13th December

The enormity of what was supposedly a "simple renovation" is dawning on me. How do people build complicated buildings like sky scrapers and shopping centres? 59 Hunter Street is really only a fit-out of two (albeit large) rooms: one downstairs and one upstairs. I will attach a scribbled plan to help you sort out the things I keep talking about. I know Rowan is getting nervous that there will be no room for him when he comes back to Oz. There will be heaps of room - it just isn't divided into rooms! Btw...the leaking AMP wall is the one on the right hand side of the drawings.

 

Today, the "air-conditioning man" installed a unit downstairs. This is our insurance policy. We are assuming that we won't have to use this machine (often) because he have thoroughly planned maximising air-flow and utilising thermal mass. Just in case...it gets really hot or really cold. There are several jobs that have be done this week before the scafflod comes down on Saturday and this installation was one of them. He may have put one upstairs too but we remained ladder-challenged. The guy somehow overlooked to tell anyone that he had finished work and just walked out, leaving the place wide open. Luckily, Lester worked late and locked up. 



Air-conditioning unit in kitchen

Front door - 7.00pm



11th December

Since my last post, progress has not been all "moving forward".  Things have not exactly gone backwards but more in a sideways direction.

The roofers finished cladding the AMP wall (in an interesting colour!) and were just finishing off the flashing against our roof when it became apparent that where the workmen had been treading on the roof, sections  were rotted out underneath. It turns out, that the lead flashing used between the buildings has corroded the metal of the roofing underneath it, thus contributing to the water's entering our place. After many phone calls we have decided to replace all the metal on out roof too, in Colourbond which will conveniently match the colour up the AMP wall. We were going to do a patch-up job but the contractor was keen to do our roof, next week, as it means that he can then finish off the AMP properly. So, since it does not hold up our progress by much,  although it did mean postponing the craning-up and installation of the solar hot water system yesterday, we decided to go ahead. A new roof - not in the plans but not a bad thing!

On Thursday night there was a huge storm in the night. The whole site was nearly flooded and all the investigations on the roof have opened up more leaks which most efficiently encouraged water to gush in upstairs, fill John's tool box to the rim and leave puddles everywhere.

Meanwhile, Greg, Richo, Regis, John and the new on-site labourer, Ian, worked away all day. Ian has toiled for three days, with his friend David, his computer, and his new buddy from Foxtel, who came to check out reception  and antenna positioning. All is now "ready to go".

Roof corrosion

more corrosion

Even more corrosion

Roof view - taken by Greg

Ian's antenna holder

New site helper-outer- Ian

Richo  - hard at it

AMP wall completed. The colour looks ok here.

Effects of flooding in toolbox

John is such a clever guy he can evacuate with his trousers on!

Upstairs beams which need strengthening. Water damage.

Chasing and rendering in the kitchen

Regis contemplating his pipes out on the scaffold





Giant nail gun - arty shot by Greg!  He has taken  most of these photos today.

8th December

Workmen everywhere today! Some "roofing guys" were accessing the AMP wall through our place and  Greg, Richo, John and Regis moved things along for us. We had to do a bit of juggling to find a time when the water could be cut off in the surgery, which eventually worked, conveniently, into Lester's lunch break. This followed some anxious moments when we thought we would have to find and fill buckets for the surgery loo.

Greg and Richo were doing something with the ceiling upstairs. I can't wait for the stairs to go in so I can access the upstairs and see what is actually happening up there. The plumber, has done great things with water pipes, overflow drains and kitchen plumbing. The electrician, has organised more cables, lights, front door attachments and exhaust fans.

It looks like the AMP wall is nearly finished and that scaffold should be down by the end of this week. We still have to render and paint the back wall, attach an air conditoning unit and some TV antennae before the end of the next week, when our scaffold will come down.

I had another fraught morning helping out in the surgery. (I have decided dealing with the public is really hard. Working with a room full of Year 10 boys is preferable. Even better still would be a job with a dog and a computer!) I managed to look up once, in between accidentally hanging up on someone for the third time - I  think it was Katy who surely now knows she has the duddest aunty in the world, and saw a group of mature lycra-clad specimens across the road who were intently looking up at the roof. It crossed my mind that this was an odd thing for a group of cyclists, out on their Wednesday morning ride, to be doing. Turns out, it was Ian explaining to his mates where his latest cable network project was taking place.

Action man! Kitchen water pipes in place.

Action men! Pipes and cables galore.



The new AMP wall is almost finished in two days!



Arty shot..reflection of one bank on another, at the corner.

Arty shot #2 (sorry). This always spins me out in the afternoon light.

7th December

Another BIG day.

