Renovations from start to finish Part A

[namtrak]

Everything has come to a screaming halt for the last few months. SWMBO was floored with an unknown virus, which kept her more or less bedridden for 2 months, and turned me into a carer - then I came down with the flu' - sort of been one thing after another lately.

However, I am just starting to get back on track. We are doing the rendering at the moment, we are using an acrylic render which amongst other things ' sticks like the proverbial to a blanket'. The render has gone over both the existing rendered wall and the new Hebel powerpanel walls quite well. So well in fact that we'll only need one coat.

A tip for the DYI'er.

The Hebel needs top be wet before application, and it absolutley soaks up the water. Which in turn means that, if the ground around the house is still dirt it will become a quagmire, which can make it a bit problematic to work in.

It's a bit hard to get a photo of the render that does it justice, as it is a bit overcast here.

But I have included a before photo showing the existing house and Hebel join prior to rendering, and the front of the house showing how it is coming up. The photo of the front also shows up the new portico, which I just need to run some cement sheet into.

When the corner where the join is between the old and new is I'll post it up as a comparison.

As it stands at the moment 90 sqm of rendering has cost $1320. This includes labour and render. All up to get the whole house done will cost just on $2000. Or about $15 per sqm.

I have managed to save a little bit by doing as much of the prep work as possible - making sure all surfaces were ready and keeping lunch and coffee up to the renderer.

To put this price in perspective, we had a quote from a professional rendering company who quoted (using a sprayer and acrylic render) just on $12,000 or about $90 per sqm.

[namtrak]

Another tip from the renderer was not to use coloured render. But rather render the house and then paint it. He reckoned that if we rendered with a coloured render, then if there is some damage you cant just re-render the damaged bit but the whole panel because it is too hard to get a colour match.

[Dirty Doogie]

Hi Namtrak,

This is a great thread and I must congratulate you on your work and also on your ability to keep writing about it.

I usually try to keep a journal of my reno's but then the entries start trailing off becuase you are just too tired.

How long do you estimate is it going to take to get it finished from now?

Doog

[namtrak]

Thanks Dirty Doogie Howser,

Final rendering, and general tidy up around the yard 1 week
Finish skirts and archs. 2 days
Paint Ceiling in loungeroom 2 day
Paitn walls in loungeroom 2 days
Paint Skirts and archs 3 days
Lay insulation 1 day
Finish extended kitchen bench 3 days
Finish builtins 5 days
Final plaster sanding painting 3 days
Install fire place 1 day
Finish cornice and sanding around fireplace 5 days
Paint internal doors 5 days
Cement sheet on portico 1 day
Concrete patio 2 days
Concrete around new extension 5 days
Stormwater 1 day
Paving and Retaining wall 3 days
New front gate 1 day
Paint outside 5 days

Easily 55 days, given the 3 to 1 ratio I have been working on then around 150 days - December - all said and done!!!

Lets see how that pans out then eh?

[Dirty Doogie]

It is all those little finishing jobs at the end that seems to bog people down - I still havent managed to get all the skirting boards on 1 year later LOL!

MY tip ; cut and scribe the skirting boards and test fit them - then take them outside and finish them before fixing. Especially if they are being stained and or painted. Trying to finish them in situ kills the knees and the neck.

best wishes Doog

[namtrak]

Rendering is all done. Looks great and come in at $2330. Which was a bargain compared to the $10,000 + quotes we did have. I haven't bothered with photos, as they don't do it justice. Maybe when we've finished the painting.

Another couple of little jobs which we have almost got through are the glass 'fineries' cabinet and the fireplace.

The fireplace is an Escea 850 which we bought from this mob. We had all sort of diffculties, well not difficulties as such but just a long delay. It seems when we bought the heater (paid up front) it wasn't approved for Australian standards, and that took almost another 6 months. As far as we can tell, it wasn't the fault of the supplier, but more the manufacturer who was a bit liberal with the facts. Either way, it is now in and is exactly what we were after. I am still waiting on the sparkie to connect up the bypass, but other than that all is good and works a treat.

