Nitty gritty

The title for this post is a bit of a double entendre..NITTY GRITTY

1 We are now having to make nitty gritty decisions about kitchen design and fixtures and fittings...
2 The house is still swarming with tradies (that's the Australian affectionate term for tradesmen); carpenters cutting wood, shaving doors, fixing architraves and skirting, gyprockers cutting and fixing cornice, tilers cutting travertine tiles to fit, and painters sanding back old wood for oiling as well as finalising edges around windows and doors. So it is still very gritty dirty dusty in there.
Sweeping up just creates clouds of dust, and it's all back in a trice anyway. On top of all of that, with all the tradies on site, every room is either a work room with benches and cutting tools, a preparation room or a store room!

At least the garages are slowly getting a little emptier!


At the weekend, one of the priorities was to finally decide what fireplace mantles were going where. As part of our package deal we had acquired 6 marble fireplaces, but we have 8 fireplaces so another two were required.
We had already acquired a new (old style) one for the arch bedroom, but had not found an appropriate mantle for the dining room which we were trying to keep as authentic as possible.
We had come up with a couple of options, but not quite found the right thing. So we went round all the old wares/antique places in Newcastle and managed to find a genuine cedar one from exactly the right period. Just needs a sand and some oil!

On the Monday a small working party went to the house to try and finalise the main  kitchen design, working with the actual kitchen cabinets which had been put together the previous week. Think we got there!!

The adjacent family area was the cornice cutting area, and then the kitchen and family area also became the area where the travertine tiles were precoated!!

The cornice at least should be finished next week!






We were hoping that upstairs would be pretty clear by now so we could completely clear out some rooms and start getting floors done - there's a lot of floor sanding to do (and a couple of rooms to carpet too)...but we aren't quite ready for that yet. One of the upstairs rooms has all the downstairs light fittings ready to go up when the downstairs ceilings have been painted, others have bits of panelling and doors that will be made up into the built in bookcase or the wardrobes, and the rear verandah currently has a bath on it.

The bathrooms are looking pretty good - though not yet finished...there's a couple of ensuite bedrooms (the master suite and the downstairs guest room), and upstairs there is also a bath house and a shower room (each with loo and handwash basin too)...and they all have underfloor heating!

This one is the master en suite, complete with door out onto the non existent balcony!




We will be up there again over Christmas and are looking forward to the work in progress being a little more progressed!

Slowly but surely

After 5 weeks away from the house and contact only be email and texts, we were looking forward to seeing what the house was looking like. So straight off the plane from Heathrow, into a hire car and a drive to Newcastle - straight to Bond Street.

In all honesty many areas don't look much different, although there is now no more chasing into walls to do for plumbing or electrics.

There are ceilings downstairs, and as you look through the door from the lounge into the dining room, you can no longer see into the guest bedroom - the wall has gone up!












The dining room continues to be used as a workroom for the carpenters who are now busy putting in the cedar door jambs and architraves.





Wet areas upstairs (one ensuite, one bath house and one shower room) now have plumbing and waterproofing complete, underfloor heating in place and tiles on the floor (two complete, one almost so).  

bath house almost finished

master ensuite in progress

Many of the rooms upstairs are now sort of complete though without plugs and switches - and in one case the fireplace. Kirsty spent time putting the lights for the upstairs bedrooms together, and the upstairs bedrooms and the upstairs corridor now have light fittings in place.
Trying to find the right light fittings has been very difficult...the rooms are enormous but chandeliers are inappropriate for a sailors doss house,
We wanted something different but reminiscent of old gas lighting for the corridors. These ones we found serendipitously as out of stock items at Early Settler Recollections who then contacted all their other stores to obtain much of the final stock!

the ;arch' bedroom with light fitting

and the top corridor

We don't think we have done too badly, particularly having visited a number of places in UK to see how it could be done!!!

When the floor of the mezzanine was being repaired, it was discovered that there had been modifications to the staircase, so more work but back to original,,,

 Now the floor is level and boarded but there is a big gap where new stairs will need to go in (once the wet work has been completed).

At the moment you can see from the mezzaning down to the back door through this gap!




The back entrance area (back door on the left) now has joists that are termite free and run in the right direction for the floorboarding which should be happening this week...and the staircase tread and balustrade/banister is now in our sights.

At last there is a little space in the garages as some fireplaces, some cabinetry, the doors, some tiles and sundry other items have been moved out.
There is still a long way to go before we can get a certificate of occupancy, but at least we got a huge tick from the building inspector just a week or so ago at the next 'critical stage' inspection.
Next visit should see the upstairs looking like a real house, with the three wet areas complete - and also the downstairs guest ensuite complete, the new mezzanine steps in place and the downstairs floorboarding complete.

We may even have front doors in place - complete with the big purchase of the trip - the brass door handles (picture hopefully next time!!)

Getting there slowly but surely!

HELP!!

