Tell us your best Bunnings experience and win $150 Bunnings eVoucher

eVoucher provided  by Bunnings

When you’re renovating it’s a foregone conclusion that your main shopping destination becomes your local hardware store.

From popping in to buy much-needed drill bits or emergency paint supplies you start to become very intimate with the layout of the store; it almost becomes your second home…an extension of your life…

We spend far too much of our time at our local which is Bunnings, conveniently located six minutes away from the Sow’s Ear. Having it so near is enough to take the edge off the pain of forgetting building supplies. The ‘measure twice, cut once’ rule is adhered to quite randomly in Casa Scrofa Orecchio…(look it up)

I don’t think we’ve undertaken any project where we’ve never had to go back to a store to re-supply. We salute the people who don’t ever get caught short.

With Christmas just on our door step and the scent of DIY in the air, we’re thrilled to be giving away a $150 eVoucher to one of our readers, thanks to the nice people at Bunnings.

All you have to do to win is tell us your best Bunnings experience in the comments section. Entries close on Tuesday 11 December 2012. If you comment anonymously, don’t forget to include an email address so I can reach you. As per usual, Jason will select the winner and we'll announce the winner the next day.

To help you along I’ll describe Jason’s best Bunnings experience. He told me it was when he bought his cordless compact impact driver  (it even rated a mention in a previous post). He had been given Bunnings gift vouchers and Mr Rooney, our now Canberra-based builder, advised Jason about the features he should look for in a drill. Equipped with the vouchers and the knowledge he said the service in the tool department was great and the drill is one of the best things he’s ever bought. And my, hasn’t it been used!

Anyway, make sure to enter the giveaway and good luck!

Being asbestos aware

Asbestos. It's that dirty word which strikes fear into the heart of the seasoned and unseasoned DIY renovator.

The ubiquitous sheet of asbestos fibro cement which forms the fabric of most of our pre-1987 homes is not something you should be touching when you're renovating.

This week marks National Asbestos Awareness Week in Australia. And for those of you who are renovating older homes or are about to embark on your renovating odyssey, it's a timely reminder to be careful and mindful about what you are dealing with.

A recent study showed that over a four year period between 2005 and 2008,  8.4% of all men and 35.7% of all women diagnosed with mesothelioma (asbestos related disease) were home renovators, with renovations and maintenance being the main cause of the disease in women. Yikes! 

The campaign is about educating home owners. We need to ask ourselves whether our homes could contain asbestos products and could we be playing renovation roulette - putting our health and the health of our family at risk when renovating...

We have asbestos in the Sow's Ear - our whole under the house was clad in asbestos sheeting and most of our sun room was clad in asbestos. Unfortunately for us a lot of it was cracked and disturbed, therefore a good enough reason to remove  it. We've had the majority of it removed and disposed professionally. It's just easier. 

For the record we have DIYed asbestos removal in our last home but took all the necessary safety precautions with masks and disposable suits and hired a plastic lined asbestos bin for disposal. But really, if you don't need to touch it, then don't.

If you'd like to know more about the asbestos in your home and what you need to do with it if you intend to renovate, just visit asbestosawareness.com.au 

Being informed is a renovator's best tool of trade. 

 

Grassy knolls

Green grass. It's never really existed on one side of the Sow's Ear. Until now that is.

On Friday we spent most of the late afternoon and early evening rolling out turf. What I can take away from that experience is that a roll of turf is a lot heavier than it appears. It never occurred to me that I would barely be able to lift and carry the turf to where it needed to be laid.

Holy mother of lawn clippings! Thank goodness we were only turfing one small section of our yard. We chose Sir Walter turf because of its hardiness and it grows well in shaded areas. It is a type of buffalo grass.

The aim of the new lawn is just to minimise the dust and mud after all the renovation work on this side of the house - removal of tree stump, broken concrete and asbestos; and the construction of new stairs and weatherboard cladding.

The new lawn also softens what was previously a barren wasteland of nothing. You can see for yourself what it was like in the first two images below.

The sunroom side of the Sow's Ear in 2009

Side stairs circa 2009

The turf and the soil arrived on Friday. Unfortunately there was a stuff up and the turf arrived about 5 hours before the soil. Oi!

It also meant that the turf was blocking our access to where the soil needed to be spread. Oi!

The soil delivery guy would've been able to dump the soil straight to where it needed to be...but instead, we had to shovel it into a wheel barrow, manoeuvre around the turf and shovel it out. Oi!

Anyway, best not to dwell...

Turf blocking the way for the soil.

Jason starting to lay the first few rolls of turf

This shot was taken late this afternoon after a good watering

This part of the Sow's Ear has come a long way from the 2009 photos. I had forgotten how sad it looked...We have our fingers crossed that the grass will survive.

