picked her up and went down to the South Perth foreshore to have fish & chips and watch the sunset and the city lights. Ken & Linda joined us. It was a very pleasant evening.

Saturday 28th - Sunday 29th
More battens and valley gutters are happening.

Monday 30th
Mark started to get some roof sheets up, but it was drop-in day! First Gerald (a local lad) dropped in to say hi. Then Ryan, Amanda & Samuel who we haven't seen for about 8 weeks. Sam has grown so much and is dragging himself around the floor (not quite crawling...but close)! He has the most beautiful smile and giggles when he is held upside-down. he's so cute!
Then Ian, (the tuckpointing guy) dropped in to check out Mark's brickwork.

Tuesday 31st
Mark continued putting the roof sheets on. It won't be long now and we'll be protected from the elements!

Up Up and away... (9th - 15th March)

2009-03-13T01:25:00.000-07:00

Monday 9th
I went to the hairdresser in the morning and Mark phoned around about hiring scaffolding. Finally located some at a reasonable price that will be delivered tomorrow so we had a quiet afternoon. Kacey dropped in to visit so Mark sat & chatted and I painted the window frames ready to brick in tomorrow!

Tuesday 10th
We spent the morning waiting for the scaffolding to arrive. It finally got here about 1pm. The new doors I ordered were also delivered today...so everything is starting to happen - yeah! We assembled the scaffolding and started laying bricks about 2pm. I also cleaned another 20 bricks...an hour at a time is all I can handle. By 7pm we had half of the side wall done. We were very happy.

Wednesday 11th
Today we moved to the front wall. Every brick in the wall needs to be cut (about 10mm) so this wall is very tedious. We only got a few courses done but Mark also shaped the lintel ready to put in tomorrow.

Thursday 12th
Finally got the front wall up above the window frame and the soldier bricks finished.
Nick came over and cleaned the last 30 bricks. Boy was I happy! We look like being short of bricks so I went and bought a pressure hose and Nick pulled up & cleaned some of the paving bricks in the backyard. Only 2 more courses to go on the front wall and 4 courses on the side wall. We expect to finish tomorrow.

Friday 13th

Yes - we did it! What a team.

The external brickwork on the front of the house is finished.

And does Mark look happy - oh what a feeling!!!!

Saturday 14th
Today we moved 1 section of scaffolding into the ensuite - over the top of the wall as there is no door into this room yet, and laid more bricks on the dividing wall. We have reached roof height at one end.

Sunday 15th
Day off.

A bit of this and a bit of that...(1st - 8th March)

2009-03-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

Monday 2nd
A public holiday over here in the west...so like Sunday's we're not supposed to work. However it's Labour Day...so we laboured in other areas. We have a verge collection for general household junk this week, so we put out the old timber that we don't need. It was gone by lunchtime - some lucky man scored it for firewood. I did TADA & ECU stuff for the rest of the day and Mark serviced Tara's car, dropped the car back & put up some shelves for her. Then went over to Murray's to try & identify the source of his electrical problems in their new home.

Tuesday 3rd
Mark went shopping for timber and then commenced constructing the window frames. We can't brick any higher until the window frames go in and once they are ready we will need to hire some scaffolding as Mark's arms won't reach the ceiling! I phoned Midland brick about recycling our old broken bricks and then did ECU work.

Wednesday 4th
Mark is still building window frames...fiddly things! And I am doing ECU work.

Thursday 5th
Off to hire scaffolding and do a trip to the tip with our old bricks & rubble. No luck with the scaffolding, the place Mark visited didn't have what we wanted. So we just did a couple of runs to the tip. Mark pulled down the last of the old outside wall and Nick stacked the bricks ready for cleaning (groan). I just loafed about...well not really but it was an easy day.
Etsuko & I went off to the ballet - Giselle. Not the traditional version, a "twisted take on the classic" performed by Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre. It was very funny and extremely entertaining. By far the best performance I saw this festival.

Friday 6th
Mark finished off the window frames and fitted the side one ready to lay the bricks. I did ECU work. We knocked off early today to have dinner with Joyce before going to see the new musical that Leo is in - Assassins. It was very entertaining.

Saturday 7th
I started cleaning the last lot of bricks. Did 100 today. I average about 20 per hour, so it was a big day. Only about 100 more to go (Sh@#!). Mark cut the 80 year old lintel in half that came out of the front windows..so we can use it for the 2 new windows. He will do "soldier" bricks above both windows to match the existing house. So he had to bend the lintel into a slight arch...not as easy as he thought...finally managed it by arranging a complex ramp and running the Pajero over it. We've recycled as much as we can from the demolition of the old front room to build the 2 new front rooms.

