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25.01.2022 Happy father's Day from Australia I just realized I haven't posted for a while. Reno news so far:... Bathroom plumbing done. Needs to be checked for leaks under bath, but plumber decided that he's doing some dodgy job and now I don't have proper access underneath the bath bottom so I asked him to redo drain with no response Also, he used some very weird solution for garden tap. See photos. A friend's friend initiated brick wall fixing, but still lots of work. And yesterday I did the last bathroom wall insulation . Now ready for villa sheeting. I put as much insulation as I could fit as that's a northern wall. And today I commenced external WPC panelling on the second floor. I installed just over a box and even practiced trimming around the door, and it looks good, but I need to do it a bit more precise for snug fit. Even my 70yo neighbor liked it Please enjoy

21.01.2022 Last week's updates. I mostly worked on my own as ex decided he is not helping again in a very nasty form I was quite upset and felt very close to leaving everything as is, but a friend who has been through similar has talked me out of it. So here I am again....... Well, I didn't have much left than to cut panels myself in the short breaks Alexander allowed. I finished sheeting of the front, sealed the top do that water cannot enter inside and decided I needed a break. And what did I do? Right, read some barefoot investor book and... registered on a dating site why not, I thought. In best case scenario I will find a plumber Then the colds hit again and I realized that again, I just can't do all on my own, so perhaps just focusing on the ground floor and moving ASAP is reasonable. First rule - help yourself and afterwards your kids. My lovely thoughtful friend came over to help with sheeting the boy's room in gyprock yesterday evening and we could finish the whole wall (2,5 sheets) I did it for the first time, so she also guided me. Her idea was to use those metal round thingies for securing screw heads from penetrating gyprock throughout (which I did a few times accidentally). It was also challenging to screw due to insulation getting in the way and catching, forming a blob where screws got stuck. Way I worked out is to unscrew completely and attempting again until it doesn't catch or alternatively just changing spot. So as you can imagine there are lots of spare holes everywhere now I should also admit it felt soooo great having a supportive person present, such a difference. I don't take it as granted We finished around 10pm as Alexander woke up because of the noise. I later on continued sheeting until about 1.30am Agree, got a bit overexcited And due to lack of photos I attached an internet one that summs up pretty well my feelings about this whole project

21.01.2022 Today I showed ex the WPC (wood plastic composite) cladding I liked as he finally has the time now. He was so excited about it.... No, of course not, just joking. He didn't even want to go and have a look.... But I convinced him eventually as it's quite an expensive buy and he agreed to pay half (even though he never paid for my half downstairs ). So we ordered first half of external cladding and ceiling panels for bathroom today. They will be delivered on Monday. Also, I organised both aircons to be removed on same day as unfortunately they 1) work every other time at best, 2) are fixed to weatherboards externally so are inevitably in the way of new cladding. And in the evening I did some more villa cutting and sheeting of bathroom is almost completed apart from wall with all plumbing. Fingers crossed the plumber may visit on Tuesday, but I am loosing hope.

20.01.2022 All together? This weekend we had been casually discussing how we would divide a car as technically ex owns her and I am principal driver as he has a work van. We did the sheet above the window and I finished the frame above the door to kids' room.... I finally managed to level bathroom floor with a concrete grinding wheel on an angle grinder as the floor on the "edges" was slightly off. So now the frame is completely stable and secured to studs ready for installation apart from one last overflow hole still to be cut. And on Monday ex had been made redundant. He was shocked. And to be honest even myself who kind of suspected such outcome just because of this whole shit show you don't have to be a genius to foresee such things... Shocked. Despite the fact their department showed 10% profit within 5 months and him working through the whole lockdown as essential worker providing a business version of zoom for many businesses. Fired. In one day. My PTSD is over the roof at the moment. I realize that I can do nothing and scared for his mental state. Helpless in this situation. He returned his work van today and is officially unemployed now. I have huuuuge doubts I would commence work next year. No comments. I managed to get some wall insulation done tonight and perhaps you will see me here a bit more often.... Or not. Depending on how far I get thrown back by buying a car and associated fees. I don't even think I want to stay positive. Hope whoever reads this is doing well with food on the table and roof above his head.

