Sunday 10 November 2013

Houses, Maintenance and Pain



Apart from just being bombed with work and all the drawing that involves, i've also recently been juggling getting this house of ours patched up (and doing tax returns and dealing with a problem car, all the things i hate in life basically!). Anyway, we couldn't put off getting the roof fixed for another winter, so there it is, scaffolding and lots of it, front and back. It feels like it's been up for ever! The builder got it put up, had a look at the problems and then said he'd be back in 3 weeks to do the work!! and it was still sunny and warm then... it wasn't when he returned! The rain has set in and work slows down... and i spend my days thinking of all that water finding it's way into new parts of our house! In the picture you can see my mate Steve (not the builder!), he's been repairing and painting the original sash windows... and now he's painting the brickwork.


The roof is getting there, i'm just hoping for a few dry days! The list just keeps growing though once you start these things. The little garden wall at the front will probably need rebuilding, the front door needs replacing and then there's still the back of the house to do. The house was looking a bit tired when we bought it, but 7 years later and everything is starting to bug me... everything. I tell you, it's no wonder I've become so interested in the tiny homes movement! A few years in a big house and you start to see the problems (in our case it's mainly having too many rooms to fill with junk!!). Just think if you could tidy your whole house in a morning, or just get on some step ladders to fix the roof. We stayed in a caravan the other weekend and it was only a couple of days, but size wise it kind of made sense... as long as i had a big workshop on the same land! We'd probably all kill each other within a matter of weeks (days?) though!  Anyway, I'm not going anywhere for a while, got to knock this building back in to shape and enjoy it for a few more years. It's a lovely, handsome old house. It will have a new coat of colour soon (well, it's now already half painted), you might just be able to make out the colour tests. I'll show the 'after' pics once it's finished... if it ever stops raining!


It's a big old load of scaffolding!

3 comments:

  1. That looks like such a massive project! But what a great house, I would never leave it.....sigh. Except for maybe the closeness of the neighbors, I am a bit of a recluse these days.....

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  2. Hey Tracey! Just caught up on your blog too, i'm falling behind. The house is coming along now. I never did leave it, that's why i had to get a studio in town! You get used to close neighbours in this country. We have great neighbours and a good street, so it just feels like good community. They're well built houses from about 1870, so you don't hear your neighbours at all, although i'm sure they hear my two boys!!

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  3. It was a great decision to fix your roof as early as possible. By prioritizing it, you are securing your protection for the coming winter season, or any weather conditions at all. How's the construction, by the way? I hope that your renovation project will flow smoothly.

    -Scarlet Weingarten @ RoofingContractorTampaFL

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