Sunday 8th
Day of rest. I've just realised how slack I've been this week...as I didn't even take any photos. But I did get 3 chapters of my uni course written!

Same old saga - bricks... (23rd - 28 Feb)

2009-02-23T01:44:00.000-08:00

Monday 23rd
Shopping day today. Off to Bathroom warehouse, electrical warehouse & Bunnings for plumbing and electrical bits. Mark needs to leave holes in the brick work for the plumbing to go through the wall so we needed to know what we are using. We both fell in love with a 900 x 1200 glass shower with a rounded corner - it will fit perfectly. Well nearly, Mark just needs to move the window over a brick & a half. Luckily he's only laid 2 courses of bricks above the window sill!

Tuesday 24th
I went back & fro between the computer and the bricks...
Mark pulled out the front window bricks to move the window further over. Then he worked out where all the plumbing was going and welded the copper pipe for the shower fixtures.
I knocked off at 3.30pm as I had our first TADA event tonight.

Wednesday 25th
We didn't do much today...just another course or two before we got rained out.

Thursday 26th
Mark pulled the external bricks out from around the front door and I stacked them ready for cleaning. (hrrrr)
Off to Becks Music Box with Jill to see the House of the Holy Afro.

Friday 27th

We decided that the study window should be higher so today we added more bricks to the study wall. We knocked off about 6pm and had dinner with Linda. Then Linda & I went off to the theatre to see The War of the Roses.

Saturday 28th
We both did a big day today cleaning & re-bricking around the front door. Very time consuming as it's a short wall with lots of cuts!

Sunday 1st March
Mark spent 2hours in the morning finishing the last rows of bricks above the front door. He's very happy to finally reach ceiling height somewhere!

Still bricking along...(16th - 22nd Feb)

2009-02-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

Monday 16th
No work on the house today as Mark went up to Gin Gin to do some work for Robbie Ryan's brother-in-law).
I paid bills, ordered the new doors and did ECU work.

Tuesday 17th

I cleaned bricks for an hour, then took Joyce to the Doctor and did ECU work in the afternoon.
Mark laid more external bricks - we are now up to window height. He also pulled more old bricks out of the wall and setup the profiles ready to lay internal bricks.
Luisa & I went to see the Grand Ballet du Geneve at His Majesty's Theatre. It was great, we both really enjoyed it.

Wednesday 18th
I had a big brick cleaning day - 9am til 3pm and by then my wrists gave out.
Mark pulled another 100 bricks out of the wall and started laying the maxi bricks for the internal wall between the bathroom and the study. At 3pm I helped him lay bricks - I just cleaned up the excess cement on my side of the wall (hey every little bit helps). Tara, Nick & Bree came over for a BBQ dinner.

Thursday 19th
I went to the Doctor, did ECU work and helped Louise with her resume. Mark laid more internal bricks.

Friday 20th
Nick came over & spent the day cleaning bricks (yahoo! my hands are so happy). I did ECU work and Mark laid maxi bricks on the internal wall. Mark & Nick also put a rough render over the existing bedroom wall to strenghen it up a bit. Mark & I went to see Fragmented a series of Samuel Beckett plays, then had dinner at El Grecos in Nedlands. Must be nearly 20yrs since I've been there but it hasn't changed a bit and the food is still good.

Saturday 21st
I went to pick up sand and cement in the morning then off to the races to check out horse prices for Dad. Mark started laying the internal bricks in the ensuite - he's happy because the big maxi bricks make the wall grow really quickly!

Sunday 22nd
Day off (ha). We both had a sleep in. Troy dropped off some scaffolding ramps & boards so we can walk around a bit inside the new rooms until the floor is put down. Mark went off to Kim's to sort out a kit car problem and I did more ECU work.

Bricks, bricks & more bricks...(9th - 15th Feb)

2009-02-07T19:56:00.000-08:00

Sunday 8th
So much for a day off - Mark ended up taking the entire roof off and I carted timber from the front yard to the back & stacked it ready to reuse.

Monday 9th
5 packs of bricks delivered. 2 packs moved inside the new front rooms.

Tuesday 10th
I didn't do any work this morning as I took Joyce to the doctor about her leg.

Mark started pulling down the outside leaf of bricks from our bedroom wall as we need more old bricks for the external wall. I cleaned bricks when I got home.