17.01.2022 I thought I would just attach some screenshots of my conversation with the legend from Canungra Belinda Pearl

15.01.2022 A friend joked today that a plumber is the most desired man in this house I confess. She is absolutely correct.... So we cooperatively did: 1. the hole in the vanity for basin : losses - old plug-in cheapest jigsaw, gains - new battery operated jigsaw - very cool and surprisingly more powerful and nice to work with. I will have to trim the doors on the inside top as unfortunately the basin is a touch too big for this cupboard, but God I love this neat and tiny Tassie oak vanity . 2. Hole for overflow in bathtub cut. 3. After multiple sets bathtub finally fitted to where it should be. We had to trim bottom villaboard and after we squeezed it in with some effort a huge 4cm void was left above the edge making the whole idea of waterproofing a bit ridiculous. 4. Solution came unexpectedly when I decided to trial some brick/concrete support that mandatory goes under acrylic bath bottom. I also used a wedge timber piece left by previous owners in the garage - yay for another example of recycling and extra garage space . I liked the result and decided to fix it with liquid nails - quick and easy. While using a gun I remembered that I also have expanding foam with another special gun for it. And expanding foam is waterproof. So solution for the gap above bath was found And bonus tasks completed included some trimming of WPC edges that didn't leave any room for remaining wall's villaboard and some final touches of insulation on the balcony. Oh, and as I promised mistakes - I made the leveller too thick in the bathroom and unfortunately it cracked and I could hear the hollow sound when tapping on it meaning it had to be redone, so the defective part was removed today and I need to address it soon. I plan to re-level in 2 goes this time to avoid same scenario. Tomorrow we booked some plumbing first thing in the morning as the guy could only make it later in the afternoon today and looked quite tired. Besides, as it always happens I managed to do all sorts of preparation except for the most obvious ones - when he came over I couldn't find any of the taps and fittings and was hectically looking for them silently cursing myself for forgetting about it and ex's hoarding and lack of organising skills . Whatever it takes, I have waited a few months, I can wait a day surely So excited, but I need to go to sleep Hope you have a great day tomorrow too!

13.01.2022 I am excited to announce the commencement of plumbing works Last 2 days both kitchen and bathroom were worked on. Even the outside got a bit of work:... 1. The toilet waste needed to go lower as I decided not to put a thick screed bed underneath (still no idea why one would need it and extra step in the house). Now I am left with a nice big hole around waste pipe. Anyone has any ideas how to fix? I need to YouTube bricklaying by the looks of it. 2. As the same waste pipe was right in front of bathroom window I asked it to be moved further up and it's much better now. I will paint the whole thing black later on. And also some internal framing done for kitchen as well as wobbly wall between garage and kitchen removal. Pipes are insulated just in case, even though the plumber said it's not necessary in Brisbane, but I thought just in case...

12.01.2022 Relationshiping. Funny word, isn't it? If anyone wonders what happened that I have been away for 2+weeks, I will tell you.... No, I did not find a new affair or anything like that, but instead some ridiculous shit was happening around. Alexander (youngest) lost all my bank cards. Then he accidentally scratched his dad's cornea. So hard the eyelids swell and he was in agony all weekend, missed day of work and I took him to hospital on top of looking after kids alone... again...as always But on a is the fact that Centrelink accidentally transferred my money to somebody's else account. I basically had none the whole week which is completely my fault as I didn't manage to save anything I now risk to be overpaid if the person who received mine doesn't return them. I hope they do... Anyway, perhaps you can imagine I felt not just down, but really down. Extremely down. Could not make myself do a thing until yesterday. Just sat and watched "Why women kill" Ex finally showed some initiative. So most lights downstairs are done. The look good, however 2/3 are not balanced when the fan is working. They had been damaged during shipping, so I hope I can rectify. And the power for underfloor heating is ready for connection. As for myself, yesterday I finally got both my re-issued cards and transfer so I decided to invest a bit into much needed proper storage solution. I got a good cheap deal from a local shelving company in Sunnybank and brought 2 big shelves for the garden shed. It was not convenient to work at night due to absence of light mainly, so I eventually will put a solar lamp in I think. And during baby's naps I relocated some of the items from both down- and upstairs into the shed and I feel so much better inside. I asked ex for ages to get proper shelves, or working bench, but he would brush it off saying garage's his area so he will think about it. Well, mind you, we have been in this house for 15months and he never ever bothered, so again I worked some muscles. I am so satisfied with the looks of my house without hige boxes everywhere. And downstairs is almost ready for next area floor levelling and finishing plastering. Can't decide which one to do first.

