Week 5: Rooms take shape

 This week was an exciting week for the reno. After the slab cured last weekend, the downstairs framing went in. These are the stud walls to which the external cladding will be attached, gyprock for the internal walls will be nailed to, and insulation packed in-between. The main thing now is that we can see how our rooms will look, how big (or small) they feel, and the location and size of the windows.

Our bedroom!

I think overall the rooms feel about what we expected. We did lots of measuring during the planning stage, particularly comparing our current rental bathrooms, walk-in-robe size etc to what was in the drawings. Our ensuite will be small but functional, and the bedrooms feel a decent size. I think given our limited size to begin with (having decided on building under without an extension), I am happy with the proportions of the rooms and how the space has been used.

Attractive scaffolding, hmmm

Also this week, scaffolding has been erected to allow the cladding to be removed, and more importantly, the asbestos underneath the cladding to be removed. Asbestos is a building material (often used in an asbestos cement form) that was widely used in construction from the 1940s to the late 1980s. It is incredibly common to find it during renovations on any property constructed or renovated during this time. An excellent resource from the QLD government on asbestos can be found here.

That grey stuff under the cladding? Asbestos.

If you are disturbing asbestos, you should take care. It is made up of microfibres which, when inhaled in large quantities, can lead to asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer. Generally a high level of occupational exposure is required to lead to these outcomes, but protective measures should be taken any time you are around asbestos. In Queensland, you can remove up to 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos yourself if you follow the guide contained at the bottom of this link. Otherwise, you're going to need the professionals!

Also this week, we consulted our cabinetmaker for an initial walk-around and chat. We are contracting the cabinetmaker ourselves to make joinery for the bathroom vanities, laundry and walk-in-wardrobe. We took a look at some pre-fabricated vanities online but in fact, the quote we received from our chosen chippie was very competitive. We are also aware of products offered by companies such as Ikea, but when it comes to limited spaces like our WIR, to make the most of the space we have, we think custom cabinetry is worth the money. The other strategy would have been to suss out the sizes of pre-fabbed products and design to that spec (which in fact our building designers did for the bathroom, giving us options).

Lessons learnt this week - we are glad we contacted the cabinetmaker when we did as there are some framing bits & pieces to be altered which will make it much easier to hang the vanities, add brackets etc. Any further on and those changes would be impossible to make. This is one of the downsides of subcontracting ourselves for certain items - miss the boat and we will have to make changes, or pay the builder more. I am also constantly checking our paint, laminate and stone choices against each other to ward against clashes. While neutrals can work together, it is better if they have a similar base as otherwise they can 'throw' colours like yellows, browns and greys.

A common sight on our dining table.

That's it for this week! Thanks for reading (if you've made it this far ;-) ) and we always love comments.