coming close to the end...

Neill, the glamour model, in the extension with the 'kitchen' behind him...

the new 'kitchen' window

winter morning sunlight in the extension

our makeshift 'kitchen'... we will be so glad
to see the last of that kitchen sink

Moving ahead to the outline of the new house...

Breaking through the new windows and walls started to open up the new house - we were getting used to living in constant mess. 

The new extension takes shape - ceiling and walls make a huge difference!

how quickly things move...

 Breaking through the eastern wall of the old house...

 Up goes the framing for the skillion roof of the extension. 

Hamish sunning himself, like a happy lizard, in the winter sun on the deck of the new extension.

It's been a while...

...starting the extension... a cloudy day + Wayne with the wheelbarrow to get the concrete footings in. Where are you Matthew??

one month on...

Lounge room (near front door) stripped!

Lounge room (near front door) with frame up for entry with cupboards

Lounge room after plasterboard

Lounge room painted

  

floorboards revealed!

lovely Neill in front of our 'feature wall'

some photos of where we have got to over the last month. We are perched temporarily with family until our house is ready for us to move in.... well, the first stage anyway... There will be a few minor details such as an uncompleted ensuite bathroom, half a kitchen and insulation hanging out of the roof over the dining room. Help is on the way - Neill's nephew, Matthew from England who hopefully doesn't follow sport & will add to the constant reminders that we are getting from Neill about the cricket... its time to watch the tennis down here anyway (has Tim Henman retired yet)...  

helping hands...

There have been lots of people who have been helping in our reno process - from friends and family to the great tradespeople that we have met along the way. Don't know what we would have done without the helping hands that we had to demolish old BBQ's, pull up carpet grips, pull nails out of floors and paint walls. Some photos of the helpers are below.  

Hamish

Gareth

Chris

Neill

Angus

back to basics...

Turns out that there was asbestos - the worst kind - all through the ceilings of our new home. So in came Andy and the boys (A1 Asbestos) to strip it all out. They also removed all the walls - as we could get a better (and smoother) result on the walls than the current masonite. 

Living Room - before

Living Room - during

We now have a crazy timeframe - 10 working days over Christmas to: 

• have the asbestos / masonite removed 
• get the electrician in for initial rewiring (first fix)
• plasterers in for fitting and setting of the plasterboard
• finalisation of the wiring 

former Dining Room - before

former Dining/Kitchen - during

Have given up on getting the floorboards and painting done - so we will live in our shell for a little while...