I'm back! And window frames...

I'm back after having a month off from Fun and VJs - my long service leave, so to speak...

Really, there hasn't been a great deal going on around here during my little break. The weather has been either crazy hot or crazy stormy. Needless to say the renovating mojo is not strong in such trying conditions.

However one job which is finally finito is the painting of all the exterior timber window and door frames. They were previously cream and now they are white. Surprise, surprise! We are of the white window and door frame school of thought.

Here are a couple of after shots:

mid-century brick with white window frames.
This is the back of our home.

Mid-century brick with white window frames.
This section of the house is where our living room is situated

 And here are a couple of before shots...in cream :

It was a relatively small job but it packs a lot of impact. It is fresher and more importantly it is how the house was originally.

Attack of the Mangoes

This is only a light bombardment

We've been bombarded by the neighbour's mango tree.

Every couple of hours we hear the cacophony of mangoes pummelling the corrugated tin roof of the shed. The evenings are punctuated by the screeching and scurrying noise of possums in the desperate hunt for that sweet orange flesh.

It's a bumper crop. I've been able to rescue a few mangoes for us, but they're the stringy fibrous variety. They are super juicy and sweet though.

We've been paying the kids to pick up the excess which have fallen on the ground while they're on school holidays. By the look on their faces and their general nattering, you would think that we asked them to pick up dead human bodies...Maybe we need to pay them more?

Anyone got a good mango recipe? What would you do with so many mangoes?

Deck maintenance and welcome 2014

And so another year rolls on by...I hope everyone had a terrific New Years' and the coming year brings you much good health and happiness.

Lots of faffing around with the outdoor furniture placement since we refurbished the deck. I also refurbished our outdoor table - oil and wax has brought it back to life.

We've had a  busy few day over the Christmas/New Year break to do some much needed maintenance on the deck and stairs. I can't remember how long it's been since we re-oiled the decking boards but things were looking pretty shabby on the deck. You really do need to oil decks at least once a year - we had let it go for much longer between coats.

Washed deck. We use a deck cleaner, a bristle broom brush and elbow grease to get this job done. The boards had started to grey slightly.

We gave the deck and stairs a good old wash and scrub with a deck cleaner, which basically removes all the built-up grime. It's when we clear the deck and wash it, we can attend to any loose or split boards - you tend to notice any problems as you scrub each board. Anyway, it was all in reasonable condition with nothing really needing immediate attention.

After the boards had dried, Jason proceeded to re-coat the deck and stairs. He wanted to try a different product to the traditional oil he previously used. This time he experimented with a water-based finish. Fortunately, we didn't need to sand off the old finish as it had already worn off - a wash was all it needed.

A before and after shot. We only did 2/3 of the deck and did the rest the next day

Jason uses a paint brush to coat the deck. He could used a lamb's wool applicator but prefers a brush - I don't like to question him too much about his choices...at least he gets the job done! He applied two coats of finish and in the areas which are exposed to full sun he gave it three coats. The oil is applied sparingly too - to avoid the boards getting tacky.

The water-based finish worked out well. The clean-up and the wait between each coat was much faster and it has less odour  - always a bonus. The finish is slightly tacky at first but after it has cured for a few days it improves significantly.

After shot of the re-coated deck. We've moved the furniture around a bit and have put the butterfly chairs to the front of the deck.

The visible difference between coated and un-coated deck was huge. It is well worth the effort when you see the results. We've been living out on the deck since it's been done and enjoying the long summer days.

Butterfly chairs are placed to the front to enjoy more of the view we have of the local mountains/forests and suburb

Repairing the batwing lattice doors

For a few years, Jason has been driven mad by the fact that our external lattice batwing doors on the back deck were slightly mismatched.

It's not hugely noticeable (most people have never noticed it) but for OCD Jason it is like staring at a huge pimple. Yesterday, he could stare at it no longer and set about to fix the doors.

Batwing lattice doors

The problem with the doors was that at some stage they had been trimmed at the top and the bottom when they were hung. It meant the doors were just slightly off when they were closed. 

You can see in the picture below how the decorative top was sliced off one of the doors. Yikes! For OCD people, this type of thing brings on an uncontrollable twitch. 

