Saturday 28th May 2011
One of the things I want to get done around the house before I move in is paving. It would help to cover up the sand and dirt before I start moving things into the house or I'm going to have to spend alot of time dusting and vacuuming.
Firstly, I ruled out brick pavers because I don't like the idea of all those individual bricks/pavers laid out in a criss cross pattern. You get ants building their nests inbetween them, weeds and grass are able to grow between them, and the pavers can move/sag over time.
Now, to figure out what I do want.
My first choice was exposed aggregate, which is basically concrete that is combined with an aggregate material, such as pea gravel, and the top layer of concrete is washed away to expose the aggregate. I've seen some examples of exposed aggregate concrete and I love the look of it. But alas, the pricing I got starts at about $80 per square metre and is therefore out of my budget for the area I want to cover.
Next choice was liquid limestone, which is similar to concrete except that it is made from crushed limestone. The price was about $55-$60 per square metre but the tradesmen who came out to do quotes for me suggested that I opt for concrete instead.
Why?
The general consensus between them and from my own research was:
1. A limestone surface will not heat up as much as a concrete surface.
This is why limestone is so popular for use around a pool or where people will be walking around barefoot. I have to admit, I usually walk around the backyard barefoot because I'm either too lazy to find my shoes or I like the feel of the warm bricks beneath my feet.
2. Limestone is very porous so you need to apply a layer of sealer after installation and every one or two years from thereon. This will protect it from spills and stains.
You can do this yourself by purchasing the sealer from a hardware store and rolling it on like you would with paint. You can seal concrete too if you want. This will give it a deeper/darker colour than if it were unsealed. I've also read that it would be easier to clean (ie oil stains).
3. Limestone is a natural colour whereas with concrete I can choose from a large range of colours that they mix into the concrete.
Being a natural product, the colour of the limestone will vary and I didn't want my paving to look too light or on the grey side. With concrete I can choose a colour that will suit the house. I think you can add colour to liquid limestone too but then you may as well get concrete.
4. Concrete is cheaper than limestone.
There isn't much difference between the price of concrete and liquid limestone, but when you factor in having to seal the liquid limestone and the area that you want to cover, it can lead to a large difference in your final calculation.
So, after weighing these factors, I decided to go with concrete.
I have narrowed down my choice of colours to the three below. It's hard to say what it will look like in real life.
Friday 27th May 2011
The other day Dad pointed out to me that one of my downpipes was not aligned with the storm pipe drain below. I knew which one he was talking about straight away because I had noticed this too. However, I had thought that it was perhaps supposed to be like that to allow for excess water to drain into the ground if the storm pipe overflows.
Not the case.
I contacted the builders immediately to get them to come out and amend this because the cement guys are coming on Monday morning and I intend to have cement cast around the storm pipe drain.
I forgot to take a photo when it was misaligned.
The building supervisor came out today while I was there (I was lugging bricks from the front of the house to the side to make room for the cement) and he got stuck into it with a shovel. I thought that they would have to extend the pipe underground or something but no, he simple dug deep enough to reach the pipe that ran beneath the ground, moved it into the correct position underneath the downpipe and then replaced the dirt over it.
Makes you think why they didn't just get it right in the first place.
Sunday 22nd May 2011
Today I had some friends and family over to help me finish priming the walls. It was a big job but we all got it done rather quickly.
It took two 10L cans of the oil based undercoat sealer.
Several paint brushes.
Several rollers and trays.
And some catering from Mum for lunch.
What do they say?
Many hands make light work.
Thanks for the 'hands' guys!
Friday 20th May 2011
One day, while I was busy taping the plastic drop sheets to the vinyl flooring in the theatre room, I noticed that there seemed to be a gap between the vinyl and bottom edge of the window frame. I lifted up the edge of the vinyl and was horrified to see that there was a big gaping hole along the entire length of cement beneath the window.
It was screaming out 'Hey cockroaches and mice, here's a nice snug home for you!'
I checked the window in the master bedroom and there was also a gap but not as large as the one in the theatre room.
A while back I had also noticed that the window frame in the dining room was not sitting flat against the floor. There is a little gap along the bottom edge between the floor and the window.
These little things that you easily miss on a visual inspection. I only noticed it because I happened to be down on my knees, taping drop sheets to the vinyl.
I let the building supervisor know and he came out last week to install an additional length of aluminium to cover up the gaps.
Saturday 14th May 2011
With the walls prepped and primed in the master bedroom, I began applying the paint for my feature walls this afternoon.
I have chosen Dulux's Berry Smoothie.
1L for $15 from the paint supplier.
Yes, I originally wanted to go with a deep, royal purple but I decided that it would make the choices for coordinating the furnishings and other wall colours somewhat limited. With the reddish colour I have chosen, it adds a warmth to the room and I can coordinate it with browns, pinks, purples and whites. Much more room for depth of colour.
My blank canvas.
Right, so first I went around and painted the edges and around the power outlets. I used a rectangular shaped paint edger. I got the knack of using it pretty quickly but I didn't realise that there were little wheels on one side. They are there so that you can roll the edger along the wall and keep it straight and away from the undersides of the cornices or the floor when you're painting along these edges. I also had to adjust how much paint I was loading the edger with because if I had too much, it would drip. Luckily I have the drop sheets in place!
I also had to go around with a brush to fix up the corners and finer detail in the edges and window.
Once all the edges were done, I started rolling on the paint.
I was a bit ambitious in trying to do the walk in robe as well but ran out of paint!
I kept at it even when the sun went down. Thankfully, my dad had installed a lightglobe into the fitting. I will have to return in the next few days to do some touchups but I think the one coat will suffice.
Wednesday 11th May 2011
On the weekend I finished priming the walls in the master, ensuite and walk-in-robe. I had applied the primer to the edging already so all that was left to do was the rolling. Before beginning, I put down some drop sheets to cover my vinyl flooring.
The drop sheets are cheap orange plastic that I bought from Bunnings. They're 2.6m x 3.6m and only $1.50 each. However, you get what you paid for. I had to be careful applying the masking tape as once you have adhered the tape, you can't remove it without stretching and ultimately tearing the plastic. I figure I am going to just throw them out afterwards.
