Moving out

Hope when you read the title you didn't think we had been defeated and had decided to leave....if you did you don't know the Kinlochs!
We were only discussing the other night that we don't have fortitude we have fivetitude (Sounds like a dad joke - right!)

The moving out refers to us moving outside and getting started (after many delays, hiccups and much angst) on the Verandah

Yeah! Cheers all round!

The verandah slab had been assessed as needing minor attention before we could build on it - not once had the engineer checked it out and come to the same conclusion, but twice. We had the assessment done soon after we bought the house as we thought we would do the verandah first. Plans changed and when the inside was liveable, and we were awarded a Heritage grant to help us do the verandah reconstruction, we then had it tested again. Yeah - still an easy job.

However, things never go quite according to plan do they - and when the necessity arose (many of you know why!) to get it checked out again the outcome was rather different. At first it was thought we might be able to do a rectification job to get it back to a standard good enough to support the verandah, but then after further investigation - SORRY  the whole thing has to come away and we have to start from scratch.

Oh well, we've done everything else to the highest standards and saved everything we could - and we tried here too.

So with new engineering plans and a work schedule designed to protect the building to the max, at last people (well a person) are back on site and it's action stations!







With saw in hand, it's necessary to ensure the verandah slab is separate from the house foundations. 





No jackhammers allowed, making sure that  there's minimal vibrations - it's cut and careful removal!!










The columns have been replicated from historic photos and here they are during the production process...

These are the lower columns - coated ready for shipment - they'll be painted on site.

They have been responsible for a few headaches down at Wagga Iron Foundry, having to have the pattern specially made and then casting something SOOO big (over 3m long)





...and the  columns (as they were at an earlier stage in the process).


We're gonna need a big crane to build this verandah



The enormous columns are already palleted up in Wagga Iron Foundry - as soon as the new slab is ready for them and the inners are in place, they will be on their way. Maybe getting excited again!

Progress?

It's been a long time between posts...and still not much to show.

Since moving in late last year, we have hardly been on site, having been to Townsville for an extended Christmas and New Year (with family in town from Hawaii), then with Alastair back to work based in Canberra and Sydney and  Di having done her regular two month voluntary work in Namibia, not returning until mid March.

So apologies to those who have been looking for updates...but there has been little progress on our site. Much has happened on the site next door at number 18 - but that's a whole other story.

We were hoping that by now our verandah would be well underway, if not actually completed, but there have been a number of events that have caused delays.

Here's a reminder of what the original looked like.

Greg and Tim of GTS constructions were brought on board as the builders in September (or maybe October) last year - and did some preliminary measurements and consultations way back...then just when we were all set to start, there were issues making the pattern for the bottom of the columns.

(Seeing these pictures reminds me how messy it still is at the front; can't wait for the skip to arrive so we can make it look more presentable.)

As the columns are so tall, there are limited places where they can actually be manufactured. Wagga Foundry are capable of doing them and we were 'next cab off the rank' as far back as Christmas. They had a big order to fulfil, and then it was our turn, but when we eventually got the pattern made for casting the enormous column bases, other issues got in the way...the foundry couldn't get hold of the right sand for doing the the casting, then the furnace had issues and nothing could be done.

At last one column was poured - but catastrophe; they are SOOOO big and heavy that the mould didn't hold and the resulting column had a slight twist, so reinforcements were needed!
Guess what happened next - it was Easter and the Foundry was closing down for an extended break.

So instead of column delivery and a build half done while I was away, we don't have much to show for the intervening months. Cross your fingers, the columns should be poured shortly then transported fromWagga into the eager hands of GTS who will by then have done the necessary slab preparation.

Internally it's a slow but sure labour of love to find appropriate pieces to fill the enormous rooms, provide the appropriate level of functionality and comfort, but not look out of place!


The last post showed the dining room with its table and sideboard. The chairs were still in UK - but now have made it over to Australia and are looking magnificent around the Gillows table which now has its extra leaf inserted.
Supposedly they were once upon a time the chairs from the board room of a bank, but we have also heard the rumour that they came from a lunatic asylum...or perhaps those are one and the same thing? According to Al it just needs one of the clocks and it will be complete!

The tatty old rugs are there just to protect the beautiful floor...the new one is also en route (next blog)!!