We learned yesterday that  the residence designed to be built on the convict lumber yard immediately adjacent (and I mean IMMEDIATELY adjacent) to Coutts, has been allowed  by NSW Heritage to progress to the next stage of the process (an Integrated Development Application) with only minor conditions.

The amended design will now be on display in Newcastle for 30 days to give chance for further public comment. It will then be assessed by Newcastle City Council and resubmitted to NSW Heritage to gain a Section 60 approval.

This means that some construction is almost certain to be allowed on the Lumber Yard Site, covering the Heritage listed site, its history and artefacts. We find that terribly disappointing.

It also means that if this development goes ahead, the only views of Coutts that will be available to the public is of the north face of the building, from the road (unless you value glimpses of the top of the roof and the chimneys).

The bulky wall adjoining the lumber yard has been reduced to some extent, but the bulk of the building remains, and the topography of the land is such that Coutts will virtually invisible.  The Grand Vista will disappear.

The east side of Coutts is already almost entirely blocked from sunlight, this new building as it is planned would block almost all light from the west. Unfortunately it also means that we will probably need to leave the building without its verandah and balcony to avoid further shading.

The building next door as planned is set to dominate the streetscape. The lack of a verandah on Coutts will make it even more dominant, and change the heritage nature of the precinct forever. (Sigh of sadness)

This picture is provided in favour of the development, demonstrating that Coutts can still be seen.
This is from the best possible viewing angle to the west, on the edge of the road,

If there was no verandah...?

You decide.



We are disappointed that after putting heart and soul (not to mention lots of cash) breathing new life into a once derelict building, if this development goes ahead as planned,  the community of Newcastle and the visitors attracted to the area by the heritage nature will be not be able to see it in all its glory, and make best sense of the maritime history of Newcastle.

We are still hopeful that the next stage of the process ensures that the development is subject to modifications which will make it better suited to preserve the setting and views of Coutts in line with the Burra Charter to which Newcastle is a signatory.

Moving downstairs sort of

Carl the builder tells me they are moving downstairs...not that upstairs is finished, there's lots of stuff still to do up there, but it is taking shape!

At the end of last week they were fitting the door catches, so now the doors can actually be closed (and even locked).

It looks very different to when we first saw it, now there are floors where there weren't any - but now also no floor where there was one - the downstairs corridor is floorless (certainly not flawless) and the staircase is jacked up.

The termite treatment we had done was shown to be more than necessary, but a few extra supports here and there should do the job.

We have taken over one of the bedrooms to store the light fittings out of harm's way, though there's still a few other things being stored in there too.

This is one of the rooms that has changed dramatically over the last week as the fireplace and marble mantel went in, so now we can keep warm in winter -as long as we manage to get the gas supply sorted - that's just another hiccup!!





The numerous packages of cabinetry that were in the garage are slowly making their way into the house, and being put together...it is almost like a giant jigsaw puzzle with a few picture clues...the labelling on the packages can be rather misleading - for example all the bathroom vanity cabinets were in a large number of packages all labelled kitchen 4!!



A number of packages are in the master suite, trying to fathom what's what - and here there is one package of the built in wardrobe (it belongs here) but also a package of bookcase (which belongs in the study) and another for the sideboard!

 

...and in the sitting area of the master suite there is a door jamb and a few windows - not sure where they need to go!

Just down a few stairs (on what we like to pretentiously call the mezzanine level, the shower room and the bath house have finally had their render finished.
Looks pretty awful at the moment!


Next step is to do the few stairs and the landing so we have levels right...and then we can start plumbing and tiling. How exciting its that??

The junk room off the rear verandah (affectionately termed the Theatre on the plans) is ready for the floor to be levelled too.







So to downstairs - still a big mess....

 

but the lounge walls no longer have big holes in them,

the kitchen/meals/family area has a floor

and the dining room is now the wood workshop.


The gyprock which will separate the dining room from the guest bedroom will finally be in place this week (cross your fingers) as will the downstairs ceilings, which will make a huge difference.

and a few nice touches as the glaziers moved in to install the bevelled glass around the front door.







...and today a very sweet moment as we learned that our plans have been approved by heritage and we can now move forward on some of those areas that we have been circling around just in case!!!

Next steps

Up to Newcastle on Saturday, back on Sunday...very tiring. Hours spent in the car and also hours spent on site with the builder and the project manager, making many decisions so the next week or so of work can be planned...and one of us (Di) will need to be back on site shortly to make even more decisions.
Over the next little while, painters will be finishing off upstairs, more skirting boards will go on, the renderers will continue. Then there's cabinets to sort so that wet areas can be taken to the next step...plumbers and then tilers!

While it doesn't immediately seem that lots of work has been done, closer examination shows that there has been lots of time consuming preparatory work done in many areas - so the next few weeks should see more obvious progress. Each time it feels a little more like a house, at least upstairs where much of the work has been done.

The doors now have handles (and locks),

and the corbells and rosettes have been put on the cornice
(The downstairs hallway doesn't even have a ceiling yet!)




I suppose this time the 'wow' bit was seeing the sides of the staircase - mainly because it was a wonderful surprise!!!



