# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  2 Bedroom Weatherboard.

## ibuildbenches

Contracts have been signed, the keys handed over!  I now own a house. Nothing special. Just a basic 2 bedroom weatherboard. Needs work, but what house doesn't - to some extent?  This thread is basically going to be a blog/database of the house and the progress, incase I lose any pictures off my PC.     This is the current floorplan (posted on here before somewhere)   Basically my plan first of all is to have a cleanout (old carpet, lyno, cupboards, etc) to rid the house of any foreign smells.  Next is to re-stump, which will be mainly through the floor, as access is impossible in some areas.  Obviously after re-stumping will be to straighten all the walls, replace floorboards, re-plaster and start with a blank canvas.  Ill also look to add a third bedroom.  More pictures to follow..

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## jago

Good Luck especially with the straightening of the walls.... 
Love the Green and Gold walls!

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## ibuildbenches

Yeah Im already looking forward to buzzing the hardwood studs!  
Anyone got a planer they wanna lend me???

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## ibuildbenches

Got most of the kitchen out. Under 2 layers of vinyl is this blue underlay which has been glued to the floor boards. Looks like a fun job!    To my advantage everything has been built with nails. No screws. Which makes demo at a lot easier and faster!    This cupboard in the second bedroom is removed giving the room an extra 450mm in width.    The cupboard in the main bedroom (below) is also removed. Plans are to make the joining bedroom wall a split robe for each room.

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## ibuildbenches

Carpet removed from both bedrooms.     
On the subject of floorboards, I will most likely rip these up and replace with T & G sheets as the rooms will be carpet. What would these boards be worth? Will have around 100mtrs

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## ibuildbenches

Couple of little sunrooms removed yesterday.

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## jago

Full steam ahead... 
Why do you want rip the floor up and re-lay with T&G? Save the money for some toys!

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## barney118

Nothing wrong with the floorboards, look like baltic pine, look great polished and cheaper than laying carpet over the top.

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## ibuildbenches

> Full steam ahead... 
> Why do you want rip the floor up and re-lay with T&G? Save the money for some toys!

  I have to rip up the boards to re-stump the house. Im going to put carpet in the 2 bedrooms and lounge so the floorboards wont be used. We have a heap of sheets of flooring from a previous job so cost to replace with sheet flooring is minimal. 
I dont have room for too many toys at the moment! Got a few projects on the back burners already!

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## sundancewfs

> Im going to put carpet in the 2 bedrooms and lounge so the floorboards wont be used. We have a heap of sheets of flooring from a previous job so cost to replace with sheet flooring is minimal.

  I know what you mean. We are going to rip up all the Vic ash floor boards in our old lounge, breakfast and kitchen and put in yellow tongue. Sometimes it just doesn't work to keep what others think are an asset.
I'm sure there are people out there that would have been disappointed at your blatant destruction of all those classic, vintage kitchen cabinets. :Biggrin:  
Its starting to take shape. Are you going with underfloor insulation seeing as you will have the floors up?

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## ibuildbenches

Yeah will look into underfloor insulation. The house is only about 300mm off the ground at the front and ground level at the rear, probably wont need it would I?

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## q9

> The house is only about 300mm off the ground at the front and ground level at the rear, probably wont need it would I?

  Yes, if you can find a way to put it in, do it. 
Remove that ugly, ugly, aircon from the front window while your at it.

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## ibuildbenches

Haha, whats wrong with my aircon!!!! 
I was thinking of leaving it there.. Sorta gives it that traditional Victorian look? 
Dont you reckon??

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## ibuildbenches

The next target...

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## sundancewfs

NOT THE SHED!!!!!  :Shock:

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## ChunkyCharcoal

Good effort so far. The demolition phase is the fun part hey! :Biggrin:  
I wouldn't rip the shed down till you have another shed to replace it. (unless you have somewhere else to keep odds and sods) :Wink:

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## ibuildbenches

Yeah there is another shed in a bit better condition! Trust me, I wouldn't demolish a shed if I didn't have too!
The one in the picture is nearly falling apart, plus its about 6 inches to low. Bump my head every time Im in it.

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## ibuildbenches

Knocked off early today so decided to have a closer look at the stumps and how Im going to go about re-stumping the joint. 
The front of the house is the worse, its sunk over 50mm at least and is clearly noticable when looking at the front of the house. 
I removed the baseboards and had a look at the suspect stumps...
Gave the corner stump a good whack with the hammer to get an idea of how solid it was and it was like a loose tooth! 
Dug around it and as you can see, and its floating in thin air. haha 
Gee I hope it gets better from here... ??  :Tequila:  
Due to this stump being useless its caused the nearest stump to take all the weight, which is where the worst of the sinkage is.