Our fantastic tall hall mirror arrived too - the mirror itself survived the journey, but unfortunately the base has lost its top so we have the shippers and receivers searching high and low...in the meantime rather than occupying the arch opposite the clock at the base of the stairs, the mirror part is lying on its side looking sad!

A small Gillows sideboard is the other piece of furniture in the downstairs hall, and it completes the furnishing of that part of the house.

We are still looking for the right lounge setting and drawing room furniture..I'm sure they will turn up, maybe as a chesterfield, but only if we can find one that is comfortable enough...in the meantime we have 'interim solutions' which are not so worthy of a pic on the blog!

Are we there yet?

The answer to the question is ...well almost....

There are still niggly things to finish, the last six months has been neverending fixes and oiling of woodwork (thanks Glen), and the changes don't show up in photographs...not that there have been any photos for a while anyway because we have been away!

We won't graduate from interim to full certificate of occupancy until the verandah is built on (because it is part of the plans and the approval),...
BUT we can move in and now intend so to do before the end of the year,
We will however retain and use the current house for a little while, particularly since Alastair really needs a base in Canberra until he retires,

So - we have had beds and minimal furniture in Coutts for a little while as we have stayed there fairly regularly. The kitchen area has been functional for some time, but now looks more lived in...


and more furniture is slowly making its way there as we acquire some special pieces.!

In particular we acquired this magnificent sideboard which is large enough to look pretty grand even in the enormous dining room, and reflects the classic simple style of the building.

It is a piece by Gillows of Lancaster although we acquired it at auction in Sydney. It is already a sentimental favourite!






This is the same spot in an earlier incarnation:
it's come a long way!

The dining room also has a 'new' antique dining table which is huge being over 1.2 metres wide. Here it has two of its extra leaves, and there is a third which can be added.








Now we need to acquire a large rug to go underneath it, preferably to match the chairs that we are shipping over from UK...more Gillows, with red leather seats...10 plus a 'throne type head of table chair'...and another set of red leather balloon backs of the same ilk.


Can't wait!



The hallway with some protective carpet runner looks more welcoming, and the first of the clocks has moved in so it feels more like home:










This is the second tallest clock we have, and is nearly 8 foot tall. Some of the really early clocks which are much finer and smaller might look a bit silly, though I am sure we will find suitable places for them.











The staircase has now had its coat of shellac on the banister rail (did you know shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand?)...

and the remainder has been coated with Tung oil (from the seed of the tung tree). It is all now well protected and looking magnificent:

Even the upstairs kitchenette has been set up so that early morning cups of tea don't necessitate a trip through the house to the kitchen downstairs.


Very nearly home sweet home, and the first steps towards the two storey verandah are underway!

Nearly there?

There were times when 'complete' seemed a very long way off., and even now it is only Phase 1 - the inside- that is nearly complete (with penultimate bits happening inside as we speak).
We will be up there in a week or so to check it all out!

If you have been following the progress of this renovation, you will be aware that the front verandah has old tiles, some of which are tessellated.







We always knew that there were lots of missing ones, and lots of broken ones, and that there were cracks right across the surface...

...but we hoped to be able to rescue and reuse some of them, and replace the verandah ones with something along similar lines eventually.







You may remember that we did rescue some of the tessellated tiles to be the hearth of the fireplace in the dining room...

...and we have managed to rescue enough to also make the doorstep for the backdoor.

This should also stop the sand from Newcastle beach from blowing under the door!!







The tiles still need a clean up, but they are there in place and there's an enormous number of broken ones left behind,

Removing the current verandah surface with all its cracks will be the start of Phase 2 - getting the outside looking rather better. The whole surface of the verandah needs to be completely removed and replaced with a reinforced surface, treated to ensure the cracks don't come back. Then it will be retiled. That's the research that is going on now!

We're also (at last) talking about furniture for the place - some modern but much quite old (period stuff), and all not too ornate because that's the nature of the building. Auctions here we come (soon).

One prize piece has been acquired - a magnificent Gillows sideboard which will grace the dining room. At the moment it is in the hall and shrouded in covers! All will be revealed.

The list is getting shorter

We have now stayed at the house a number of times, but it still doesn't quite feel like a home - there is still a list of things to finish off, lots of fine tuning and still lots of cedar protection going on!...
...but it is happening and the list IS getting shorter (just taking a long time)!



