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!

More Fog!

As I had predicted, the fog returned this evening. At this point it is no where near as bad as yesterday evening. I had to go shopping, so I took the long way to the supermarket [via the airport :-)] and took a photo from a couple of beaches at Lyall Bay and Island Bay.

I've converted to these images to monochrome... they just look better.

... still rolling in

... and now the visibility is well under 100 meters. This photo taken at 8:07pm this evening and I imagine it will get worse...  Welcome to summer :-)

Here comes the fog

After a really nice, dare I suggest even hot, day in Wellington today, it was obvious that was about to change as evening came. Bussing home, the fog was rolling in from the south over the airport and now it has arrived at home. What follows are two photos taken at 6:36pm and then two more at 7:30pm.

What a difference an hour makes. At least it won't be too hot tonight :-)

Repaint time... initial tidy up is done

After a couple of weekends, the initial tidy-up of the grounds has been done. While it hardly meets the definition of "tidy", it is good enough for the painting to go ahead.

Compared to the previous photos, it is quite different. Now it's just a couple of weeks until quotes are in for the painting. If you don't hear from me again, maybe the quotes were too much of a shock! :-)

Anyway, on to the photos:

Repaint time... the prep continues

Following on from Thursday's start to the trimming of trees, the skip bin arrived yesterday and we started filling it today.

Unfortunately the weather is not cooperating... but we have the bin for a whole week, so plenty of time to get it filled up. If the photo makes the skip bin already look full, it's no problems because the plant material will crush down a lot... just as well, as we have flax bushes with designs on world domination :-)

Repaint time... preparation

It's well past time, but the three owners [myself included] of the block of flats I live in are about to get the exterior of the units repainted.

We've just sent out a request for tenders to a couple of painters and perhaps a couple more to do in the next couple of days.

First up though is a bit of a general tidy up. One of my neighbours [and unit owners] and I have been ripping out excessive vegetation. With the skip bin arriving tomorrow, the weekend should be a busy one!

Anyway, here are a few photos. These show the current state of the land; showing the what has been ripped out and what is left to remove or trim back. Hopefully there will be some more photos in the next week or so.

The Brooklyn Wind Turbine

It's a public holiday today and despite the less than ideal weather, I decided to get out of the house and go do something. This ended up being a visit to the Brooklyn Wind Turbine.

You'll see a couple of things from the photos... I'm not particularly skilled at photographing the scenery nor coping with bad light [I think I do much better with photographing planes...!].

Anyway, the Brooklyn Wind Turbine was [according to its owner, Meridian Energy] New Zealand's first viable commercial turbine. As you see in the photos, there is a small information display and a bit of shelter for when it's windy [which is most days...] :-)

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.

More zoo photos!

Here are a few more pictures from our visit to Wellington Zoo earlier today!

As you can see, there's plenty to see - it's a good place to fill a few spare hours. See if you can name the animals in each photo... Not so many friends and family photos in here :-)