AFL Grand Final weekend we decided to do the opposite to everyone else… instead of heading to Melbourne for the weekend we headed to Charlton to do some more work on the house.
On the list to do was demolition of a shade structure outside the back door and the old laundry, complete with bricks from the old copper.
Emily’s boyfriend Jayden joined us for the weekend and we wouldn’t have done half us much if he hadn’t helped out, particularly as the weather was extremely warm with 30 plus temperatures.
After arriving mid afternoon on Friday we started removing all the old plant pots from the shadehouse and emptying them into random holes in the yard. The thing was covered in chicken wire, shadecloth, corrugated iron and ivy which, along with a piece of fencing wire wrapped around a tree, was all that was holding it together. By the time we finished early evening all that was standing was a few uprights.
After removing the uprights the next morning the next job was to cut down the cypress tree growing at the corner of the house. The combination of Jayden and the reciprocating saw made short work of that! We heaped all the branches on the growing green waste pile then proceeded to empty the old laundry of what must have been years of accumulated junk… magazines, material, an old TV, antique typewriter (unfortunately not working) hundreds of unused insulin syringes (the previous owner was diabetic), boots… you name it it was probably there!
Once emptied we all had a heap of fun ripping off the weatherboards then culminating in the best fun of all – attaching a rope and pulling the entire frame to the ground with an almighty crash! Whilst Emily, Jayden Shirleen and I stacked the frame on the ever growing firewood pile (once we move there we’ll have firewood for years!), Abbey started demolishing and old timber and corrugated iron dog kennel.
With the temperature well into the 30s the kids decided to head off for some R&R whilst we adjourned indoors – Shirleen started ripping up the floor coverings in what will be the master bedroom while I fitted a few new latches to some of the windows.
Once the carpet, vinyl and underlay in the bedroom were removed, we found that the baltic pine flooring was much better than we expected although still with some large enough gaps between the boards to see daylight!
After calling it quits for the night we went back to Mum’s for a much needed shower and a well deserved wine and to plan Sunday’s work.
As the forecast for Sunday was for 30 plus temperatures again we decided that half a day’s work would be more than enough, so we concentrated on de-mortaring the bricks from the copper and some general tidying. While Jayden, Emily and Shirleen worked on the bricks, Abbey finished demolishing the dog kennel and I decided to rip out the built in wardrobe in the bedroom.
What a surprise it was to find that behind the wardrobe were the original lath, hessian and wallpaper walls, with remnants of the original wallpaper still in tact – even more of a surprise because the walls in that room are fibrous plaster… they have obviously been renewed at some time in the past.
By late morning we had had enough so packed up and headed back home, satisfied that we had a very productive weekend.
Thanks to Emily and Abbey for their help this weekend and for keeping up the humour, and a special thanks to Jayden for – we wouldn’t have achieved any where near as much without his hard work.
Before
After
Before
After
Demolition in progress
Original lath and hessian wall with wallpaper