The cabinet was an afterthought, and was put in for two reasons. One because we had nowhere to stick wine glasses and such (like all married couples we have cupboards full of crap no-one has ever seen - figuratively and literally ) And the other reason was because, when we cut the two holes in the existing wall it effectively created a free standing internal wall - albeit loadbearing, however I felt better having a cupboard built perpindicular to the existing wall.

And for Ozwinners benefit, the back of the cupboard includes a small offcut of one of the mirrors we picked up from his joint (photos of the framed mirror to come)

[Dirty Doogie]

I love those recessed niches in gyprock. It looks sexy IMHO

[Mammosgrub]

Just wondering what render product you used, how much it is, and how hard is it to apply?
Thanks

[namtrak]

The house is now painted in a colour called Weathered Cedar. In total I used 2 15litre drums of primer (tinted in the cedar) and 2 15litre drums of exterior paint. The total cost for the paint was $360. I also used some 5 cans of etch primer to paint the pipes and downpipes. And one can of touch-up paint in the same colour as the colour bond.

The paint is actually a Solver brand, but I wanted to use the product that was designed for the render. So i just took a swatch to the company that supplied the render and they tinted the paint and primer to exactly what we wanted.

The render was EuroTac 2000 acrylic render and covered our house in one coat. That was over the existing render and the new hebel. The render cost about $20 per bag. It is relatively straightforward to apply, but you do need to keep the surfaces wet, very wet.

The colour of the house doesn't show up too clearly, but you get the idea.

PS....

All the images in this whole thread were accidently deleted, and sadly for the first year and half I dont have any copies as I lost a lot of pics with a hard drive crash. I will try and restore the pictures that I do have so it makes a bit more sense.

[silentC]

Looking good. Shame about the earlier pics, it was a good record.

[namtrak]

It's not all bad news

[pawnhead]

That render looks fantastic. You've done a great job, and I love the colour choices.

Bummer about the HD crash. It's always a good idea to back up occasionally.

[bazza123]

Hi namtrak,
Has been great reading of your progress with the owner builder project. I'm currently starting off down this path and am drafting a budget. Would you be able to send me yours, or do you know of any other good examples?

Thanks,
bazza123

[namtrak]

Bazza123, not that I think you'll be back, but I will eventually get around to posting everything back up this thread including my budgets and stuff - so stay posted (so to speak)

Just resurrecting the list I wrote up about 3 months ago - to see what jobs I've got through.

DONE Final rendering, and general tidy up around the yard 1 week
DONE Paint Ceiling in loungeroom 2 day
DONE Lay insulation 1 day
DONE Install fire place 1 day
DONE Cement sheet on portico 1 day
DONE Stormwater 1 day
DONE Paint outside 5 days

Finish skirts and archs. 2 days
Paint walls in loungeroom 2 days
Paint Skirts and archs 3 days
Finish extended kitchen bench 3 days
Finish builtins 5 days
Final plaster sanding painting 3 days
Finish cornice and sanding around fireplace 5 days
Paint internal doors 5 days
Concrete patio 2 days
Concrete around new extension 5 days
Paving and Retaining wall 3 days
New front gate 1 day

Oops still a bit to go.

Mainly the landscaping I suppose.

Here's a new pic of the front of the house, after I finished the gardens. I wanted to get a few new plants in and some mulch down asap, particularly once we had a fair dumping of rain!

I have lost a bit of time, because we have just learnt that SWMBO has a new job in Canberra! Frig! So now I have to complete the house, ready for tenants and look for a new joint in Canberra - back to square 1. Get ready for that blog - not much good news in there I think. Very darn expensive.

[namtrak]

Thanks to some inspiration from some sutff on WWF, I have got around to getting the built-ins sorted, almost.

At this stage, I have built them simply as shelves. I won't be putting drawers in until we either sell the place or move back from Canberra.

This built-in is the one in the TV room, and the timber is blue gum from Studleys packs I bought earlier in the year. The holes have been filled with Car Bog, tinted with black (it looks a lot darker in real life) and is finished with Minmax wipe-on.

To build the three sets of built-ins (photos following for the rest) cost about $250 for the melamine and screws. Curently I am working on the laundry, also courtesy of Studley.