Tag Archives: home improvements

Installation Day

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Yesterday we had a couple more changes finalised.

The front room which is my sewing room has large outward-opening French doors but no way of restricting access to the unwanted insects. These doors are the only direct ventilation for this room and that is not a significant issue for the majority of the year as we are trying to keep the house warm. However, about 4 months of summer can be a different story. After much research we found a solution to the problem.

A retractable, folding mesh screen that is barely noticeable when it is retracted yet allows us to open up the doors on warm days without the insects coming inside.

This is the view with the doors open and the screen closed.

The doors are closed and the screen retracted in this photo. It is quite difficult to make out the housing for the folded screen on the left-hand side.

The second part of the job was to have a security door installed on the front door. Once again, there are limited times that we actually need the front door open but it is a nice option as well as the additional security even when the door is shut.

The view when the main door is shut.

And when it is open.

It is great to have these improvements in place as the weather is set be be quite hot over the next few days.

Flowers and Fencing

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I really enjoy this display of sweet peas that we can see from the kitchen and family room. I planted them from seeds I collected last year that were hanging over someone’s front fence. I will definitely be saving the seed pods again for next year.

This was the original front fence when we arrived.

This has now been demolished and the new posts are in place for the new fence. The rails have been salvaged and earmarked for another landscaping project.

It will be 1.5m high so will offer a bit more privacy and security as we are on a major regional through road. There will be electric gates for the vehicular access as well as a pedestrian gate in the centre of the fence.

There will be more photos once it is complete.

Day Out and A Door

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I went to Melbourne today as I needed to stock on on some of the dry goods that I buy in Melbourne – usually every 3 – 4 months. Graina at Moonee Ponds was my destination and I specifically chose to go today as each Tuesday there is a 20% discount if you bring your own containers. I think that is a pretty worthwhile incentive so I headed off with a list and a bag of containers of various sizes.

I also ventured to Footscray to Cheaper Buy Miles. There are stores at Footscray, Flemington, Fitzroy and Brunswick. The stock is end of lines, short-dated, unpopular flavours etc and varies from week to week. There is generally a good selection of gluten free and plant-based foods. The great thing about buying from here is that as well as saving money you are also doing something positive about saving stuff that would otherwise end up in landfill.

Today I picked up 3 x 350g packs of GF penne and 2 packets of GF crispbreads for the sum total of $7.

I caught the train to Melbourne then used the suburban train and trams to get to Moonee Ponds and Footscray before the train trip home. I was reminded of how easy it is to take familiar scenery for granted. This is a view from the train as we sped towards home.

The reason that I went by myself was that GMan needed to be at home as we had a carpenter coming to install a door at the end of the hallway. This will make it much easier to heat or cool the family/dining room and kitchen in the future as the benefit from the reverse cycle airconditioner will not be bowing directly down the hall.

There is still some finishing touches to be done on Thursday but I am really excited by this relatively minor alteration. It is going to make a significant difference.

Painting Posts

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Yes, this is a post about painting but more importantly, we were actually painting posts.

We have a large area under our highset house which was simply an untamed soil embankment when we first came here almost 15 years ago.  This was unusable and generated a lot of dust in the house.  A few years later we had most of the area concreted.  We had no specific plan and for the last 10 years it has mostly been a storage and work area.

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Nevertheless, in the back of our minds was a half-hatched plan to turn at least part of it into an outdoor entertainment area.  Part of the reason is that this is by far the coolest area of our home during the summer.

Our half-hatched plan has developed over a few years but it was not until this year that we have had time to really get started.  We intend to screen part of the area using Ekodeck battens.  The first step of this process was to paint the steel posts.

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Most of the posts are painted dark gray to match the other exterior paintwork on the lower level of the house.  However, we painted the posts which will be in the middle of the designated area in a much lighter hue.  This will ensure that they are easily visible.  We will combine this with strategic placement of furniture and plants to minimise any risk of accidents.

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We plan to create a green screen using multiple hanging baskets hung at different levels in the section which contains the light-coloured cross-bracing.

Several weeks ago we bought the timber for the support rails.  The 21 pieces have been cut to length, painted and are stacked in preparation for the next stage of the construction.

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After much planning and preparation we are finally seeing results.  The difference between the first and third photos in this post is the result of about 5 hours work by GMan and I today.

I think we deserve a couple of rest days after that effort.  We have a lunch date planned for tomorrow and are going to the movies on Saturday.

 

 

Back to Reality

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After 6 weeks of holidays in the USA and Canada we have been home for a little over a week.  We went back to work the day after arriving home so the priority has been catching up on sleep and doing the basics to keep things running smoothly.

There have been some significant changes to ‘The Castle’ in the past few months and now that it is mostly finished, I can share the details with you.

We have had some of the verandah flooring replaced and it has all been sanded and resealed.  The railings are all new and possibly the most exciting thing from my point of view is the screening and gate at the end of the verandah.  This provides a bit more privacy and security to the verandah and creates a clearly defined entrance to the house.

Looking along the front verandah.

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The railing on the patio.

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The new entrance.

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The whole picture.

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We have lots of painting to do and there are plenty of other projects on the home improvement list but this is a big one ticked off.

If you missed the holiday adventures you can read all about it here.  There will be one more post once I sort out the final spending tally but other than that I will be back here – hopefully on a fairly regular basis.