Wednesday 11th
I cleaned bricks and Mark laid a couple of courses of bricks. We knocked off at 10am and got cleaned up as we took Joyce to the Lyons Eye Institute for her eye injection. Amazing the last visit and we finally sorted out the system and got through in only 2hrs. Back to the bricks in the early evening once it had cooled down a little!

Thursday 12th
I cleaned bricks & Mark laid a couple of courses of bricks before heading off to do some Cobra work. I went and did the grocery shopping. Mark did another couple of courses of bricks when he got home.

Friday 13th
Tara's birthday today. Happy Birthday Tara!

Mark worked on the Cobra again today, so we just did a couple of hours work on the house in the morning before he headed off.

I pulled up bricks from the back paving and then got cleaned up and headed off to the uni to return & pick up some books for my ECU job.

Mark laid a few more bricks and put the meter box in position when he got home. The walls are slowly growing!

Bree dropped in as she & Tom are off to dinner to celebrate Valentine's day. Linda arrived and we went off to the Ballet at the Quarry with a picnic hamper & champagne. Mark stayed home and had a few (@#!) quiet ales with his mates.

Saturday 14th
Happy Valentine's Day to all our loved ones. We mostly pottered about today as it threatened to rain on us all day. So we cleaned bricks (yet again), removed the last of the render from the front of the house, pulled out more bricks from the bedroom wall and discussed what we are going to do with the front steps and the roof.

Sunday 15th
Day off. Mark is doing all sorts of calculations etc. to work out angles for the front roof and I am updating our blog!

Tonight we are off to see Chick Corea & John McLaughlin's 5 peace band with Jill & Wayne. It's an open air concert in Kings Park and luckily the weather is great again today.

Onwards and upwards (1st - 8th Feb)

2009-01-30T23:43:00.000-08:00

Sunday 1st
Day of rest.

Monday 2nd
Back to slab & garden city for more sand and then to Limestone city to pick up the last 4 limestone blocks needed for the side wall. The limestone is finally finished. Hooray!

Tuesday 3rd
Mark went off to Bunnings to buy steel and brick ties etc. I spent the morning doing ECU work & sent off the first module to my supervisor! Mark laid the first course of bricks and I mixed mud. That's all we did today as Tara & Nick are coming over for a BBQ.

Wednesday 4th
We had a day off today as Mark has worn the skin off the tips of all his fingers laying the limestone. We are both buggered and need a rest.

Thursday 5th
I went to Bunnings to return our ubeaut hammer drill as it gave up the ghost yesterday. Also went to brick up bricks for the internal walls...but Midland brick did not have them in stock in our local store. So we'll work out what we need and order a few packs to be delivered. Mark put up the steel guides for the brick courses.

Bree, Amanda and Samuel arrived just after lunch. Sam tried to give Pa a hand...I think it will be a few years before he'll be much help. However he's so cute and his laugh is so infectious you have to laugh with him.

Bree & Tom came over for a BBQ dinner. It must be kids week this week....it was good to spend some time with them.

Friday 6th
Mark went off to do Cobra work today & I ordered bricks and attempted to do ECU work. The bricks got done but I didn't get far on my ECU job. Mark got home about 3pm and at 5pm we decided to go lay bricks. 3 courses done.

Saturday 7th
Only worked half a day today as it is Clayton's birthday and we are helping him celebrate. However I mixed mud and Mark managed to lay another couple of rows of bricks so the wall is slowly growing.

Now off to celebrate....1st stop - Fremantle prison to do the new tunnel tour, then back to Luisa & Clayton's for dinner and drinks.

Sunday 8th
Day of rest. Well not exactly, but no renovation work. I'm just washing, cleaning, & blogging and Mark is contemplating our next tasks. He has decided the roof has to come down as we need the bricks from the bedroom wall to do the front & side external walls. So tomorrow it's off with the roof! Oops let me correct that...he's up on the roof demolishing the asbestos. I think part of the roof is coming off today. I hope he does it quietly!

The wall continues...(27th - 31st Jan)

2009-01-30T22:15:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 27th

Today Mark dug the trench for the footing for the side wall and worked out levels to ensure the brickwork will fit in with the existing house.

I cleaned bricks, but this lot are concrete mortar not limestone so I'm breaking more than I'm cleaning (bugger).

We then mixed concrete and poured the footing for the side wall. We need to let it set before laying the first row of limestone.

We needed to buy new blocks for the side wall as their are not enough old blocks the right size but Mark is wondering if he can use the old blocks somewhere so that he doesn't have to throw them away.

Wednesday 28th

Mark went off to get more sand, limestone blocks and roadbase.

