How to remove internal walls

Big milestone in the renovation achieved this weekend. The final bits of wall framing separating kitchen to dining and dining room to lounge have been removed and two very large heavy beams have been installed. Here's some photos showing the steps involved in putting the beams up.

This first photo shows the final bits of wall framing holding the ceiling up.

A lot of preparation has gone on before being able to put the new beams in. This new framing which will support the beam had to be built ready to fit in to place. Below this under the floor, new piles had to be put in to support the weight. The photo below shows the holes cut in the floor. We had to dig down into the dirt and concrete in new piles, then secure these to the joist with strapping.

Next is fitting a bracket to the first beam. This is where the second beam will join on to the first beam. Measure 5 times: measure, mark, measure again, fit or cut and measure again. Note the beam is laminated pine - pieces of offcut finger jointed and then these are layered and glued together. This is apparently more solid and stronger than a single piece of timber.

Safety is paramount. It's time to take out the last two posts of old wall framing and hope the ceiling doesn't fall down.

Now is the exciting part - getting to use the Genie Lifter.

The beam weighs about 120kgs. Machines like this make it almost a one-person job.

Here we go winding up the Genie which lifts the beam into place, with a little bit of jiggling. The good things about these beams is that they will slot in between the old scotia.

Nearly there. Now slip the new post in to secure the beam in place.

Bashing the post in to place. Below in the hole you can see the new pile and the strapping.

Insert a temporary post at the other end and then lower the Genie. Stand back and see if it's going to stay up.

Now bolt in the new beam at the top.

The adjoining beam now needs to be shaped to slot into the bracket.

Hoist up the second beam, jiggle and guide it into the bracket and hope it fits. It didn't the first time, so we had to bring the beam all the way down and using a long drill bit, we made the slot deeper. Perfect on the second go.

With the beams in place the new wall framing can be built into place.

Nogs are built into the exterior wall ready for braceline gib (as required by Council). The ceiling framing you see in these photos is hung and barely supported by the interior walls. So no walking around up top.

With the beams up and all the interior wall framing gone, we begin to get a feel for the new open plan area, for how the kitchen flows into the dining area with it's new french doors opening out onto the carport, and over into the lounge area, similarly with new french doors where the chimney used to be. Now a light large space, where once it was dank, dark and cold with a broken fireplace and bright green walls. 

All the staples and nails have been pulled from the floors ready for polishing. Can't wait for that. It's such a great feeling of satisfaction.

Over the demolition hump

We're finally building, instead of just ripping out. The house is getting underwear (building paper and insulation) and the new bathroom is taking shape.

This is the kitchen. We've removed and boarded over where the exterior window was as this will be where the hob will be with glass splashback above.

We totally gutted the bathroom and have cut the laundry down in size to make the bathroom bigger. We've had to move the laundry window over a bit. There'll be just enough width for the laundry tub and washing machine to go in under the window. The hot water cylinder will be tucked in a space to the right of the window. This juts into the bathroom but forms an alcove where the new bath fits.

The bath is smallish but it's just a bath, no shower over it. As per regulations we're using aqualine - gib board for wet areas, hence the green colour. This will be undercoated and painted and the lower third will be tiled.

We're installing a new shower box 900 x 900 in the inside right hand corner. We had long debates about the layout. We've changed it from the plans provided by our designer. It was all about maximising the light coming in from the one window, and privacy. It's feasible that someone could look in the french doors (driveway side) right through into the bathroom if the bathroom door was open. So the shower is tucked in the right hand side corner and the bath is on the left. The eye-line from the other side of the house will flow along the floor unimpeded to the vanity. A photo later will show why this will work to make the house appear bigger.

All new flooring in the bathroom.

So it's end of month 4 since possession. We can only manage weekend work on the house on top of our fulltime jobs, travel for work, school and after school things, Girl Guide biscuit selling, family events: an engagement party, a death and thus funeral. But, we are finally over the demolition hump and it's satisfying to be able to glimpse what it's going to look like. There's light at the end of the tunnel, or in this case the light is in the back porch where Steve is sawing timber.

Drowning in paint

The back house is all painted. Despite the accident - when the painter slapped the roof paint on the house exterior - it's come out okay. The roof colour is looking a little lighter than the same colour on the house.

We're still trying to get rid of the eye-sore blue shed at the back. Have sold it twice on Trademe but the people didn't go through with the buy. That seems to be happening alot on Trademe lately.

The front house has just got it's first coat of paint on the roof. French doors bought from a demolition trader via Trademe have gone in to the driveway side of the house (that's North, sun-facing) and allow alot more light inside.

Inside is almost just the skeleton. We've had to rip up some of the laundry floor because of poor repairs to rotten subfloor timbers. Some joists run across to nothing - no support. Some are propped on timber which is standing on another piece of timber sitting on the ground!