The skirting boards are being done - all half a kilometre of them, double height and two coats (that's a lot of Tung oil and a lot of smell...we really couldn't live there yet).


This is the rear verandah where we were able to save the floorboards (with others from rooms where we couldn't save enough.to fill the gaps). I reckon they have come up well.


The doors are all done, except for the back door which still needs a bit more sanding to take the paint off.
The architraves for the doors - and all the window fittings still to go.







This is the view across the rear entrance, (to the left), with an old rug from home protecting the polished floor.
The house is now a 'no outdoor shoes' zone!
The far door is the door into the powder room, otherwise referred to as the downstairs loo!









We are so pleased we have saved and reused whatever we could.


Every time we go upstairs, we are reminded of the history of the place...the stair treads are worn from the many sailors who used this place as their safe haven in the Port of Newcastle in the 1890s and beyond.

Barker Stairs did a great job of adding the new noses and then sanding them to match the treads.

Many parts of the house however are completely modern, and all the wiring and plumbing is brand new (a heritage home with all mod cons - what a great combination!)

.

There are still areas of the house that cannot be completed just yet - there's a dark patch on the wall in the meals area that shows it is still drying out! At least now that is happening, with the new drainage outside having helped somewhat!


There's lots of finishing off to do...

...but Carl is on to it...a couple of weeks...??? 

I'll keep you posted!

Occupancy

We have the paperwork...an interim certificate of occupancy.

Imagine - the key to the door at last.

The floors are polished, the woodwork is complete, the water flows through the taps, the loos flush.
The doors to the nonexistent balcony have been sealed.

There's still stuff happening, like oiling of the architraves and skirting boards, shellacking the banister and balustrade, a few doors to put in place, a few cupboard handles to put on, carpets and window treatments to put in...and dust is still settling, both literally and metaphorically...but it's safe and livable!

We can stay there when we visit and as we do all the fine tuning.
We have stayed there!

A couple of beds have been put into rooms (ok so one is just a mattress on the floor), along with the appropriate accoutrements, and although they are king size beds, they look quite small in the rooms which are enormous - all of them are 5m by 7.2m.

Outside is still rather a mess, but it is pointless doing much out there as we hope to start the next phase shortly, including the verandah surface and beautiful 'fencing' comprising columns and ironwork to match that at the rear of the building.

Most of the tiles of the verandah are broken, and there are numerous 'infills' of various sizes and composition. The aim is to restore as faithfully as we can to original, but it'll have to be replacement tiles.

But hey, there's even outside lights...














...and just look at the front door. There's now locks in place, though we are saving our special brass handles until we finally get to really move in!!

The Ups of Down...stairs

As I write, the stairs and the downstairs floors are being transformed. Last week they were being sanded and the polishing began. Next week the final coats of polish will be applied, a few days of hardening, and it's 'shoes off as you enter' territory (except of course when safety regulations say otherwise, in which case protective covers required!!

The carpenters will be able to get back in to put the beading round the edge of the floors, they have a couple of door to put on and then we really are down to fine tuning.

So here's a few pics of the changes downstairs over the last little while...




The lounge/sitting room/drawing room with (current) views of the clocktower, and french doors out onto the verandah (that's another phase, yet to be commenced!) and a connecting door through to the dining room...




...with another light fitting from Early Settler Recollections, and the faceted glass throws interesting patterns onto the painted walls...














...and with our reclaimed mantlepiece and a (gas) coal fire in homage to the Coal River and a major Newcastle industry!

The study still has to have the skirting boards 'tacked on' rather than being permanently fixed in place because one day there will be a floor to ceiling book case, as there should be in all good study/libraries!!














There's a powder room downstairs (all mod cons)...

...and a large kitchen with island bench, and a breakfast bar that divides it from part of the family room.

The splashback makes use of the floor tiles that we didn't use on the floor as they perfectly match the marble benchtops!






This picture is taken from the family room, to the left in this picture is the meals area which will have a large marble top table, also to match!

The cooktop (induction) is covered to protect it as the rangehood was installed.




So it really is starting to feel habitable....at last!

We'll be back up there in a couple of weeks ready to put on the main door furniture, including the old brass handles that we picked up in UK (currently on the mantlepiece in the dining room in case you spotted them in that picture), organise for the two back rooms to be carpeted, and make plans for the next phase...kitting out, and the support and retiling of the front 'patio'