I worked on the computer paying bills etc until he returned and then I got back into cleaning (and breaking) more bricks.

Mark laid the bottom row of limestone and shaped the remaining blocks for the front wall. We just need to get a few blocks in on the second row of the side wall before we can finish off the front wall.

Thursday 29th

We only did half a day today as Mark has a car job to do and I did some ECU work. Yes - we both did paid work for a change.

We laid a couple of blocks in the second row of the side wall so that we can finish off the final blocks in the front wall tomorrow.

Friday 30th

We had a big day today. We finished the front limestone wall and got most of the side wall done.It's much quicker work when we don't have to cut every block and figure out a random pattern.

Mark dug the trench for the internal wall and we used all of the remaining old limestone blocks to create the buildup.

Just the top row of limestone to be done on the side wall. Only another 7 blocks and we're done with limestone.

We are both very happy, Mark because he doesn't have to cart any old limestone to the tip and me because I didn't clean bricks today.

Mark reckon's he'll be ecstatic when the limestone is finished and he can move onto laying bricks. He's loking forward to working with little bricks instead of big chunks of limestone. Humm, I'm not so sure he'll be ecstatic once he gets started....

Saturday 31st

Gave ourselves a day off today...we are both buggered! So much for a day off...I spent the morning cleaning the kitchen, doing the washing and hosing down the back entertaining area. Mark helped the guy across the road compact his driveway and fixed the bug zapper. Now we are finally relaxing, I'm blogging and Mark is having a "Pa" nap!

Up up and away...(20th - 26th Jan)

2009-01-25T01:09:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 20th
No house work today. Mark drove Nick up to Kalamunda to check out the job Ken & Rod are working on. I started doing ECU work but too many people dropped in & I hardly got anything done.

Wednesday 21st
Mark did a couple of trips to Slab & garden city for roadbase and sand. We checked out limestone city for limestone sizes and prices. Bought a couple of blocks to get us started. We mixed concrete and put down the front footing. Mark shaped the first couple of blocks. Every one of the front blocks has to be bevel cut on all 4 sides to try and match in with the existing front wall. Very time consuming. It's like putting a jigsaw puzzle together trying to work out which piece will fit where, so lots of thinking and discussion at the end of each day to work out tomorrows tasks.

Thursday 22nd

I picked up a few more blocks of limestone while Mark carried on cutting the blocks to shape. We now have 4 blocks concreted in...as I said very time consuming! I spent the day cleaning bricks.

Friday 23rd

Mark cut and laid more limestone, we now have 12 blocks in place.

And I cleaned more bricks (groan). The cleaned pile is growing slowly, but the uncleaned pile doesn't appear to be shrinking.

Saturday

Off to Bunnings to buy conduit and water pipe to bury underground before we pour the footing for the side wall. Today was spent digging trenches, laying pipes, filling in trenches and compacting. Mark cut more blocks for the front wall and I cleaned bricks. We are ready to pour the footing, but as we are not allowed to work on Sun or Mon...it won't happen until Tuesday next week.

Sunday
Day off - no work as per council regulations!

Monday
Day off. Australia Day. We are off to the Brisbane Hotel for lunch with Jill, Wayne, Luisa & Clayton.

Down it comes...(10th - 19th Jan)

2009-01-10T01:29:00.000-08:00

Saturday 10th Jan
We removed all of the floorboards and most of the limestone however we need to get a couple of more acro props to support the roof before we knock the last pillar down.

Sunday 11th Jan
Day off today! Ken (Mark's brother) is picking up our acro props from Tony McLeod in Mandurah on his way home from holidays today. We are off to the movies tonight to see Australia - Gold Class. We loved Gold Class and enjoyed the movie!

Monday 12th - Thursday 15th Jan
Received quote for new doors...need to source a glazier & decide on best value.
Mark jacked up the roof and removed the last of the brick wall, the timber beams and dug up the limestone footings. We will reuse most of the old limestone in the new footings and the buildup for the front wall. We will buy new blocks for the buildup for the side wall.

Friday 16th - Monday 19th Jan
No work this weekend.

Friday 16th- I flew to the Gold Coast for cousin Vicki's wedding and Mark went to work at Replica. I caught up with Ria van de Woude and Michelle Watt (nee Ritter) for dinner. it only took us about 3hrs to catch up on the past 20yrs. It was great to see them both. Mark had dinner with Luisa & Clayton.

Saturday 17th - Dad, Dan, Fisher, Johnny Lee & I drove to Brisbane, then onto Highvale for Vicki and Claude's wedding. Mark went to Uncle Ken's 80th birthday party.

