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Our renovation diary

Hi all, new to this group, but wanted a place to consolidate all the info, photos and our "trials and tribulations" related to our slowly progressing renovation project. This is a self-renovation meaning I am either doing all the work myself, or in the intrests of time, assisting various builders, electricians, plumbers or other trades that I have, or will engage, to complete the work.

The house is an old two-storey 70's pole home on the Brisbane Water at Point Clare (NSW, Central Coast). The orginal Pole house was converted many moons ago into the two-story configuration that exists today. My wife and I (and 3 kids) purchased the house about 13 years ago and we have lived in it largely unchanged since then - but it is now getting very tired, despite the hours of maintence and just needs updating.

So far I have renovated 3 bedrooms by ripping up carpet, coating the quite nice Cypress Pine floor boards, replacing all the skirts and achitraves and repairing walls and painiting. We have also installed a large deck (with a builder involved) from the second storey and installed a pool. I will post some photos of those completed tasks and then provide a schedule of the projects upcoming and share details and photos of those as we go.

Big jobs, so this discussion may go on for quite a while....

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Renovation

Plumbing

Building and Construction

Flooring

Painting

Lighting and Electrical

Doors and Windows

Comments

Jason

Welcome to Workshop @BrettBuilt. We're thrilled to have you join us and are excited about sharing your renovation journey with you. We're sure that you'll get plenty of helpful advice and inspiration from other members along the way.

In addition to your diary updates, feel free to hit the Start a discussion button if you ever hit a snag and need help with anything. And please let me know if you ever need a hand getting the most from the site or have any feedback about how we can improve Workshop for you.

Looking forward to seeing how your renovation project progresses in the coming weeks and months.

Thanks,

Jason

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/5191#Comment_5191

Yous said "Looking forward to seeing how your renovation project progresses in the coming weeks and months." Haha, could be years...😄

Allan72

Hey @BrettBuilt. Looking forward to tracking your progress. Would like to see your before and after shots. Enjoy. Allan72

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/5197#Comment_5197

Thanks. Will starting putting some pics up in the day or so. Here is a small job I did over the last couple of days.

Before and after. Replaced the grandma tiles in the toilet. Bathroom makeover next.

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/64746#Comment_64746

Well I moved my efforts from the toilet to the bathroom. Based on the toilet I thought I could knock this over pretty quickly. I was wrong. Not sure why the tile glue in the toilet was so different to that in the bathroom but it was clear early on that the glue was the same stuff they use to stick the heat tiles on the Space Shuttle. Maybe I can get them off if I cut the tiles up a bit!Cutting the up didn’t work. Move to plan C

So the only thing left was to cut the tiles out along with the underlying wall. Tiles gone, but so is the wall.

So replaced the wall!

Wall replaced

Tiles added to the new wall!

Success Success
A bit more effort required, but the end result looks ok. Just have to refurb the grout on the floor, install new vanity, shower screen, towel rails etc, paint and it’s done. Unfortunately the shower screen won’t be delivered until 15 Jan. Oh well, it will give me time to get the rest of the bathroom tasks done.

Here is the original bathroom.

I will add an after photo when completed

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/95039#Comment_95039

Hi @BrettBuilt,

Hope all is well. Just wondering how your renovation work is progressing? Are you hard at it or taking a break at the moment?

Jason

Prawns

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/114046#Comment_114046

Looks great 🙂 Tiling is somthing Ive not been game to try yet - you did a great job I hope mine turns out half as good when i eventually get into the bathroom here

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/124701#Comment_124701

Thank you. It was a bit of effort but just replacing the trim tiles has given it a more contemporary feel. Almost finished the room, with the shower screen coming next week. I will put photos up once I’m done.