We could probably just buy another set of doors, but it would seem a shame not to try to salvage the ones we have. Jason's added a strip of timber to the bottom of one of the doors so that the doors are now the same height. He's re-hung the doors so that the hinges were at the same level too. Ha! He's Mr Symmetry.

Jason is also going to attempt to re-mould the decorative curl at the top. I have no idea how he thinks he's going to do that ... but I have a feeling that builder's bog will factor into the equation and more paint!

Anyway, it is the small things that make a house a home and if something like a pair of symmetrical doors ticks the boxes then so be it.

Valance finished

Jason recovered sufficiently from his bout of man-flu to finish the valance painting. It looks fantastic and it is another job we can tick off the list.

Timber battens or valance around the deck

Jason hard at work, painting under the back stairs

I'm keeping this post nice and short because I think I've caught Jason's man-flu. I probably should've been more sympathetic!

We're going to call the valance Holly!

You can tell we have too much time on our hands when we've dubbed the new valance around the deck Holly. Get it? Holly Valance? (Australian TV actress from the early noughties for those not in the know)

So, Holly has come along quite well under Jason and Mr D's capable hands. They finished off the construction phase this morning and now all that is left is some gap filling and a few coats of exterior paint. Jason had primed most of the timber on the public holiday last Wednesday. Next weekend with be set aside for painting.

Arched timber valance or timber battens around the deck

The construction of the arched 'Holly' valance was quite straightforward, but as Jason likes to remind me, "You still need to have your wits about you."

For example, spacing out the palings needed to be planned out beforehand, as leaving a standard space did not always work. Mr D made up a story-rod from a plank of wood, which was effectively used as a template for measuring the distance between each span. The boys had to adjust the measurements accordingly to ensure every batten was evenly spaced.

pencil marks to obtain the curve

To achieve the arched curve, Jason drew it freehand, using the centre board as his starting point. He then measured each corresponding board to ensure they were even, adjusting his markings accordingly before cutting the final shape with a jigsaw.

The timber palings are a mix of hardwood decking boards, iron bark and spotted gum timber, which should weather well over time. They also have a nice smooth finish and will be easier to paint unlike the fencing-grade pine that is usually used for such a job. As it is a decorative element, it should ideally look good. Bling!

Jason is proud of the big nail gun between his legs. As he should be. Apparently, this is quite safe...Still not sure that having such an apparatus in a private and sensitive area is a great idea. As many of my instagram mates noted, lucky we've finished breeding! (Seriously, it's the endless opportunities for innuendo which keeps me blogging)

the valance or timber battens under construction

Anyway, Jason and I are very happy with how it's looking. The deck always appeared too spindly for our liking and the 'Holly' valance gives it more body.

Valance construction mode

The work on the valance has begun. Bright and early on Saturday morning, it was a hive of activity at the Sow's Ear.

Mr D, our builder, is also back. Jason was so happy to get the extra assistance, company and use of  better quality tools. It's never much fun doing this kind of work by yourself with the bare minimum of tools...

Together, the two of them accomplished quite a bit in the morning. All the frame work is up and ready for the palings to be nailed on to it.

If all this nice weather holds up, the valance should be finished by next week. Here are a few photographs from the weekend...

sanding and dressing the timber

The brackets 

Jason painting the primer onto the woodwork.

All the framework is done. We'll get some primer painted on the timber this Wednesday when it is the public holiday

Operation valance

After 15 years of marriage, it has finally dawned on me that Jason is not one to enjoy idleness. The man needs a reno project. Thank goodness we own the Sow's Ear.

For the last few months Jason hasn't sunk his teeth into any major project, and he's not been a happy person. He really is a wannabe tradie and is truly at his happiest when in full-on construction (and destruction) mode.

It was with glee that he ordered the timber to start the frames for the valance or timber battens for under our back deck. It was a project which he started last year, but for one reason or another he lost his motivation to finish it. But with the warmer weather nearing, Jason's got his mojo back. (I can hear his fans cheering and doing the Mexican wave for shirtless Jason...)

This weekend Jason's going to make a start on the valance. It should be a fairly straight forward job and it will make a huge difference to the look of the back end of the Sow's Ear.