Kitchen renovation ponderings

sponsored by the good guys kitchens

You know how they say you shouldn’t renovate a house straight away and that you should live in it a good 12 months before lifting even a hammer? Well, we committed that most cardinal of renovating sins when we moved into the Sow’s Ear. We started planning a new kitchen before we even moved in and had it built within three months of moving.

Kitchen in a Queenslander house
I took all the magnets off the fridge for this shot! 

Do we have any regrets three years on? Hmmm…I’m not sure. There is nothing in particular I would change in terms of the layout or finishes. We have a great looking kitchen but I think we probably could have managed it better which would have meant more efficiencies in the long run – time and cost savings.

If we ever do it again, I’d most likely allow myself more time to research and shop around at kitchen showrooms and I definitely would organise my own tradies, especially now that we’ve got a great network at our disposal. 

You can get a more competitive price and the job is completed in a more timely fashion… as opposed to relying on someone else’s network. The number of questionable invoice surprises after our kitchen was completed would make you shudder…

We pretty much went with the first kitchen place that gave us a quote which is quite silly in hindsight. Although everything went okay and the design is good, I can’t help feeling that we should have got another couple of quotes, downloaded a kitchen design catalogue or two and perhaps not feel so pressured to rush to get the kitchen “done”. But that is the wisdom you gain through hindsight.

open kitchen shelving

One of the best things about renovating our kitchen was that it introduced me to the world of design and renovating blogs. Bloggers are generally very generous with the information they share about their renovating experiences and a lot of the inspiration for our kitchen was from blogs.

So are you guilty of renovating before the 12 month mark too or do you think that 'renovating rule' is just nonsense? 

More Queenslander House Renovation Blogs

I thought it was time to update my list of Queenslander house renovation blogs for all of the house blogger junkies out there.

There have been quite a few home reno blogs which have cropped up on my radar since my first list back in January 2011. Sadly, not all of the blogs on the original list are updated regularly...they've either finished (super-efficient!) or done the bulk of the work; have changed circumstances or changed blogging direction; or have just lost interest in blogging altogether... Check out the original list HERE

Queenslander in Stones Corner

Never fear though, some on that list are still going strong such as Crazy House Capers (this couple are the DIY champs. Love their hard work ethic) and Bungalow Bliss (they are about to start some major work soon) and we're still around too...plugging away at it. Nostalgia and Now and Spots and Stripes are two blogs in the midst of renovating as well.

Stones Corner Queenslander with enclosed front verandah and Roman columns. Bless!

So, in no particular order let me introduce you to some cool Queenslander reno blogs for your consideration.

West End Cottage
Caroline and her family (hubby and four boys! She would be hero-worshipped in certain countries) are finalising plans for an architectural designed renovation on their teeny tiny cottage located in West End. It's going to be a fabulous renovation going on the concept plans which Caroline has been sharing on her blog. It's interesting following the process of finalising the designs and the compromises which are made to meet their budget. Award winning OwenVokesPeters are the architects they are working with, so this should be a very chic and well-considered renovation. They hope to begin building in 2013...

Hudson's House
This is a very new-to-me blog which I discovered a few months ago. You have to start from the beginning to see the before shots of the 1930s Queenslander which had a very distinctive 1970s breeze block façade.  The 70s had a lot to answer for with these poor old Queenslander homes! Anyway, it is almost unrecognisable now after lots of hard-core work. They have kick-ass valances too.

The Old Post Office
This blog's author Edwina has been kicking around the blogosphere for a long time but in just the past few weeks she started a  new blog about renovating two very run-down Queenslanders(an old post office and a cottage)  in the country. They currently have the properties under contract (I hope I haven't jinxed them...). Edwina and her family are escaping the big smoke (it's relative, right?) of Brisbane to live the dream. They have their work ahead of them and I can't wait to read their adventures.

We could, We should, We wood renovate
Clarissa writes about a major extension to an inner-city Queenslander that she and her hubby are managing. There has been a lot of activity on their house this month, so check it out and enjoy the progress shots. Clarissa also works for Timber Qld so has a lot of knowledge that might be useful.

Rachel's extremely eventually bit by bit renovation
Rachel and her hubby have been renovating their 'Queenslander' in Northern NSW for the past five years and this blog chronicles the work they have done to their home. They completed their kitchen renovation this year.  The bog is updated only now and then but it is worth checking out to read about all the things this interesting couple get up to.

A House in Auchenflower
This little gem of a blog is updated sporadically and is not a typical renovation blog. It delves into the history of the 100 year old home, Clovelly, and is more about restoring many of the original architectural features. It is very well researched and a good read for those interested in keeping intact the integrity of the Queenslander home.

There you have it. If I have left anyone out inadvertently let me know and I can update the list.