Weeks 19 & 20: One week to go!

The last couple of weeks have seen many changes and finishing touches, keeping Michael & I very busy. Biggest news of the fortnight has been the installation of our benchtops for the kitchen and bathrooms!

We went with a company in Cleveland who put us onto a brand of engineered stone they import from Germany, at a similar price to Caesarstone. We had mentioned the Calacatta Nuvo in an earlier post but decided to go a similar look with this brand as we found the base colour to be less grey and more white.

The rest of the cabinetry fronts and handles have been installed in our Ikea kitchen. The corner pantry as you see there was custom made by our cabinetmaker as Ikea doesn't offer anything similar. He even matched the door and colour, and as you can see, it's seamless. So don't despair if you can't quite fit an Ikea kitchen, there's always the option of mixing Ikea and custom cabinetry to save some $! We estimate doing an Ikea kitchen has saved us $15,000.

In the powder room and laundry, the timber benchtops we purchased (and I sanded/polyurethaned - see my mini-workshop below!) have come up beautifully. Will be interesting to see how they wear in wet areas.

Elsewhere, the feature light was installed in the stairwell. Can't wait until the electricity is on and we can see it lit up at night.

And we have (half) of our shower screens!

Outside, the deck has had a couple of coats so it's coming up a treat. We had also seen how our front door will look in the feature colour we've chosen - Dulux Domino. 

And finally, we have new retaining walls and a new driveway and carport.

Happy to pass on any contact details for any suppliers we have used - just flick me a comment or message!

Also this week a note on things that are easy to forget and not always quick to sort. Firstly, disconnecting and re-connecting electricity and gas. It really depends what sort of renovation you're doing and whether you need a temporary power pole, or to do some digging. Because we had to dig around the whole property, we had to get the gas company to physically remove the meter and gas line from the street to our place. And then to reinstate it! There was a small abolishment fee but reinstating a gas line and meter is free in QLD. As for electricity, there is a fee from Energex to come and re-connect power. There is also a wait for all of these services so make sure you contact the companies early, as waiting for disconnection and reconnection could potentially delay the commencement of construction, or your move-in date!

The other thing I hadn't thought of is handles. We went with Ikea handles for the kitchen. But I needed handles for the powder room drawer and cupboard storage and the laundry. For the Brisbanites reading, I found a great supplier at Archerfield, who had most things in stock and got the other ones I chose ordered in within 48 hours. See https://www.bauers.com.au. 

Thanks for reading along, and stay tuned for next week's post where we have (hopefully!) moved in! We will also try to do some before and after shots!

Weeks 17 & 18: Floorboards! Kitchen!!

Things are getting busy as we head towards the finish line, hence combining two weeks into one. Our first week back from holidays was crazy - even the day we landed, I was on the laptop all day organising things. Michael spent 4 days in a row last weekend laying floorboards, putting Ikea together and installing the kitchen with the help of our cabinetmaker. We are still engaged after over 8 hours flat-packing so that's got to be good right?!

The first things to happen a fortnight ago were grouting, and more painting (including architraves and cornices).

 

Then the floorboards were laid, it took only a day to lay whole lot - living, dining, kitchen and downstairs corridor. We have used spotted gum engineered floorboards (4mm timber thickness) with a 2mm acoustic underlay (please note we did not use the supplier on the underlay link, Quiet Step is available from multiple online sellers). 

Michael and I had both spent quite a bit of time researching how to reduce noise from the upper level. I'm sure most of you have been in older houses where you can hear literally every noise from upstairs like it's in the room next-door. Basically there is no perfect solution in a timber house (even in concrete buildings, if your upstairs neighbour installs floorboards your noise will get much worse). Best option is carpet with a good underlay. There are many, very expensive, options like acoustic plasterboard, thick underlays etc if you want to lay floorboards or tiles. Being limited on budget, we went for insulation in the ceiling space downstairs (of dubious effect according to the internet), plus effectively a 'double layer' of floorboards as we kept the old ones, lay the underlay on top and then the new boards. We are thrilled that you really have to stomp to hear walking noise, so that solution has worked for us!

After the high of the floorboards, reality set in as Michael and I set out to make all the drawers and remaining Ikea kitchen carcasses. Over 8 hours later, and here is the result...

On Monday, these kitchen bits & pieces were put together and installed by Michael and our fabulous cabinetmaker Wayne. Ikea is designed for DIY, but having an older (and therefore not perfectly square) house, as well as wanting a good result, has meant having professional help has been invaluable. If you want a polished result, Michael would recommending recruiting a bit of help for your Ikea kitchen install! We are stoked with how the Bodbyn fronts have fitted into a classic Queenslander.

Outside, we had another 2 days of earthworks to work on digging out for the new retaining walls, another concrete pour and the blockwork has mostly been completed now too.

And painting has continued, including the skirting boards which could finally be fitted after the floorboards were installed. Amazing how skirting and architraves finishes off a room.

We have not made all good decisions unfortunately during this reno - none of the three sinks we pre-purchased actually fit in the cabinetry. Oops. I've bought 2 replacements for the downstairs bathrooms and will grab one for upstairs tomorrow. So if anyone wants an undermount sink, or a wall-mounted sink - I can send you photos!

If you've made it to the end - well done! Would love to hear your comments, if you have any questions feel free to message.

Week 16: It's all happening

The week before we came back from holidays was clearly a big one - all the finishing trades have started up, and we are getting an idea of how the house will shape up in the end!

The tiler has started. A little while ago, possibly influenced by 'The Block', I decided I'd like a feature tile in the niches. After a little googling, I discovered that I didn't like the look of a different colour feature tile, but preferred something textural in the same colour. You can see that we've gone for a simple gloss white wall tile, so I decided on gloss white penny mosaic tiles for the niche. Hopefully will look great when the grout is done!

Cabinetry has also started going in. We are thrilled with the vanity designs for the main and ensuite bathrooms. The Navurban timber veneer has come up a treat, and our cabinetmaker has done an awesome job on the finger pull handles. Because the bathrooms are small, we wanted everything as sleek and minimalist as possible, while trying to maximise storage.

Amazing what a lick of paint does to make the rooms lighten up! We have gone for Dulux Natural White in the living and bedroom areas, and Lexicon Half for the bathrooms and laundry.

Speaking of laundry, the laundry cabinetry has been installed.

Upstairs, cornicing and architraves have been installed, and the first coat of paint applied. 

Things are going to motor on from here! LOTS for us to organise in the next few weeks - carpet measure and install, kitchen install, benchtop measure and install, Crimsafe/flyscreen measure and install, coordinate fence removal and install with one of our neighbours, organise a new gas line and meter, buy a fridge... the list goes on. 

We are also waiting on delivery of floorboards for upstairs, which has been delayed by several weeks. We ordered from an online company at a great price, but since we ordered, several negative Google reviews have appeared. Not so shonky as to take money and run, but very slow delivery. So buyer beware! We should have done better research. 

As always, thanks for keeping up with the blog, and look forward to your comments and thoughts!