Renovating sucks

posted in: Life and things | 2
Before and after

For the last couple of weeks our house has been a mess. We decided it was time to fix up our bathroom, ensuite and toilet – which also meant relaying the laundry floor. Pete and I had to share the ensuite, a small room with a shower and a toilet and not much else. But at least we had a second toilet/shower. I can’t imagine what people have to do if they have only one bathroom. Hire a portaloo?

Wouldn’t that be fun if you need the toilet at 2am? Ha. Reminders of long gone days when I was a child in Shenton Park, where the toilet was outside.

The first job was stripping the rooms down to nothing. First the existing bath, hob, shower screens, toilet and vanity were all removed. The tiles are stuck onto cement sheeting, and the guys just cut off the cement sheeting, tiles still attached. That took a couple of days. The floor tiles were broken off with jack hammers and crowbars – both layers. In the past somebody had re-tiled on top of existing tiles (which happened to match the rest of the house). Seems odd to me.The new tiles they’d laid on top didn’t match at all.

Copious quantities of dust and noise were produced. Then floors were leveled and new cement sheeting walls erected. Then it all gets waterproofed with a special paint, which of course has to dry. At least it’s a break from the noise and the dust.

After all that the guys can lay the floors (stopping regularly to cut the tiles to size). They had to build the surrounds for the new bath, fit the bath, install the vanity. Then we had to wait for the plumber to set up the new taps (we’ve gone from two taps to mixers, which means changing the plumbing). Then there was a new drain for the new bath and the new toilet. We managed to get a load of washing done in a lull in proceedings (the weekend) because we weren’t changing the taps on the washing machine, but larger items like towels and sheets were left for later.

It’s all done except for the shower screens, which are made to order to fit the size. They’ll take a couple of weeks to arrive. And then … we can start all over again to renovate the ensuite.

Ask me if I’m looking forward to that.

And here’s a few lorikeet photos for something pretty to look at.

2 Responses

    • Greta

      Everything else was already done – carpets, paint, kitchen, roof, ceilings. This was the last hurrah

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