The deck really looks like it is perched on a pair of sticks and the valance will give it more body and substance...if you know what I mean. It will also keep poor ol' Jason busy.

shot of the deck from the back yard

You can see the valance that Jason did late last year. The valance under the deck will just be a lengthier version

Sealing and gapping weatherboards on a Queenslander house

Sponsored by Sika Australia

One of the unhappy delights of owning a Queenslander house is the almost continual maintenance that these timber and tin beauties require.

Last year, we removed the asbestos cladding from underneath the Sow’s Ear and replaced it with hardwood weatherboards. It looks so much better than before, with the added benefit of not being asbestos!

Unfortunately, after sealing and painting the weatherboards, the new timber has shrunk over time leaving some ugly gaps between the weatherboards. It’s just one of those things when working with natural materials – timber shrinks and swells depending on how old it is and with the weather. 

Gaps between the timber weatherboards

The unmistakable dark lines of the opened-up gaps look unsightly particularly on our all-white Sow’s Ear exterior!

So it was very fortuitous that the makers of Jason’s favourite sealant, Sika Australia, contacted us about testing their products. I had to laugh as we’ve been using Sika sealant and extolling its virtues for a number of years, ever since our first builder Mr Rooney put us on to it. You can read all about it here and here. Jason’s a convert and there’s nothing more zealot than one of those!

The nice people of Sika kindly sent us a number of Sika Acrylic tubes to helps us seal our gaps. They also sent Jason a new Sika caulking skeleton gun because Jason has never invested in a good quality one after four years of painting and sealing.

Sika Skeleton Sealant Gun

The number of times he’s had to stop what he’s doing mid-gapping stream because of caulking gun malfunction is too many to count… We’ll let you know how long this one lasts, but so far so good.

In the past, we’ve used Sikaflex Pro for filling exterior gaps but apparently the Sika Acrylic is a better and cheaper alternative because it will absorb a little of the paint you use on the outside of the house, giving a more seamless finish and a more consistent colour.

Jason in Sika motion. He even shifted the tube to show off the branding. Classic! I told him to think about sealing the gaps properly and leave the spruiking to me!

Sika Acrylic is easy to caulk and still provides the same level of sealability and is just as waterproof when it is painted, and  suitable for all types of paints including oil based enamels which can be problematic when painting over polyurethanes. The clean-up is also much easier as it is water-based.

No more dark lines

You can use it for sealing low movement joints around brick, concrete, plasterboard, windows, doors, ceramic tiles and filling of cracks prior to painting. It also adheres to most building materials and can be sanded back once it has fully cured.

For Queenslander home owners, it is a great gap filler for VJ (vertical join) walls which are notorious for splitting open during dry weather conditions.  Sika products are available from Bunnings nationally.

Anyway, we can now tick the gapping and sealing the weatherboards job off the list as we prepare the Sow’s Ear for spring. 

Have you been doing any maintenance on your house for the change of season?

p.s Sika has also recently launched a new spray adhesive called Sikabond Sprayfix which I’m dying to try out. I’m currently working out how I can use it for making a new lamp shade and a couple of small art projects that I have planned. So stay tuned. colour. 

Kerb house numbers

We ended up with some fluoro orange kerb numbers just before Christmas. It symbolises my complete lack of backbone when it comes to hawkers.

I was at home one afternoon with the boys when we answered the door to a guy who was hawking his kerb painting services.

Painting services equals spray painting a stencil of your house number on the kerb in reflective paint...to make it is easy to identify your house at night.

The kerb number guy rattled off his well-rehearsed spiel about how kerb numbers saved his son's life when the kid had a life-threatening illness and emergency services nearly missed their home. It was a rather melodramatic tale where he promised himself that no child should ever be in his son's situation.

And then we got the 'down-on-my-luck' story about how hard it was to make a living in these hard financial times...needless to say the sob stories were coming thick and fast...and he wasn't going to take no for an answer. He was determined to make a sale.

My standard excuse of not having cash on me didn't work either (and it was actually true in this situation). He told me that I could go to the nearest ATM to get the money out, as he was prepared to wait. I really wanted to tell him to bugger off at this stage because he was so freakin' Pushy. With a capital P.

