I was chatting to a carpenter bloke about various things around the house, which helped solidify some of the ideas I’d been pondering for some time now. After years of inaction, I’m finally starting to move on them.
I’ve had the Attic Ladders people come in for a quote, and they’re now booked-in to install a ladder into the ceiling this Thursday. It’ll be in the front hallway. They’re also arranging for someone to cut up and take away the old water tank which is still up there, and to tidy up some of the old disused pipework which is preventing there being more usable space.
Then I’ll get the carpenter bloke back in, to look at what I originally called him for — to check and repair the ceiling at the front of the livingroom, which is drooping a bit.
Replacing the loose insulation with batts (which should be more effective, and less dusty) is on the agenda, and I’m pondering replacing the kitchen halogen down-lights (which I currently avoid using very much) with LEDs. Flat boards will go into the ceiling to create some storage space.
The 4-drawer filing cabinet in the back room will be replaced with a 3-drawer one (I’ve already consolidated/chucked-out a bunch of paperwork) in the ex-diningroom cum computer room, replacing an existing storage unit which also holds papers (as well as being a perch for the printer).
I’m pondering a small shelf unit along one wall of the laundry to accommodate the laundry basket with the toolbox, which is currently stored in the back room.
The gutter along the back porch will gain a second down-pipe. At present when it rains heavily, it overflows because it has a very slight drop to single existing down-pipe on the eastern side. That water then leaks through the back window.
Once the roof has storage space, and the leaking window issue is solved, that’ll allow me to clear out the back room, which should work as a bedroom for Jeremy, currently sharing with Isaac. It’s small, but will still be an upgrade.
That’s the plan so far.
(This is one of those posts I’ll probably look back on in a year and wonder why I never got past step 1.)
6 replies on “The plan for the house”
Good luck. If you get half of those things done by year end it will be a big achievement.
I like the storage in the ceiling project, although the guttering may be a higer priority.
If a lot of those are under $1,000 (in your estimate) think about using The Grey Army – they’re great for lots of fiddly things like extra downpipes, removing water pipes in ceilings, etc, they’re very reliable and are reasonably priced.
Good luck with that list! :)
If you want a good plumber or electrician in this area I have names. I wish I could say the same about our roof company.
Go with the LED lights and get rid of those halogens! Dimmable warm white ones are now available, although at a steep price per light. I’ve seen (and blogged) about the different types we saw in our search for a good LED light. You seem to get what you pay for.
A word of warning… be careful with all that extra storage space it can quickly get out of hand. I speak from experience, it’s so easy to put stuff in a box at a time but it quickly adds up. I wish I’d been a little more judicious with what I kept because now it chockers and it will be a lot of work to get it all down – not to mention trying to find stuff up there. Also I rent, so a day of reckoning is inevitable.
Incidentally, we just had a LED light die after 16 months of use. It wasn’t just one light but all 30-odd in the unit, simultaneously. IIRC my father got a different style of replacement light from Bunnings, about half the cost (<$10) and energy usage, and twice as many in the pack.