Well, big for me because it was the first day I have worked (at any job) for an entire day, since my retirement (four years). Lester and I arrived over town by seven o'clock and I had initial decision-making conversations with Steve and Greg before eight. We discussed important things like sound-proofing toilets, waste water outlets, telephone outlets and the fact that we had heard nothing from the building company who were supposed to be fixing the AMP wall.

 However, on the dot of eight, a huge crane backed up the lane, (blocking all the commuters coming to work), followed by a crew of scaffolders who set about unloading and erecting the aluminium scaffolding onto our roof, against the offending wall. I was delighted that there was "action" happening but also a little concerned that no-one had seen hide-nor-hair of the engineer who was apparently going to "sign off" that our roof could support this scaffold. (It turned out that "their" engineer and "our" engineer are the same bloke and he was happy to let it all happen because he knew we, (Greg) had put up those three steel beams on the top floor which, apparently can withhold any amount of weight. So - all good. By about midday everything was in place and I had a chance to slip out and photograph events. The men erecting the scaffold - are they called gangers??- even gave a wave at the sight of a camera.



from the rear - two differeent scaffolds



Front view

Meanwhile, my Big Day continued for many more hours. I "held the fort" at the front desk of the surgery; answering phones, scanning documents and trying to give the appearance that I knew what I was doing. Can't fool these patients. They sussed something was up as their beloved Rosemary and Carol were not there to greet them, as they have done for years. One old chap announced to the waiting room that he has known "Rosemary and Carol for thirty years!!" I could read his thoughts..."and who the heck are you???" All went well-ish until mid-afternoon when one man was so put-out that his verbal abuse over the phone, consisted of something akin to sexual harrassment, which was actually pretty upsetting. I must be getting prudish in my old age but I was shocked (and even a bit crushed) by his implications and language. Got to meet him face-to-face tomorrow. Give me thirty kids any day. They aren't half as scary as one unmedicated adult.

In the middle of all this I held conversations with multiple builders and tradesmen several times, sometimes simultaneously in the waiting room much to the interest of all present.  It is quite advantageous to be on site so that I can liaise between construction workers. One bizarre conversation was about how long scaffolding was staying in place. Now that there are two lots of scaffolding on the same site the conversation became quite skewed - now, which bit of scaffolding are you talking about?

Meanwhile, Rowan and Samantha sent messages about their trip through Vietnam. They were on yet another slow and overcrowded bus heading for Hoi An. Sounded nice.

5th December

Bernie was up this weekend and we went in and had a look at progress over the past days when we were not on site. He risked the ladder and went upstairs and took some photos. The  roof window is in in the bathroom. He took a shot of the bedroom window and although, at first, it looks like there was an intruder on the scaffolding, but of course he took a tricky shot of himself!!  He brought up another good book of roof gardens which concentrates on "finishes".  After the inspection we went down to the Honeysuckle Hotel with Bern and Jacqueline and there we saw the wooden handrail which we like.  On Friday evening I had a phone conversation with John, the electrician, who has found a good phone/camera/intercom system for the front door. We could see that Ian must have worked for ages on Friday as all the yellow TV cables are all in place already!

This week should be a big week on the build. The rendererd are apparently coming. The scaffolding for the AMP wall should go up and work should begin on that. The plumber will be on site and the kitchen electrical work will happen on Thursday. 

Bedroom window - with mystery person "outside"

roof window in bathroom

roof window - we can see the clouds!

Down the stairs

The hand rail ( and feature steet beam) at Honeysuckle Hotel.

Down the stairs - with Ian's yellow cables

These were the layers that stuffed the seat in the piano stool . Bit of history!

So, Christmas is only 20 days away. I did a bit more sorting on the homefront and today we farewelled Mackay  and Ben who are off to the UK for at least a year. It is a bit sad having to say that we will see them in the new place when they return. I get the feeling that whilst I can't wait to move, it is going to be sad to leave, really.

2nd December

Today was not a routine day. Lester had a little appointment at Warners Bay Hospital, so we were up early, so early in fact that I rang Steve (just) before 7am.  He was up and going! I had had a few things dawn on me in the depths of the night which I felt I should chat with him about - hard wiring fire alarms and other security matters.  Of course, Steve had dealt with each one of my concerns days before and I need not have worried. He is, of course, excellent at his job. These days the young'uns who do construction management have to go to university for three years before they can embark on that career. Steve learnt it "on the ground". I'm not sure if Steve regards it more as a job than a career, but it must be that Central Coast blood which makes him so good at this job. Steve grew up in Bensville, a little backwater on Brisbane Water between the then slightly larger backwaters of Empire Bay and Kincumber, where I grew up. (It's all out the back of Gosford.)


