[kirstyandgrace]

Warning, the only Suzuki content will be my Sierra dragging the trailer
or being inappropriately loaded with building materials.

i am about to start another renovation.

The house was built in 1910 and is an original condition railway worker's cottage.

i don't have the keys as the tenant is in the process of moving this weekend.

What I do know however is there is a damp issue, the floors are rotten, most
of the solid plastering is fucked (technical term) the kitchen and bathroom need replacing

So apart from the above, I only have drainage, asbestos removal and electrical issues to deal with.

As stated, I don't have access yet so no photos, I will add them as I go.

I will probably ask for advice regarding certain things, so any tradies input will be welcomed.

The house is actually a duplex, this http://auszookers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=35277&start=120
is the side I have already completed (about half way down)

Unemployment has it;s benefits, I get to play bob the builder I just don't eat too often

[kirstyandgrace]

At risk of spamming my own thread I will add the following.

I have a long history in the renovating field. If I can't do it, I pay somebody,

I use the services of trades people as appropriate, electrical work for example.
Please don't tell me to use a (whichever tradie)

Welding is not a skill I have so there is no car tech in this thread but there may be some
other inspiration and help for other renovators.

Comments good or bad are welcome.

[Marko_SJ]

kirstyandgrace wrote:

At risk of spamming my own thread I will add the following.

I have a long history in the renovating field. If I can't do it, I pay somebody,

I use the services of trades people as appropriate, electrical work for example.
Please don't tell me to use a (whichever tradie)

Welding is not a skill I have so there is no car tech in this thread but there may be some
other inspiration and help for other renovators.

Comments good or bad are welcome.

Where's tha pics?

Nah will be watching this, will be good to watch.

Mark.

[Built4thrashing]

Doing renos is awesome fun.

When the time came to to the extension and renos to my own house I couldn't wat...... Everyone else thought it was mad to do it myself

Ended up knocking the back wall of the house off and adding 6 squares at ground level and 6 1/2 Sq of attic space....

So everything you can yourself. Get your tradies to teach you how to run the wires or put in the plumbing. They will appreciate the help and you get to learn how things work

With the help of Family and mates I did everything myself. Father in Law did the brick work and I helped. The only thing I didn't do was the concrete slab, all tho I did dig the footings and Leveled the site by hand.


Don't be afraid to have a go.

[kirstyandgrace]

Coyness aside, I do all of my work. I have been around building trades for close
on thirty years. No real surprises. I was trying to be diplomatic about abilities

Which doesn't mean to say tradespeople shouldn't be employed.

To the young and first time players, do yourself a favor and pay the tradie.

To the renovator reading a Suzuki forum, go practice your google skills

For example I can't weld but I can probably lay your floor and paint your walls
with a paint brush stuck up my arse.............. (mental image is not pretty)

Anyhoo no keys until Tuesday any Perth folks needing firewood let me know

[missmyljdaze]

Doing reno's on houses as old as this can get interesting-

The stuff that I have found under floorboards, inside walls, in ceilings that has been lost or hidden by previous occupants,

Old tools lost by tradies a hundred or so years ago, letters, coins, old terbaccy packets, a stash of kids pennies and "treasures" under a loose floorboard, photo's.

One place in Como I worked on had a full old school chemistry set shoved up in the rafters- with stuff like prussic acid [cyanide] phosphorus and dozens of bottles and tins of other stuff [the labels had been eaten by rats] that might have been safe- then again could have killed me

Even simple stuff like lifting up old lino and finding newspapers from WW1 has been known to destroy the days productivity......

stephen

[Rhinoman]

missmyljdaze wrote:

Even simple stuff like lifting up old lino and finding newspapers from WW1 has been known to destroy the days productivity......
stephen

I lifted the carpets in a 60s built house once and the floor had been lined with newspapers, I could go from room to room reading the 'latest reports' on the 'Great Train Robbery'. I didn't get a lot done that day! the new carpets went down over the top for the next person to find.
I'm currently renovating/extending an 1870 farm cottage, I've not found anything of interest yet, just damp and sloppy work dating back many years.

[kirstyandgrace]

While renovating the other half of this duplex I found the grand total
of 6 pennies mostly dated ifrom the 1940's.

One room had about 10 pages of 1950's newspaper under the lino'

Somewhat disturbingly though, under the lounge room floor was a huge stack of bones.

i did a quick CSI thing (just like on TV) and determined them to be non dinosaur
and non human so straight in the skip.

just really wierd to see and no camera that day.

keys tomorrow, if the tenant has fully moved out.

I also have a job interview, I would like the income but the timing is awkward.

[Skippy]

Just for those who don't know... newspaper was used to '' fill the gaps'' between timber floor boards and lino or more commonly known as vinyl these days.

I am a floor Layer by trade and have done many of jobs in Brisbane on very old houses ( housing commission homes especially) where this had been done, now we use Masonite and staple that over the timber flooring and use a floor prep to fill the joins.

I pulled up a floor once and found an article on the VW beetle's first year on sale in Australia and it being showcased in the Brisbane Motorshow. Next to it was a poster marketing Leaded Petrol.

[kirstyandgrace]

So today I finally get to make a start. just a couple of tenant issues

I removed the lino in the kitchen, then repeated the same process 3 more times

No interesting newspaper or anything.

I then removed the 1970's carpet and underlay.

You guessed it, 2 more layers of lino,

The whole fucking house has sank under the weight of floor coverings.

The timber floor is showing its age, split boards, water damage and a 40mm slope across the kitchen

No surprises, I am replacing the flooring and sub flooring anyway.