Sunday 18th - We said good bye to the rellies about 12noon and headed back to Dad's place. Chris & Shaz came up from Lismore to visit and Michelle, Alira & Paul Watt dropped in for afternoon tea. Mark went up to GinGin for a family lunch to help celebate Ryan's birthday.

Monday 19th - I flew back to Perth and Mark drove back from Gingin & picked me up from the airport.

Still destroying...(5th - 9th Jan)

2009-01-08T17:53:00.000-08:00

Monday 5th
Today was allocated as an ECU work day for me. Mark did a quick trip to the tip to drop off another load of asbestos and returned the trailer, then he was happy to have the rest of the day off!

Tuesday 6th
ECU work day for me. Mark back to demolishing the verandah. Today he removed the corner wall (near the front door) and pulled out more timber.

He also started attacking the front limestone wall. Just to see how hard it was to get out! He got 1 block out but it was harder than he thought. I have suggested putting more in front of the remaining section rather than removing it, as it's very solid.

Wednesday 7th
This morning Mark hired a trailer & picked up a couple of acro props from Dave to support the roof. I sorted out the stuff in the boxes in the spare room. Threw lots of paper out, I'm getting good at it, but there's still lots to store away. We've decided to put a bigger trap in the new entrance floor, so we can store boxes under the floor.

This afternoon, we were back at Bunnings buying, bolts, retic fittings, a couple of plastic storage boxes etc. Mark spent the afternoon moving and repairing the reticulation in the front yard. I stored office stuff in the new boxes. We only bought 2 in different sizes to see what fitted best. I need another 2 (1 of each size) - yeah, I love shopping at Bunnings!

Thursday 8th
We just did a few odd jobs around the back yard in the morning & measured up how much brick will need tuckpointing as we had a guy from Federation Tuckpointing coming to give us a quote at lunchtime.

Estimated cost - $150 per square metre. Mark had guessed it would cost about $4,000. The quote works out to about $4,500-$5,000 so it was a bit more than we expected. But it has to be done no matter what the cost to match the existing front of the house.

Next we went off to Vic Park Salvage to check out their Jarrah floorboards. I had phoned 4 places and no-one had any. I was starting to get worried as one place advised the next 2 houses they were demolishing were already allocated. Apparently old floorboards and cleaned bricks are in hot demand. We managed to find 11 boards in reasonable condition so we bought them all ($6.60 per metre). A few boards were too long to fit in the 4 wheel drive, so Mark will go back & pick them up tomorrow. We also stopped off at HumeDoors and got a price for the new doors we need. $540 + GST each, but they only do wholesale and said that a reseller may be able to do better. So, I'll phone around and see what I can get.

Once it cooled down a bit (it's been 34 - 36 degrees for the past few days), Mark got stuck into removing the rest of the side wall and pulled up some of the floorboards.

Mark was worried about the ends of the remaining boards being unsafe...I guess it must be a safety ladder?

It's slowly shrinking!

Friday 9th
No "housework" today as Mark has a car wiring job at Replica Motors and I am doing ECU work (as soon as I finish updating this blog!).

The destruction continues (3-4 Jan 2009)

2009-01-02T17:31:00.001-08:00

Saturday 03/01/2009
Off to Bunnings to check out their impact drills! off with most of the render! Wow that's much easier than doing it by hand. I'll also be able to use it to clean up the bricks.

Down with the front wall and off with more timber framing.

Sunday 04/01/2009
According to council rules Sunday is a day off. So today we are cleaning up some of the mess we've made. Wrapped the asbestos in black plastic and hired a trailer. Off to the tip.

Out with the old...(30th Dec - 2nd Jan 09)

2009-01-02T17:17:00.000-08:00

Well it took a while to convince Mark to renovate the house, but it didn't take long for him to get into the demolition! What is it about boys & destruction?

Tuesday 30th Dec
We returned from Qld having spent Xmas with my Dad & Brothers. We had previously agreed that the house renovations would start once we returned, but I didn't expect it to happen so fast!

Wednesday 31st Dec
We spent the day moving all of the office furniture out of the front room and managed to fit all my stuff in the loungeroom & Mark's stuff in the dining room (umh, that could be dangerous, his desk is right beside the bar).

Thursday 1st Jan 2009
The Demolition begins....out came the side windows and frames and the ceiling. What a mess!

Friday 2nd Jan
Out came the front windows, window and door frames. Up went the building notification site sign. We started chipping away at the render...there must be an easier way! Yes, Dave suggested an impact drill with all sorts of attachments, we'll look into this.