12.01.2022 So surprisingly everyone survived last week. Progress so far - * 2 villaboards secured above the space where bath goes ( as I thought it's a bit easier without it installed than trying to fit stepladder in the bathtub).... By the way they turned out to be very difficult to cut with an angle grinder, so I might have to get a manual cutter. * Sheeting of perimeter with sandwich insulated panels basically finished (still need to secure the sheets at the bottom and seal gaps) - it was NOT easy as always due to size, staircase obstacles and irregular shapes surrounding, i.e. studs, slopes, stairs, pipes. * Soundproofing wall between bathroom and kids' room with underfloor acoustic underlay -my personal know-how . The idea was born due to necessity to soundproof behind the shower niche. I had 2,5 rolls of suitable 3mm rubber underlay (plus 1,5 rubber/cork German underlay that I plan to use underfloor in bedrooms). Seriously, it will work I am sure, I added polyester sound batts on top as well. For 1 wall 2,65*2,5 I used maybe around 6m (~1/4 roll) that I already used last year when I moved downstairs originally when we split. So some sort of recycling happened and I no longer have a loose piece of rubber in the way woo-hoo. * Retrofitting rubber underlay was not really fun and there are still areas that would let the low frequencies to get between the rooms. So for places without gyprock I decided to trial soundproofing plasterboard itself - that way metal studs acoustic bridging is prevented . * 3x 2,7m villaboard sheets purchased and ready to be cut and installed tomorrow hopefully.

08.01.2022 We are continuing removal of weatherboard and insulating external walls. Taking turns working above the backyard stairs we completely finished back side. I did removal of hardest top section as ex was afraid to put the plank onto something as otherwise the top couldn't be reached.... I risked to trial strapping plank to a heavy sturdy metal chair and it worked. Because I am actually afraid of heights I never looked down and insulated everything no problems at all. We now however have no child gate and the rails are not secured so kids stay away from balcony until we re-sheet it in foreseeable future. The backyard looks like a warsight at the moment Today was very productive. First thing in the morning both old temperamental aircons were removed leaving two big holes in my bedroom and lounge room upstairs. Then first lot of WPC that will cover half of the house upstairs and bathroom ceiling arrived woo-hoo. I have cut the ceiling panels in half, cut holes for spotlights in 2 panels. That task was not an easy one to achieve with an angle grinder and I am very proud of the result - both holes are neat and downlights fit snugly. We cooperatively did the first 2,5 panels above the bath getting ready for tomorrow's plumbing hopefully. Tomorrow the plan is to make a hole in the bath for overflow - can't be screwed so I am a bit nervous. And also before plumber arrives the Tassie oak cupboard top needs to be cut to fit a semi-recessed basin, and also need to cut a side hole for bidet hose to become a (hopefully) beautiful vanity.

07.01.2022 Hello-hello! We have just had few days of storms and below are the losses: Eastern fascia of the roof - gone with the wind.... I named it self-removing asbestos. Not sure whether I cry or laugh here. So as you can see the roof gets ventilated well now. Someone has to fix it. Texted ex and ... Silence Haha. Not impressed. Gazebo - gone. Frame snapped in multiple places and I don't have time to mend it unfortunately Trestle - thank god it only got thrown to the nearby tree and not our or neighbor's house. Phew Pool - nice and green. I did 2 chlorine shocks so far and today also got some leaf catcher and brush as old ones broke. Smaller jobs I completed are palm leaves removal and baby gate installed back to where it was, almost. Rails are sanded and cleared from rust and I will re-coat black as soon as I get time. And I also discovered that whole ground floor gets flooded through garage. Theoretically the levelling would raise it enough for it not to happen again, however I still cannot afford to hire someone (that's at least a 2-person job for few hours). So all building materials got wet and I am a little scared to check out all the damage. I can't do anything now anyways. So just working towards employment at the moment. So far international criminal history checked and first aid certificate completed. English test in 2 weeks. Below are photos.