New beams have to be put in where the dining room walls are coming out. This requires new supports and new piles, hence the holes in the floor through which we had to manually dig down into the dirt underneath to install new tanalised timber piles and concrete. We're held up on that while we wait for the Council Permit. They've got some questions on heights, thickness and materials... as they usually do. 

Roof paint on the walls solves colour problem

Our painter friend finds us way too slow. Since the only paint we supplied was the roof paint and he was waiting for the exterior weatherboard paint, he just decided to go ahead and paint the weatherboards with it.

Meanwhile, I was agonising over a colour and buying a test pot. Nekminut!

Before shot

One coat of Solarguard Roof paint "Lichen"

Freshened up and rented

Four weeks hard out from possession date and tenants are moving in to House No.3. Here's the before and after pics at flickr.

The house is under-priced at $350 including water. We advertised it before we'd finished and based the rent on what the house was like before the new carpet and replaced kitchen went in. Plus, we've put in a microwave and washing machine. Saving grace is the first term is only for 6 months and all prospective tenants were told the rent would be going up $10-$20 after that time reflecting the work we expected to have done on the property over 6 months.

The rent is cheaper than it could be also, because we'll be around and want access to paint the exterior, paint the roof, fence and landscape.

New Year New Property

We're seeing in the new year (2012) slogging our guts out to get house no.3 ready for tenants to move in by the end of the first week in January. House 3? What happened to House 2? My last post, we were excited to be buying the house next door to House 1. We got stuck in to ripping the guts out of it as soon as it was ours and have been working flat-out. Too busy or exhausted to post updates. Within one week of taking possession of House 2, Fae had secured the house on the back half of the crosslease section and she offered it to us.

Her starting price was $250,000. Way too high. We said we'd go no higher than $220,000. A week later she sent a text offering it to us at $210,000. This is for a 3 bedroom 1986 Keith Hay home - your basic box with Hardiplank cladding, tin roof - nothing flash. We talked to our ANZ mobile mortgage manager who helped us get the mortgage on House 2. Because it was the same deal: private sale, contemporaneous settlement, ANZ required a registered valuation.

Mike the valuer didn't like this place at all. He gave it a really low valuation of only $216,000. Fair enough - the previous owners had built an unpermitted carport and extended it all the way down one side of the house. The north side cutting off the sun and much light to the lounge room and 2 bedrooms. They had then built in an enclosed conservatory off the lounge - using whatever wood and wood-like materials they could gather. This included using mdf and chipboard flooring, materials not for use outdoors. The wonky extended deck was quite bouncy. There was a horrid looking shed also clad in chipboard flooring material that was swollen with wet. The shed was badly lined and carpeted and make-do wiring had been run from in the house to provide light for some poor person whose bedroom it would have been.

The fencing on all sides is tin and ugly bad. There was a lot of rubbish around the property. Outside and in had been painted a bright lemon yellow! The carpet had been unprofessionally laid making the place feel destitute. The kitchen was rough - the stainless steel benchtop had numerous dents and cut marks. The stove had been home to mice and cockroaches. The toilet... well you get the picture.

We bought it anyway at a final negotiated price of $212,500. Poor House 2 has been sitting with her guts ripped out of her for 3 weeks while we've been diverted on to fixing up House 3. But, it's a new year and we're waiting for chosen tenants to get the bond over to us and confirm their move in date for hopefully end of next week.

From yucky yellow to

Cool cream, chocolate brown wool carpet and new curtains

Did we over-capitalise or not?

We have finally finished everything: the fencing, the sliding gate, tenants... almost. We're still waiting for the owner of the front house, the other cross-lease owner to sign off on the new title. Having problems there.

Meanwhile, we have found house number 2 - right next door. To get that, we've had to get a Registered Valuation on our do-up.... drum roll.... YES! We've squeaked in just over what we've actually outlayed. Once the bill comes in for the lawyers and land titles office registration for the new title, well that'll probably blow the cream off the top of our hot chocolate.

It's very exciting to have a run at getting the place next door. We can't believe we're getting to buy a house on the same size section, for little more than what we bought the first section for! We've gone unconditional and sign the mortgage docs tomorrow. Just waiting then for settlement to go through smoothly on Friday.

It may not be a smooth settlement, because it's a contemporaneous settlement. We have bought from a woman, who secured the house with a sale and purchase agreement but she doesn't have to settle until she sells it to someone else. She's a kind of trader, middle-gal. It was thus a 'private sale'.

The bank has really seemed to struggle with the whole deal. It nearly fell over when we informed our lawyer, naively, that the footprint of the house did not match up with what's on the title. It's "defective" she said. We looked up on the internet what a 'defective title' means and found that it can't be 'conveyed' so we thought that was all-over-rover. But, turns out you still can buy 'as is where is'. We just needed to give the bank our assurance that we would undertake to resurvey and fix the title, once we've done the renovations we're planning to do. And that's another story....