It has a beautiful scroll pattern on it, and now that the brown paint is being removed, you can see that it is made of two distictively different woods - one quite dark and one quite light. When we first glanced at it, it looked as if the paint had been take off one part and not the other, but closer examination (and more sunlight) revealed the real beauty of it even with the cables and things dangling in front and with a make do banister!!!





As soon as upstairs is at 'first finish' stage the stairs will be refurbished. We think we will be able to save the risers, but the treads and noses will need complete replacement!

The painters have been busy stripping paint as well as putting it on - the back verandah supporting beams have been petty well cleaned up as well as the woodwork around the arch...looking better each time, though obviously still a work in progress!

There has been some work downstairs, and the lounge looks particularly interesting with a unique patchwork finish to it where the plaster has been removed (that pesky drumming again).

There's still a long way to go!

But for a breath of fresh air, beautiful Newcastle beach is only three hundred metres away...

6 months in

Still a long way to go, but does it look different from when we started...particularly upstairs.

For the last few weeks it has been mainly the carpenters and painters that have been on site. Architraves, door jambs (with functioning highlites), and now skirting boards are all making their presence felt, and some of the doors are up too. Now we really have rooms, and we are impressed by the work that has been carried out, real care and attention (thanks Johnny!) - and triple hinged doors.

The skirting boards are actually double sectioned - the 'ridge' in the middle is where the two join. This is in the master suite where we have managed to keep the original floorboards - we are assured they will come up well when polished! (Though we will also be buying rugs!!)

....and look at Bill's craftmanship in recreating the windows

The painters have also been stripping back woodwork where we are able to save and restore. Fortunately that includes the front door surround....

...and the arch off the rear verandah upstairs.
They aren't quite ready to oil yet, but soon will be!

Looking good!

 Paintwork is patchy as the painters have worked around the carpenters and done lots of prep work and trialling, but it's all coming to...

the upstairs verandah..

and the theatre/multipurpose room.












There's even been a few changes to some areas downstairs, with some drumming fixed and walls rendered, like in the downstairs hallway here














...and new floors in place as here in the lounge... (and lots more floorboards to put down as you can see!)







I'm also pleased to report that the heritage architect did a site inspection last week - and the work was highly commended...we can continue....

Feels like a house (maybe)

It's been a while since I last wrote, and more than a week since we were last up there to meet with the project manager, inspect progress and plan the next few weeks of work. End of tax year and preparing the documentation to go to the Heritage Council has been higher priority than the blog - sorry!!

Since the last blog, there has indeed been progress.

In this pic there's still scaffolding (for the flueing), but a door or so upstairs at the front (sealed for safety of course since they currently open onto a drop rather than a balcony)!
The doors have design including fanlights as per original and have been handcrafted in cedar to fit... as all the doors and windows need to be where we cannot salvage the old ones. This building was 'hand made' so no two of the fittings are quite the same size!

...and now the scaffolding has gone.

and more doors are in - there's even windows now, but you'll have to wait for the next blog to see those!

...and don't you just love the green temporary drainpipe??





Now the focus is on the inside and getting a few rooms towards finished so they can be commandeered for use to put together kitchen and bathroom cabinets, and for storage, so we get at other things that are still stored in the garage!



There's still a way to go in most rooms - but now architraves are surrounding all the upstairs windows and they look amazing. The cedar will darken slightly when we oil the architraves but the grain will be more obvious and they will still look amazing!!

The ones we have salvaged still require attention though.

The slight imperfections in the walls became visible when they were skimmed, then the fine tuning plastering could be done prior to painting...looks like crazy paving!!

Since we were there last we have raided the paint shops and agonised over colours to find the right one; to be light in shade but not a 'nothing', and to tone with the warm colour of the cedar.

We then shortlisted...and finally selected (though also giving our project manager and heritage adviser the final say on its suitability when seen ON SITE!)

The pic shows the windows sealed and stacks of paint ready to go! After the first coat was on the verdict was a resounding positive. Whew - sighs of relief!!

Next steps include the door jambs and then hanging some of the 29 doors we acquired way back at the beginning. That too will release some space in the garage. Then the skirting boards. They are on site and being prepared for attachment, so won't we see a big difference on our next visit...

The rooms of course won't be really FINISHED - there will still be floors to polish and fireplaces and mantels to fit, but at least there will be floors, and painted walls and ceilings and skirting boards - and before too long there'll be the power points and light switches we've been selecting! Hopefully some of the lights can go up too. We have managed to acquire many lights that we hope will work well in the building - old style and not so small as to look inconspicuous in large rooms with 16 foot ceilings, but not too fussy either (we're not the chandelier type and don't feel they would be appropriate for this old sailors doss house)!

It is really starting to feel more like a house than a building site - at least upstairs. Downstairs is another stor(e)y, though we have a couple of floors now, and the drumming check has revealed that the walls are in better condition than those upstairs were.

Still wet areas and a lot of finishing to do upstairs but the progress continues.