05.01.2022 So I am officially in my 4th decade now And what do you think I did today? Correct, villaboard sheeting ... And we did it New Zealand way - vertical sheets Why New Zealand? No idea to be honest, but a builder I got most of my screws from said that in Australia sheeting is oriented horizontally. No logic to me personally if your ceilings are 2.7 (2.68 in my case) as the sheets are made in 1.8 / 2,4 / 2,7 lengths. Anyway, as you can see some serious planning, drafting and cutting was involved. And I did screw up Slightly, but I did. The section around the niche - could not measure properly from the ground level, so will need to be trimmed on one edge (5mm roughly). But seriously, I think I did pretty well overall Oh, and by the way, if anyone wonders - trial and error showed that fiber cement cutter is way more effective than metal disc on an angle grinder. Less dust and noise and surprising easy and quick to cut. All this luxury for 23$ only at a famous hardware store However I also got 2 concrete discs just in case as well as sanding attachments for drywall sander. I still question whether I will commit to proper finish of walls as they will end up being wallpapered anyways... I have to remember 1 step at a time. And a bonus photo of finished external sandwich sheeting. I feel almost in finish line, even though I am veeeeery far from it I do try to stay positive. I think I was born with this belief that in the end of the day it will be all right. I will be all right no matter what ll

04.01.2022 Last few weeks were a bit rough for everyone. Twist to the story - by next week ex is moving out to his own place. So now I am solely responsible for all costs ... I wonder how, but on the good side - no more dramas. And the Reno will continue even slower than before...or not. So far the updates are: - Bathtub bottom brick support is in place. - Insulation of reachable perimeter between floors is completed at the back. I used JH firewall glass wool batts (trimmed to fit) as polyester doesn't slide between joists as easy. My photo after insulating attached - this is how 1h of work in a full-face 3M mask looks like. Almost a covid warrior - Bathroom sheeting complete apart from front of the bath as I need to check for leaks overnight. - I got a bit more xternal cladding on, still heaps to do. I guess I will be hiring handyman to aid with stuff, which is really a new experience, but I hope good one. Oh, and as I don't want any gas in the house, ex filled a request for complete gas disconnection and meter removal which should take up to 50 days. For now I got a small IKEA tillreda induction cooker and the plan is to sell 1year old stove and get a base kitchen cabinet for a steam oven and use it as bench-space for cooker. To be honest I am still processing those news since Sunday, but overall I am very happy.

03.01.2022 It's been a while since I got a chance to post anything. Last month I had been doing odd jobs here and there. I finished the ceiling in the bathroom downstairs.... You can see I used a stud to hold the last half panel in place - liquid nails to fix it. It was challenging to find a time gap when I could finish off the cladding section above the staircase at the back, but I just managed to complete everything up to smallest (toilet) window and now I can safely work from a scaffolding as well as put trestle and plank away which will then allow me to put a baby gate in place woo-hoo. As pictured, I stripped the paint off a stud with a coral disc on a grinder ready for painting black to match with new colour scheme. It's really killing me how much time it takes me to do such simple tasks really As angle grinder is involved in all operations mentioned, I now mainly work on weekends and end of week when Alexander is in daycare. Thanks God he seems to be doing fine. Another update - gas system abolishment. Ex requested that the meter got removed and the whole system disconnected at the mains. Whoever did it left a steel pipe sticking out of the ground and dug up the driveway next to a letterbox. I am still a bit confused as to whether I need to excavate those 3 meters to remove all pipework. Not a priority at the moment, just curious. I also put up a gazebo for my vedgie-garden (not pictured. Looks terrible to be honest, but does the job with extra shade. I also decided that I would rather get some plants now to at least harvest something maybe next year... Hopefully. So now I have: Raspberry, Finger limes Lemon and orange thyme, Cucumbers, Pomegranate, Gardenia - love the smell, Hass and reed avocados, Dill Avocados planting was a bit of a struggle. As I put them where oleander used to grow, and ex removed the root as it turned out only partially. So I encountered multiple long strong roots around the hole he worked at. A bit disappointing to he honest that I have to redo just about everything he helps with As a bonus I dug out some big and probably yummy larvae I didn't risk to try it . I am also planning on relocating mint from another spot soon (where second garage would be ideal). I also removed the gas pipes and some disconnected wires from the garage and plan to take them to scrap metal recyclers for some extra cash tomorrow. To be honest, financially the last few weeks have been challenging and I have made a decision to finalize my registration for work that I ideally have all ready by new year. So at the moment, renovation is basically stuck and I hope to save from work and outsource mainly next year.