He needed to go to Charm School...cute and charming is always a winner.

In the end it was just easier to scrounge $30 change from our coin jar to get rid of him...hence the lack of backbone.

Moral of the story: if you knock on my door with a sob story, I'll probably give you coins from my small change jar!

At least the numbers are in my favourite fluoro colour...

Christmas and carport update

Christmas is done and dusted. We had a lovely day, enjoying family time together. It really is a magical time, especially now the children are older and look forward to Christmas Day. Sadly, it is over too quickly.

Christmas morning at the Sow's Ear. Lego was the choice toy in the letters to Father Christmas.

Turkey for Christmas Eve dinner. I use toothpicks to sew the bird up...lazy prep but it worked!

Jason is back to painting the carport. It's his aim to have it finished by the time he returns to work next week. And he will have it done by the rate he is going.

Jason's a thorough painter. He's painting the trusses white. They used to be heritage green.

The carport from the side stairs of Sow's Ear. 

I thought it would be interesting to show you what this side of the house looked like about two years ago...We've just tried to simplify the exterior colours and lessen the amount of visual clutter that made up this side of the Sow's Ear. And in time all our changes will settle in and seem like it was never different...

Sow's Ear two years ago 

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday everyone!

Compliments of the season

Poor old Jason is painting the car port this holiday. As you do.

The car port has the last bit of heritage colours which we are painting over. It will finish off the entire façade of the Sow's Ear. When that is complete a happy dance will be performed.

Here are some shots  of the progress Jason has made during the past two days.

Jason painting the gutters of the car port. Crazy white guy thinks he can go shirtless in summer...Anyway he wasn't up there long and it was late afternoon as the heat of the day was fading.

Jason is hoping Santa paints the rest of the car port for him as his Christmas Miracle. 

It really is a sh*t of a job and the main reason we have delayed doing it. Anyway, it will look fab when it is finished.

And just to reassure you that it's not all work, work, work....see Jason in the image below catching 40 winks...

Christmas Eve dinner with all my favourite boys, Jason snoozing in the top right. 

So we will still be hanging about in blogland over the Christmas period, so check in to see what we are up to.

Hope you and yours have a lovely Christmas. Take it easy, have fun and stay safe this silly season.

xxxxx

Busy weekend working on the Sow's Ear

There is always something to do on the Sow's Ear. That's just the nature of home maintenance and of looking after an older home.

With the windy overcast weather today, we decided to oil the timber of the side staircase that Mr D and Scotty built a few months ago. That was the final thing to be done on the staircase now that it has been completely painted. It will probably need a couple more coats as the timber just soaked up the decking oil like a sponge.

Newly oiled decking and treads on the exterior stairs

We also bought a few bags of black polished river stones to fill up a disused garden bed that is located near the rainwater tank where Jason built the new valance. This spot usually just fills up with leaves...we thought the stones would make this area look a little more loved.

black polished river stones. We bought the 30mm - 50mm size stones.

Jason's valance building is becoming more prolific and he started a new set of decorative valances under our bedroom. There's no stopping him...except for the fact that he ran out of timber!!

Another valance for under our bedroom  Work stopped after Jason used up all his timber  supplies.

We also did a very severe prune of our lilypilly bushes, I forgot to take a picture but I will show you in the next post to illustrate that pruning is not done half-heartedly around here!

Holy Valance: part 2

If at first you don't succeed try, try again.

After Jason's first attempt of the valance turned slightly pear shaped, he's made some adjustments and is much happier with the how this attempt has worked out. It's a more solid construction so it should stand the test of time.

Jason started another valance under our bedroom and will slowly progress work around under the deck. It should look very nice when it's done.

Holy Valance!

It's been crazy scary around here this afternoon. Jason's been working like a man possessed trying to fix up a  little fubar on the newly erected valance he finished on Sunday.  Here's the story...

Jason took the day off to escort Son #3 on his Kindergarten excursion to a farm. After dropping off the two eldest boys at school, we were motoring along to the Kindy, chatting and talking about the old Queenslander houses which dot the route. I'm driving, Jason gazes thoughtfully out of the passenger window while Son # 3 exclaims how he's going to milk a sheep (city boy).

