Chirp!:

    Monday, January 14, 2013

    The Tradies Arrive today

    In fact, they got there an hour or so ago.

    I am staying away, but i'll go have a peek this afternoon.


    AB and I have been working on the old house for about a month now - mainly him, every night, after work, chipping, clearing, removing, rumbling.  It should save us a bit of money.  Yesterday was our last heave-ho, and I have to say, i'm happy to be at home today ( at the flat ) in my jammies.  Resting.

    Here's some pics:


    Firstly, to give you some bearings, the R/E brochure from when we bought the house, in 2006:


    originalhouse130113


    And the floorplan:


    oldhouseplans130113


    They couldn't sell this house, you know?
    The pics look ok, but there was crap everywhere and people just walked around sneering and grimacing.  The owners also tried to save money by selling at Christmas when no-one was about.

    Right after we bought it, the property market here went BOOM! and a condemned lot across the street sold for $250k more than what we had bought this only 6months prior.

    Lucky.


    oldbathroom130113


    Above: the old bathroom ( will be a WIR )

    Below: the boy's bedroom.


    boysroom130113


    Below:
    Master Bedroom, main living area, and some kitchen rubble up the driveway.


    various130113


    Below:  the old kitchen, which will now be a hallway.


    thekitchen130113


    Below:  the old laundry, which will now be a butler's pantry/laundry off the new kitchen
    ( the middle pic is where I used to take my selfies .. hee hee :)


    laundry130113


    Below:  the Playroom, or according to the map above, a 3rd bedroom
    This will now be my kitchen, and that doorway will lead into my butler's pantry/laundry.


    playroom130113


    So that's it for now.
    Basically what happens next is the floors and ceilings come down.  That stupid playroom is the main reason for the reno - the way it cut into our usable space for no good reason.  However, it does keep the house up, so a steel beam is going in the roof to replace it.  We are also putting in the foundations for a 2nd story in the roof, which we can't afford right now, but since they have to take off the ceilings anyway, it makes sense to do that now.

    This means, in 4yrs time, we can just pop in some stairs and a pre-fab 2nd story, and boom:  separate rooms for the boys before high school.  Neato.

    Because, yes, even after this reno, we will still be a 2bedroom house, which is probably crazy by other people's standards.  I'm ok with that.


    What do you think?
    Feel free to offer me any advice, or discounts from your Uncle Dave.


    xx
    Lea

    8 comments:

    Janet said...

    Oh that kitchen so wants to be a hallway! (I love hallways). Also don't get that third bedroom, makes sense to put the kitchen there. Do you have a new floorplan?

    How exciting!!!

    Janet said...

    ps my last kitchen had a scullery which I think is similar to a butler's pantry and we loved it!

    Julie-Ann said...

    Some great changes. They just make total sense. As soon as I looked at the plan and before I read your changes I thought this is exactly what I would do too. Can't wait to follow the progress:)

    Adventures of a Crazy Mumma said...

    Love it,and yes the third bedroom will def make a better kitchen. I hate bedrooms of living areas,its like an after thought. Cant wait to see the progress :)

    Adventures of a Crazy Mumma said...

    ohhh, where is the new bathroom going?

    Uli said...

    I'm so looking forward to watching this happen. The plans sound great, and practical.

    I've taken the first tentative steps towards deciding how I want to reno my house and I'm pleased to hear you're doing a combo laundry/butler's pantry as that's what I'm planning on too. Prepare for me to copy your ideas shamelessly.

    Also, my plans also involve turning my two bedroom house into a ... two bedroom house.

    little miss olive said...

    everything is looking full-steam ahead! how exciting...i can't wait to see when it's finished. it's such a lovely house with great bones.

    LBA said...

    Thanks everyone!

    Oooh - scullery . I loikes the sound of that - wheere I can hang me cutlass to boot ;)

    Amy - we did the bathroom 4yrs ago .. on those plans it's called a "study" .. but it's the original sunroom .. it's lovely! :)

    Post a Comment

    Hey, You just read me, and this is crazy,
    But here's my Blogger, Comment maybe <3