02.01.2022 This week was dedicated to some minimal work around boy's bedroom sheeting (where I could cope on my own) and electricals. The most exciting part. Hehe. After multiple discussions the final draft was made and off we went to ruin the rest of poor downstairs ... As you can see hardly any original walls left - due to lack of both sound insulation in the walls and integrity (bloody bar) the need to get 4sq.mm cable to bedroom was achieved by getting rid of lower two gyprock sheets that were anyway damaged by vermins in the past (both wheelie bins are full with gyprock). So I decided to move existing power point slightly away from corner ( as the wardrobe will block it otherwise) and add another one for study/my bedroom). So that both rooms have at least two power points as well as underfloor heating and fan lights. I might want to add an air-conditioner later on, but I think it can be done externally no problems, so no need to stress for now. I'll just focus on proper insulation for now A bit about the products used - for under tiles I am using carbon wire and for bedrooms I got positive temperature coefficient graphene film. Both products work in far infrared spectrum so they should also be good for health. However, in a great local Australian group called MEEH, my efficient electric home, I have discovered something I always suspected - the concrete slab needs to be insulated for the house to be the most energy efficient. I will be able to put a thermal breaking foiled foam under timber floors in bedrooms and put heating film in between, however there's no product readily available in Queensland for insulating under tiles as of course "it doesn't get that cold, surely you wouldn't need it" Oh, well. I guess I will just do my best with what's available. Just for reference my plans with some rough computations and technical data from supplier as well as work site photos.

01.01.2022 Past week was mainly dedicated to weatherboard removal. I thought to give it a go and advertised them for free on marketplace providing all tools and scaffolding. I got a lot of interest and 2 walls were removed within 3 days. I insulated and covered one wall ( finished at 3.45am on Saturday) and in the morning a lady with an adult son came over to do the other side wall. I just had this weird feeling about her.... The details she had given me were just a bit off, like her son's medical history, but I decided to give it a go. They were warned about the necessity to exhibit caution around solar infrastructure and gas meter box. I had to leave in the morning and when I came back they finished already. We said "bye" and I turned the power on. The next day after I had a good rest, I did the insulation and coverage of the side wall with WPC panels. And then I noticed something odd in the position of the inverter, opened the cover of LCD screen and to my horror the "UTILITY LOSS" was on the screen. I looked closer and noticed that the inverter box had multiple hit marks and the fitting was crooked severely. Checked power generation app and as expected nothing generated since Saturday morning. The lady decided to block me after I notified her of the damage they had made and it looks like I have no car Rego or phone number to trace her. Good and expensive lesson I guess. Solar company is coming next Wednesday morning and I hope the inverter is still alive and it was just a wire disconnection on the roof. But most likely I will need to save for a new inverter.... And a surveillance system would have been nice too... And a gun maybe. But on the good side, the WPC panels look nice and have 3 layers of insulation underneath - polyester, 3mm rubber acoustic underlay + 8mm double sided reflective foam. Bonus photos of our system on the roof solar company sent through.

01.01.2022 Cool room panelling. Finally got to this stage, I kind of hardly believe that I now have walls Still needs sealing everywhere, but the chances of getting any night visitors decreased a bit It was not easy I tell you.... I lost count of mistakes I have done, so multiple multiple endless cutts with an angle grinder. However, in my opinion, it was worth it. After I seal the top and bottom edges, everything is going to be waterproof finally woo-hoo. And yes, as you can see the glazier guy had reimbursed me with a free installation of the second door that I however marked prior... Just in case you know. He was doomed to make it right this time And the other sliding window was installed by all of us, Anton helped with putting hardwood top plank, and also checking levels We actually finished the whole wall later in the evening, but no photo as it was already dark when the last section over the door went in. On to-do list is : - trimming of edges above the door (I didn't get the size exactly right for a side plank covering the gap to get between the panel and brick wall), - painting aluminium plank (for the door-wall gap ) black, - getting flashing for panel edges' disguise and also painting black, - painting all pipes black, - sealing top and bottom gaps with flexible bitumen rubber flashing and expanding foam, - sealing the drain outlet. Also, when baby fell asleep we could attach 1 top track and prepared the second one for internal wall, photos coming soon. Kitchen draft plan I made for the plumber who we couldn't organise still attached. One day at a time