"Look at the valance," said Jason casually, "I don't really like how they've angled it that way. It's not as good as ours."

"I don't mind an angle but, yes dear, your arched valance is a work of art," I replied, noticing Jason's chest expanding with pride.

"And I don't like how they've left a big gap between the weatherboards and the start of the valance," critiqued Jason pointing to an old Queenslander we were driving past.

"You know, they have to do that. It's so the termites can't eat through the main part of the house. It would compromise the ant capping on the house stumps. See how all the houses along here have that gap between the weatherboards and the valance battens," I said. Expertly.

Jason was silent.

"You left a gap on ours, didn't you?" I enquired.

I turned to look at an ashen-faced Jason.

'No I didn't. Of course I didn't leave a bloody gap. I've butted the valance right up against the house. Holy f@%k! That's all I bloody need," he exhaled.

"Oh!"

Which brings us to this afternoon, a crow bar and a sledge hammer were wielded with genuine fury. Some choice words were aired.

Jason showed no mercy. If only he had ripped off his shirt, I would've filmed it for the fans.

New supports which Jason spent this afternoon building. It will allow Jason to put on cross beams on which the timber battens will be nailed. It will also not compromise the ant capping which (you can see the corner of it at the top of the concrete post) prevents termites chomping through our timber house.

Jason's workshop in the fading light. From what I can gather termites will travel along concrete stumps but the ant capping stops them from getting to the timber. The timber valance Jason built previously would have been an access point to the weatherboard house. Best to fix it now before it becomes a problem.

Jason's had to dismantle the whole thing and start building the valance from scratch again. He is so angry at himself for making such a rookie mistake...he also hates the fact that he wasted a lot of precious time.

I said he shouldn't be so hard on himself. Live and learn, I say.

Valances on a Queenslander house

We are all about the decorative bling here at the Sow's Ear.

Today, Jason spent most of the morning erecting the decorative valances (or skirt battens) which are found between the stumps of a traditional Queenslander where the weatherboards end.

A valance is mostly a decorative device from what I can gather - a supporting frame is affixed between the stumps and simple timber palings are nailed onto the support. The paling are then cut in an arched, angled or straight line pattern with a jigsaw

Anyway, Jason is mad for them. Mad I tell you. He is planning on building more, so it dresses up the Sow's Ear. Here is a shot of his first foray into valance territory:

New valance.
Jason plans to get the belt sander onto the ends to smooth it out.

Over the next little while, Jason will install another valance on the other side of the Sow's Ear, under our bedroom.

This is the little area which will get a mini-valance, around the house stumps

Afterwards, with some practice under his belt, he wants to tackle the huge area under the deck. It is quite plain and bare, but the addition of the valance will soften the deck, allowing it to tie in nicely with the character of the house.

This is an old photo of our deck when we were painting last year. Jason will build an arched valance between the deck posts below the deck floor. It should help to disguise the proportions of the deck

Building the valances will be handy weekend DIY warrior work and will have a massive impact on how this little old Sow's Ear presents itself.

It's good to have a project!

Roof for the external stairs

Work began on the roof for our side stairs late last week. 

Mr D and Scotty returned after having some time off between building projects. These lads are such hard workers. They are well-oiled machines. If only they would discard their shirts Jason-style (his pre hi-vis days), this whole project could be called perfection...

In this image, the main support post and framework was erected

The new roof line will help break up the mass of the weatherboards on this side of the Sow's Ear. Traditionally Queenslanders sit on stumps and are not usually enclosed with weatherboards to ground level. It can look odd when homes of this type are weatherboarded all the way to the bottom...

progress on new roof framework

We are planning to use the downstairs area of our house as extra living space as our boys grow and mature. Building a roof over the stairs is our cheat's way of obtaining indoor/outdoor access without cutting into the existing internal layout of the Sow's Ear.

It will keep relatively dry during wet weather and if we get fancy we can enclose the structure with vertical slats or lattice. The image below is an illustrative example of what I mean

vertical slats enclosing external stairs

This week the tin roof, guttering and barge roll will be installed and hopefully this project will be another one ticked off the list!