Losh's house build 5 years in the making

[losh1971]

Painting day.....

 

[losh1971]

Up until painting day I was still living in my caravan as I had no rooms ready to live in. It was soon after I painted the bedrooms I decided to sell the caravan as it was in need of a major reno as it had developed a couple of bad leaks. The $1900 I got for this went straight into the house. It was about one year after starting the house that I moved in. I had a piece of MDF with a hole for a kitchen sink and a bucket to catch the water. I had no bathroom. My shower was a camp shower that I boiled each night and strung up in the shed with the water dropping into Go Lo plastic tub. My only water was a small 1000L rain tank. My dunny was a porta loo AKA "**** tin". It would still be almost another year before I had a proper shower as getting a septic and waste water done was gonna be close to $13k.

 

[Deuce]

Nice job so far.
Keen to follow this build. Keep the info & pictures coming.

 

[losh1971]

[/ATTACH]

Feb 2016- My mate Rusty arrived Friday. I took him out for breakfast at an old fave of mine called the Panty., ooops

... I mean Pantry, yummy egg and bacon rolls with sweet chilli jam and nice coffee, IMHO they make the best egg and bacon roll I have ever tasted. I might be biased but I dare say in the three years I have been going there I have had like 300 of them....

Next step is to head to Bunnings and get a few bits... Here I was thinking I had everything.... Nup damn Home Hardware had NFI of all the things I needed.... Anyway so Rusty helps me figure out what we need and we're good to go. So we get back talk some Jeeps and figure out what he wants off my wreck not that there is much left.... But Rusty has found a few good things they he will be taking back as spares... Last night we hung around and just had a few Crownies and some JD's and Coke..... 7.30 this morn we were into it....... Rusty got basically all the walls in my bathroom tiled.... Pics to follow.... I was a bit like an extra left arm all day lol, only useful when Rusty needed something passed to him.... But that's OK I'm used of that as I have tradies here a fair bit and that often tends to be about the extent of my help....

Although I think I might have learnt how to mix tile glue.... But I trust I have been keeping him well fed... I did say to Rusty before he arrived I will cook him some pretty nice food.. And I can cook alright..... Last night I made Singapore Hokien Noodles with chicken and cashews... It was pretty yum... I said to Rusty that I was hoping to fire up the pizza oven but wasn't going to know until today if we had total fire ban. Nup we didn't so I cooked up some pizza and I think he liked it...

I had my neighbours over tonight to share in the festivities.... They brought over some moonshine and I think Rusty was a bit partial to it... As he had a few nips.... Me I can't stand it, it's just too strong.... Not sure if Rusty could either now because he crashed about at 11.00.. Which I didn't mind because it gives me time to write a blog... All in all it has been a great day.. I am stoked and truly blessed because Rusty has come down to Tas from Sydney off his own back, paid for his own ferry fare and is not charging me 1c in labour to do the tiling in my house... Not everyday you see that kind of generosity...

. So far it's early days but I am already loving what I am seeing and can't wait to see the finished product.. I reckon it will look smick.... Tomorrow plan is to screed the bathroom and laundry; I think the laundry is getting screeded tomorrow.. So I will be learning how to mix a very dry screed; one that can not be done in the cement mixer because it needs to be so dry. I can say this even just through watching a master craftsman at work you learn a lot. I can see why walls get tiled first and seeing the way Rusty did the walls today I couldn't see how the floors could be done first. He had mini laser levels going, then tiles resting on spirit levels, which were held up with these adjustable brackets. Certainly an art to getting the perfect finish. I have had people tell me it's not hard to tile... But I can say this it aint too easy, especially if you want the job to look perfect and I am anel lets face it......

 

[losh1971]

This was our tea one night. Wood fired pizza in my oven I built myself. This is the second pizza oven I have built. Fiance wants me to build another one when we get a new home together.

 

[losh1971]

One week later Rusty got most of my bathroom finished by the time he left. All I had to do was hang the shower screen & tap-ware and fit the widow arch.

 

[losh1971]

11/2016 - Did my first bog in my dunny today......

. The last two days we have been going flat chat installing my septic and waste plumbing.. So after two years since I started the house I can finally live like a civilised person.... It's all very exciting.....

 

[losh1971]

4/2017 - picked up a second hand kitchen and bought some new corner carcass' from Home Hardware. It was Feb 2016 I met my now fiancé. As it turns out her step dad is a fairly handy person and helped me assemble the beginnings of my new proper kitchen. I had already installed floating floor myself after I was given a quick lesson on how to lay it by my builder friend.

 

[losh1971]

 

[greenacc]

Nice work! I see you enjoy a good coffee too. Did you seriously say you are already thinking of moving house before you even finish this one? Fark that I'd be stayin for a while to enjoy it if I spent that long building it.
Corner cupboards are a nightmare, I hate em! I like your kitchen with no doors, if I was single I reckon I'd leave it like that