Next step is converting the existing kitchen and bathroom into a kitchen only.

The dividing wall is lined with timber on the kitchen side and fiber cement sheet on the bathroom side.

I removed a couple of the timber boards to have a look inside, and shit, the bathroom wall was originally asbestos sheeting
and was relined with asbestos sheeting to cover a hole then relined with the fiber cement sheets

This is not a load bearing wall and has to come out, or I have a major redesign with no real scope to do so.

There is other asbestos that requires removal but it is easily accessible, this wall is a cluster fuck.

I am considering removing it myself. This is legal in the amounts I have and is certainly achievable.

I already own the required PPE, have done it before and I can dump it for $8.00 per sheet. Just don't want to.

None of this stuff is any real surprise but I thought I might catch a break somewhere.

If this shit was easy, everybody would do it. If only it was like the TV shows

None of the photos taken today are really that interesting so I won't post them at the moment.

edit to add, I did have a win though

When I took the carpet and lino to the tip I stopped off in the tip shop, as you do.

I bought 40 boxes (4000 nails) of Ramset drive pins (concrete nails) for $10

It's doubtful that I will ever have to buy a concrete nail again in my lifetime.

My heirs will probably have 3950 of these nails as a part of their inheritance.......

[missmyljdaze]

Last I heard, [it was a while ago], Balcatta waste transfer station accepts asbestos one day a month, as long as its no more than 3 sheets at a time - and is wrapped to thier specification.

Pretty sure it is a free service.

It is set up this way to give the average household an affordable way of disposing of asbestos.

Without them doing this there would be asbestos illegally dumped all around perth.

Commercial operations have to dispose of direct to the HAZMAT site, where ever that is [and I understand its pricey].

Give them a call and see if this still operates, or try the other local council waste transfer stations to see if they do similar.

stephen

edit:

Be careful with the old lino and carpet underlay - they are full of asbestos fibres.
much [practically all] of the carpet underlay used in W.A. was made from the old bags the bulk asbestos was carted around in.
Asbestos was used inside lino to make it more durable, typically, the lino lasts forever, the asbestos lasts longer.

[Wolf]

In qld you need a plastic bag, think iys labeled, dads a builder and he sprays it with glue which makes it hard as anything because it sokes it up, in qld i think ur only aloud to remove 1sqm without a licence but dont hold me to that,

[kirstyandgrace]

Cheers Stephen

Balcatta is awkward, the house is in Midland and I live Freo way.

Cockburn council will charge me $8.00 a sheet, no limits on how many sheets plus a tip pass which I verified today.

Obviously I am routing the system as I am a Cockburn City resident but the waste is not.

I am not so much worried about the cost ( paging Disco) it is more the hassle.

[kirstyandgrace]

Wolf wrote:

In qld you need a plastic bag, think iys labeled, dads a builder and he sprays it with glue which makes it hard as anything because it sokes it up, in qld i think ur only aloud to remove 1sqm without a licence but dont hold me to that,

I have to wrap the shit in heavy duty builder's plastic and tape all joins.

Furthermore I have to unload my vehicle or trailer by myself, straight into the loader bucket.

There seems to be no amount limit as far as the tip is concerened

That said, non commercial removal does have a limit but I don;t recall what it is

1 square meter at a time will take longer than Michelango and the Sistene Chapel

[Skippy]

Also Kristyandgrace, if any of the lino was 'lino tiles' they could be asbestos as well, i am sure you would have spotted this though if it were the case. i have come across it only a handful of times up here but older lino tiles were made from asbestos

Not trying to jack your thread just trying to warn you in case you have it all piled up to be carted off to the tip.When are the pics coming? i'm interested to see what you have gotten yourself into lol

[kirstyandgrace]

Thanks gentlemen, I am aware of the asbestos potential in flooring.

The carpet is circa 1990, I referred to it as '70's because of its lack of style

I did a review of my photos this morning and I am underwealmed to say the least.
Poor light + dust + phone camera = shitty pictures. Anyway for your viewing pleasure........

[Bucketload]

If you haven't off loaded the asbestos yet it would be worth giving Red Hill a call to check out the cost. http://www.emrc.org.au/red-hill-waste-management.html. It's a few years since I needed to get rid of any but there was a set fee up to a certain weight, can't quote you figures but I ditched an azi shed for about $80ish. Also the closest tip to Midland if the Zook can tow a trailer up the hill.

[kirstyandgrace]

Time for an update.

After 350 days unemployment I received 3 job offers on the same fucking day

Naturally I took the best paying option, which was also the better job so a no brainer.

However this interrupts my reno plans a bit as the roster is 12/9

Not much has happened that is photo worthy, so no pics.

I have demolished the kitchen and bathroom and have plenty of firewood if anybody wants it. (there is a for sale thread)

In my travels I have found http://www.auction.com.au very handy.

Replacement kitchen and bathroom stuff at about 10% of retail prices.

I have also discovered that my sierra does not like towing a trailer with 50 sqm of jarrah floorboards

The biggest hassle is driving from Freo to Midland every day, quite sick of it.

Considering a temporary move to Midland once I have rebuilt the bathroom and kitchen.

The asbestos removal became bigger than Ben Hur, I ended up getting the equivalent of 18 sheets
removed from walls and ceilings, and 40 fence panels removed for under $2000..

Very cost and time effective for me not to mention the exposure aspect.

Meant to be installing bearers and joists in the kitchen but the timber yard was closed this morning.