Here I will digress in the manner of a pick-a-path story. If you aren't interested in a digression but want to keep focused on the build, then skip this paragraph. Steve is a few years younger than I am and he went to Erina High. I didn't ever know him until about twenty years ago when he started working on the Stockton house after the earthquake. His company was, and still is, based in Maitland. Earlier this year we were discussing the fact that I was thoroughly enjoying my retirement. He said something like..."I hated my English teacher. His name was Daggy!" At which point I replied,"That wouldn't have been Daggy Price would it? I remember him. He was my friend's father!"  There was only one Daggy and I know several  blog followers will remember Daggy too. (The name derived from the fact that he had bunches of hair that stuck out at odd angles, like the cartoon character, Dagwood.) So, apart from demonstrating, once again the three degrees of separation, my point in relating this story is this. Just as well Steve did not love his English teacher because then he may have chosen another career and not become the master builder he is today. Thank God for Daggy!

While I was waiting for Lester I had a few hours to fill in at Warners Bay shopping centre. After indulging at the coffee shop and the dress shop, I wandered into a second hand book shop. I consciously reminded myself that I was not to buy any books because hadn't I spent the last fortnight trying to get rid of hundreds books! However...I did buy two. One was a book of the Australian Forces' campaigns in the Middle East which amazingly followed the path of my father's war experiences (with some great photos) and the other was "Photographic Acquisitions of the Lake Macquarie City Gallery 1997". It was way over-priced but it actually had one picture in it that my purchase imperative. It was another one of 59 Hunter Street in about the 50's or 60's. This time it has the sign Queensland Insurance on it.









This photo was taken by Milton Merrilees at the 150th Celebrations. Out place has Queensland Insurance on it and the place next door was a coffee Shop. Looks like a regular mosh pit!

On the way home we called into the surgery to turn off the server as John will be attaching the new line downstairs tomorrow and will need to turn off all the power. We checked out upstairs  and noted progress: the windows are in, the power board is in position, the hole through the floor where the wires will go through to the surgery is obvious, and the part of the ceiling which will be boxed in is rapidly filling up with the wires which it will hide.

     The yellow cable dangling, noose-like, from the top ceiling



 Yellow cable about to be shoved through the floor to the surgery

 The power board - will  neatly boxed in some shelving

The ceiling "box" which will hide all these (and a few more) cables


                              Lester, imagining how it will feel to be at the sink! Of course, he can't wait for that to be a reality! The new windows all the same height.

1st December

So another month has passed. November was a Good Month. Things happened dramatically. The build has been underway for a month and what I thought was going to be a simple build has turned out to be bigger than the proverbial Ben Hur - in true Grand Designs style. Kevin would be tearing strips off me, cynically  having a go because, despite being told , I did not quite recognise the enormity of the undertaking. However, unlike most of the Grand Designs suckers, I am nowhere near breakdown. I am thoroughly enjoying the experience, especially the exigencies which crop up each day.  Now, I am not sure if Steve and Greg fell the same way.

Rain has continued to fall steadily all day. The brickies are working inside and piles of sand and bricks fill the interior spaces. They worked on the first floor today and the windows were modified in shape and the main one set in place.

Lester ran into Greg and Richo in the street and they looked stuffed and peeved, to say the least. They had filled the truck with yet another load of rubble and old windows only to find that the brickies had inadvertantly taken the truck keys off to Gilleston Heights when they packed up. These two have certainly earned their Christmas break!

Back across the river things moved along less hectically. Paul worked on renewing Lester's old desk and he brought around the finished chairs. You wouldn't recognise them for the black old ricketty things they have been for the past thirty years.

 The man who bought our old Australian Geographics and National Geographics arrived in his Mercedes, from Sydney, to pick them up. He is an enthusiast of tall ships and sails and repairs the "James Craig" at Darling Harbour. He was quite vociferous about the evils of Barangaroo (and Paul Keating), the possible demise of the Newcastle Railway and the virtues of old Victorian houses. He covered many topics in the ten minutes he was here and he paid me more for the mags than he bid for them. I was able to restrain myself and say that ten dollars would have been fine! Maybe I am learning the tough world of business after all!!! I am quite pleased about my eBay experiences (being an eBay virgin). Both buyers paid me more than the final price.

So, tomorrow I have to follow-up on today's investigations into hard-wiring intercom, a camera and fire alarms. Which means we have to  finalise The Front Door. Like the colour scheme, this has been discussed many times over the past twelve months and no firm decisions have been made. Lester is not working tomorrow, Friday or Saturday and I am assuming that from next week I will work in the surgery for two and a half days a week to help out. I will be "on-site" and have to endure the noise - only fair I suppose.

Main kitchen window is in place

sand for cement mix in the stair well

Street scene: the truck is full again!

My very old chairs and piano stool, now looking unrecognisably schmick!