Home improvements

This is a quick update on the exterior repaint that has been happening recently...

Firstly, most of the prep work has been completed, including the primer/ undercoat for almost all of the main body of the building and much of the railings on the deck. Nice. A portion of the window and door prep is also complete. It is mainly the deck surface and a couple of trickier bits of the building to be finished.

Assuming the weather improves, that should be all but complete in the next few days, then on to the top coats. The three of us who own the building are all but agreed on the top coat colours - I hope to have confirmation in the next day or two, so that can start next week.

I doubt it will be finished before my next holiday, but it would be well and truly finished, and looking rather flash, when I get back from my break!

The prep is almost finished

This weekend's update shows the progress that is being made with the prep for painting. The painters are sanding back the original prep work, and the builders have just about finished the minor repairs that are needed [thankfully there was very little on my unit that needed repair].

I was told today that the primer might be applied as soon as Monday, which would be a great result - it is only 2 weeks since the prep work started.

Having said that, even once the main building have been done, there's still the desks, balustrades, stairs to do, so I can't imagine that it will be all finished at the end of next week as originally suggested - but still much closer than I expected!

Anyway, here are a few pictures from today.

The prep continues....

The preparation for the repaint continues with more sanding, more anti-rust stuff and a strange yellow-tinged paint being applied in several parts... not sure what this is for, but it's different to what appears to be primer applied to other parts...

Today is the first time I've had a good look in the light. Hopefully the painters are noticing what appears to be some basic repairs needed [I must have a word with them on Monday when they are back in] and are not going to just paint over it! There will be words if they do...

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures...

Exterior repaint is underway

The long awaited exterior repaint of the building I live in is finally underway!

While I am a little sceptical about how long it will take [after all, it is winter in New Zealand], you can't fault the enthusiasm of the painters. They also look to be doing a reasonable prep job and it's very clear that given the state of the outside, the prep work will be even more critical than many jobs...

Anyway, here's a photo of the scaffolding that has been erected under my kitchen window - not a great photo - it was a 2 second exposure and I was trying to hold still :-)

There will be more photos as the work progresses!

Deck done!

After only 2 weeks, the deck has been completed. In this photo you will see that the decking and safety rails have been replaced.

It's looking good, and I'm very very happy that it's 99% done. Apparently, all I need to do now is to punch all the nails in a little, and there's a wee bit of painting to be done. The decking itself may [but it's not decided yet] be left unpainted. We will see.

Anyway, here's the picture.

Still renovating

The renovations on the deck are continuing, with good progress being made. I'm really glad that the work has started, as there was a reasonable amount of rotten wood and rusted nails found in some parts, which would only have gotten worse over time.

It seems that any maintenance in the past was a bit piecemeal, but it is being done properly this time - restoring 'like for like' - it'll be strong as once it's all finished.

Anyway, today's picture is symptomatic of the issue... rusty nails... and yes, these were important ones!

Renovation time!

After completing the interior renovation of my home about 12 months ago [bathroom, new kitchen, paint, carpet and lino, double glazing and a heatpump], it's time ot do something on the outside.

The deck is well past needing a lot of work, so before it becomes even more urgent, my neighbour and I have started by surrounding the building with 'DANGER KEEP OUT' tape then ripping off most of the decking. What's left could not safely be removed without scaffolding.

Anyway, here are photos from the first day's effort. I'll try and keep things up to date as the work progresses, although I would expect that there won't be much visible progress for a few days at least.

Home Improvement # 7

The door is finally back in place and looking good with the double-glazing in place. Nice! Now the place doesn't look so derelict :-) Just some painting and blinds to install then I'll be all done!

Home Improvement # 6

Right on [the new] schedule, the double glazed windows are back in place. The door will be done next week [this was expected and all good - the door had a little damp wood which needed to be dried and repaired first].

Anyway, it's all looking really nice, albeit with the expected prep and painting to be done inside and out. This finishing work will be done after all the sealant has dried and the door is refitted - that way I can do it all at once. I can't wait until this is all finished, once and for all!

Pictures are from the lounge and bedroom.

Home Improvement # 5

Exciting news!

The double glazing is being installed. Yay!

Today the door and windows and window frames were removed, and the gaps boarded up temporarily. It looks like the windows will be put in tomorrow. The door needs a tiny bit of remedial work and so that looks like next week. Either way, I'm looking forward to this being done!

In the meantime, the neighbours will be very happy to have be seeing me prancing around at all hours :-) ha ha

Here are the photos :-)

Home Improvement # 4

In this fourth instalment in my long-running Home Improvement series, this week I have had to carpet installed throughout and lino in the kitchen.

Here are a couple of pictures from the kitchen and lounge, which gives you a bit of an idea of how it all looks. Next week I hope to have the double glazing installed. After that, the only thing left will be some curtains to protect the vision and psychological well-being of the neighbours :-)

Home Improvement # 3

I don't think this one requires much explanation... I'll let the pictures do the talking :-)

Home Improvement # 2

OK, after my last post, here's the next set of photos of the bedroom renovations. In here, the skirting has primer on it, likewise most of the window frames [just waiting for the weather to improve to complete this].

The walls have their colour on them. I've decided that painting concrete block walls is not much fun :-) although a couple of walls have both top coats on now. Just waiting for a couple or 3 hours to put the 2nd coat on the remaining walls.

Once this is done I'll be able to put the top coats on the skirting boards, the door, then finish off the window frames.

 

Home improvement

I'm not sure how many of you remember the 1990's sitcom Home Improvement, but I'm been trying to finish off some improvements to my own place. The last room to do [and the first one I am doing mostly by myself...!] is the bedroom. I'll try to not destroy the room as often happened in Home Improvement, although there are times where more power and an enhanced tool or 2 would be nice!

After trying to get motivated for some time, I completed the sanding a few days ago, and today I put some paster on the bits of the wall that needed it [small holes...], put some Selley's No-More-Gaps in a gap [obviously] and put a primer coat of paint on the door.

I'll probably need to leave the plaster until late tomorrow to dry [some of it is a bit thick], then tidy it up. I might get to put the primer coat onto the window frames tomorrow and if things go really well with the plaster, I might get to put the primer on the skirting boards. We shall see!

Anyway, here's a couple of photos of the work in progress. You can just see the wet plaster in the first photo below the left-hand side of the window.