Secondhand house update: what's taking so long?
It feels like we are making slow progress with the secondhand house again. You might be wondering what's taking so long. Here's what's happened since I wrote about painting the outside of the house.
The shed
I don't know if I've really explained the shed before. The intention of the shed is a workshop and storage space so that we can keep the house free of clutter. We chose a big shed because we didn't want to have to build another shed if we ran out of space. Its 15m (three 5m bays) by 12m by 4m high. The two bays closest to the house have roller doors. The final bay has a mezzanine floor, which we will use for storage. We will also build a space under the mezzanine for the freezers and a soap-making/honey processing kitchen.
So far we have council approval for the shed, we had rainwater tanks hooked up, we have rodent-proofed the gap between the wall and the slab and filled the shed with a surprising amount of stuff already. We haven't organised the room under the mezzanine, shelving for the mezzanine, electrical wiring (connected to solar PV I hope), however I have bought a secondhand kitchen!
 |
| Taz helping me with the plan of the shed |
 |
| rodent-proofing |
 |
| shed kitchen waiting to be installed under the mezzanine |
The bathroom
Everything is installed in the bathroom, the only job left is painting the walls and the ceiling (without splashing any of the new fittings!). We haven't had the hotwater turned on lately, so I haven't actually tried the bath or shower, but it is very nice to have a toilet in the house again.
 |
| few before photos from the bathroom |
 |
| can't wait to try that bath! |
 |
| The toilet is hiding behind the tiled wall |
 |
| Mirror and light to go above the vanity |
Painting the inside
We have officially finished sanding all the inside walls of the house! So far we have finished painting two bedrooms, the hallway and the sideroom (builtin veranda). The kitchen has primer on the walls, and we are now ready to put primer on the lounge and master bedroom. We have also left all the doors and window frames until last.
New floors are next
 |
| ready to paint in the lounge and master bedroom |
New floors are next
We have been through several different options for the floor in the house. First we thought we would put tiles throughout, put then we learnt that tiles are not really suitable in a Queenslander house that can move and twist on its stumps (better for concrete slab houses). Then we thought we would sand and polish the original floorboards, but I read a very good book about Queenslander houses, which said that the hoop pine boards were never really designed to be walked on, always intended to be covered. We can also see the ground through some of the gaps in the floorboards, so it could be a bit chilly in winter. We've decided to lay a new hardwood floor over the hoop pine floorboards. This will be 25mm ironbark floorboards, not a laminate. It will be sanded and polished with a Danish wax product, and its thick enough that we can repolish and resand it if needed. We need to finish the painting before we can get the floor laid though! And we needed to have the shed finished so that we could move everything out of the house and into the shed while the floor contractors are here.
So that is what has been taking so long! But I feel like we are making slow and steady progress. What do you think? Are you renovating? Or a survivor of a renovation? Who's living in a Queenslander?
More posts about our house, from moving it to the property through to moving into the house (roughly in order):
A secondhand house for Cheslen Rise
A tour of our secondhand house (BEFORE)
The story of our secondhand house - Part 1
Choosing insulation for our house
Renovating a Queenslander house
Building the Queenslander house - book review
Stairs for our secondhand house
Removing asbestos from our secondhand house
Another update on our house progress
How to choose exterior paint colours
And one more update on our house progress
Keeping our house warm in winter
More from:
house
Share this
Recent Posts
eBooks By Eight Acres
View all
Related Posts
-
Renovating a Queenslander house - where to start??
We bought our 258 acres property with no house, knowing that we would eventually build a house so that we could live ...
-
Keeping our house cool in summer
As Australian summers seem to be getting hotter and electricity prices are increasing, we need to look for passive te...
-
Removal house advice - where to start?
A removal house is a great way to quickly put a house up on a bare block of land. For us it bypassed all the decision...
-
Ten renovation projects you can start while in quarantine
Chances are, you’ve recently had to grapple with the reality of quarantine, or at least spending more time at home, a...
Leave a comment