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/114046#Comment_114046

No break, still hard it it. Have replaced all the trim tiles, regrouped the floor tiles, installed a floating vanity and related plumbing, replaced a few cracked tiles and installed towel rails etc. etc.. Shower screen coming next week and once installed it wii be complete. I will post photos when done.Remove old trim tiles and ceramic towle rail and soap holders etc..Trim tiles installed - very fidly work. Will go for a different type of tile next time!The sheets came like this so I had to slice them upReplaced the towel rails, soap holders etc with a few spare tiles I had on hand (lucky!)Removed the old shower screen and set up up a temp shower 🙂Did a bit of fixing and waterproofing to finish the shower area. Replaced the old drain as well All tiles now in place :) All tiles now in place 🙂Remover the old vanity - 15 years of eewww!Had to remove the floor pipe and have it come out of the wallHad to cut out the wall in the opposite room to get to relocate the pipe Pipe in :) Pipe in 🙂Pipe and floor pipe done - No the new vanityReplaced the bath and floor wastes while I had access to the crawl space between the floors - Fun job NOT! New Vanity done :) New Vanity done 🙂 New towel rail done :) New towel rail done 🙂 New shower head :) New shower head 🙂Glass shelf added as wellAnd a Towel rackNeeded a rest on Xmas day! A jug of Sangria and watching Grand Designs on TVGo a garden shed for Xmas - Build that on Boxing Day - Man it was a hot day.The shower screen came today - An hour later and we have a shower 🙂Just need to give the bathroom a really good clean and paint the door and trims and it's all done. About $3500 all up. Next up is the hall floors, replace trims/skirts and paint. Then I move to the big kithen, dining and lounge build downstairs.

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/124702#Comment_124702

Overall the Bathroom refresh came up Ok. If I had my time over I probably would have replaced all the floor tiles it would have made a bigger impression (for a price of course). But regrouting and replacing old outdated items with new etc has certainly freshened up the room. A few days rest and then I'll get stuck into the next bit - I do have a day job as well 🙁

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/131872#Comment_131872

Many thanks for the update and all the photos @BrettBuilt. Great to see what you have achieved and read about some lessons learned, too. I'm sure the rest of the community appreciates it.

Looking forward to seeing what you do next. Please let us know if you need a hand with anything.

Jason

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/136235#Comment_136235

When doing a final clean of the bathroom I noticed I still had a fine layer of grout residue on the walls even after several sponge wipe downs after tiling. I wiped down again with standard domestic cleaners but it wasn’t coming off. I had used a pre-mixed wall grout from Bunnnings which was very good to apply but appears to contain a PVA or similar type glue.

I spoke with a friend that does commercial cleaning for new builds and she suggested Acetone as that is what she uses. It was the only thing that I found that would remove this very thin haze. I did try turps and metho first as I already had some but they didn’t shift it. The acetone works a treat. It has made such a difference to what I thought were clean tiles.

Not the friendliest of chemicals to work with but got the job done. Got it from Bunnings as well. I was worried it would leave a nail polish remover smell but was surprised the odour is very little but the fumes are strong. You need to ventilate well. No odour at all after 30mins. Probably best to test on a tile before using and use only clean white cloths otherwise colour will transfer to your grout.

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/139203#Comment_139203

One last thing to do to finish off the bathroom project, repair and clean the skylight and ceiling plaster then paint the ceiling

The skylight surround needed replacing.

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/141200#Comment_141200

New Skylight insert built, ready for painting and instal

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/142703#Comment_142703

All done, installed. Slight issue because the skylight opening tapers so very slightly, which meant a bit of force needed to get the box seated properly.

Lesson learned was to ensure you measure the space where it will end up, not just were it will go in

All installed. Bit of ceiling paint needed.

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/143767#Comment_143767

Ok a few things have progressed after completing the bathroom. I stripped the hall outside the bathroom of trims, pulled up the carpets and sanded the floor

Ready for coating

First coat of satin clear done. Need to find a 4 hour slot when everyone is out if the house to finish it.

BrettBuilt

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/144576#Comment_144576

While waiting for the fam to get out of the house, I put the hall on hold and started downstairs preparing the room for the new kitchen

First up protect the rest of the room from dust

Now to clear the room. I had already skinned the small adjoining room that will become a butlers pantry

Skinning the wall to allow my sparky to run cables and run water pipes. Oh look double skin!!

Wall skinned, but found a steel support pole. Will need to build a frame to front that wall.

False wall frame build and installed. Next is to remove the door and frame up for a new window.

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