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## ibuildbenches

Second stump removed. Not much better than the first, totally rotted out. This one was also carrying no weight. So the weight of both the 2 stumps removed are being held up by a single stump in the middle of them. The middle stump is directly under a load bearing wall. I had the laser level out and its sunk about 60mm  :Doh:    
Digging the holes down about 800mm to solid ground. Filling the holes with about 150mm of concrete to give me a nice flat solid footing. Iam still going to chuck a sole plate in when I put the new stump in.   
Going through the floor which makes it a bit easier to dig as I have limited access and ducts all over the place, and I have come across the biggest redback spiders I have ever seen, so Im not keen on crawling around under the house, haha   
Using a 3 metre 200 x 70 LVL beam to span several joists with 4 jacks under it to lift it up.   
Pretty happy so far as I have lifted this corner 50-60mm with no problems. Will put 2 new stumps in tommorrow.  :2thumbsup:

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## sundancewfs

Nice to think you found a perfectly good Estwing, that the original builders left under that stump!  :Biggrin:

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## ibuildbenches

Im hoping I find something a bit better than a hammer under there! 
3 new stumps in today.

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## ringtail

Come on now, do it QLD style and stick it 8 mt up in the air and build in under. lol. Does your estwing ring when punching nails ? mine does - freaks me out. 
Good work on the new purchase BTW. You wont have time for a door swinging challenge.

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## ibuildbenches

Have you got one of the leather handle ones? Mate at work has one and it rings.

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## ringtail

Nah, its the same as yours. Leather belongs in the bedroom lol

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## ibuildbenches

Haha! I don't wanna know how you got the name ringtail then! haha

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## ringtail

Bwahahahaha. Its my business name, due to the abundance of ringtail possums around our house and all the other cool business names were taken.

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## ibuildbenches

Some more progress. Up with the floor boards and off with the plaster! 
Struggling to find time to get around the house and work on it. Need to take a few weeks long service me thinks!

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## jago

Now thats a reno ...love the yellow window did OH&S make them paint it that colour. :2thumbsup:

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## sundancewfs

I'm a big fan of that colour scheme!  :Biggrin:  
Are you going to leave the sink waste in the same position? (is the sink even staying in the same posi?) Have you thought of taking it out through the floor and getting some of the old plumbing off the outside wall?

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## andy the pm

Wow, great effort there Matt! The back of your place looks pretty similar to ours, with a collection of ramshackle add ons...

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## ibuildbenches

> I'm a big fan of that colour scheme!  
> Are you going to leave the sink waste in the same position? (is the sink even staying in the same posi?) Have you thought of taking it out through the floor and getting some of the old plumbing off the outside wall?

  
Yes I have a plumber friend who will re-run all new pipework and gas lines throughout the house. Im ripping all the floor up for him to make his job a tad easier, and quicker. 
The sink will stay there and all plumbing will be under the floor and not sticking out of the weatherboards!

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## ibuildbenches

This heater background was made of concrete and it weighed about 80kg. Didn't look that heavy! 
Had to break it up which made a mess!   
More plaster removed. Being old hardwood, none of the studs are anywhere near straight. Its going to take me a good week to straighten all the walls I reckon.     
Bathroom getting demo'ed!     
Pile of rubbish is starting to get pretty big in the backyard...

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## Armers

Looks like you're doing what i did... Check out my go to whoa you'll see the @@@@ that i went through... its rewarding when you get to the stage of putting it back togther. I am at the begg the bank stage to do the reno!  :Biggrin:  
Awesome work though, keep at it. I want to get back into mine but can realy only paint at this stage. So waiting for the weather to clear! 
Wheres this loverly peice of work situated? 
Cheers

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## ibuildbenches

Its located in Bendigo, Victoria. 
About 400m from the soon to be $475 million dollar hospital  :Smilie:  
Yeah, I havent got to the stage of spending money yet. I have spent about $200 on the joint so far.
I now have a bit of money behind me to renovate, but that meant selling my HK Monaro project  :Frown:  
Your house is looking the goods. Keep up the updates!

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## ibuildbenches

More plaster ripped off and more floorboards lifted.   
Starting to look like a carcass now.  
Everything up to this point has been done by myself. Im now in need of a hand. To lift the old cast iron bath out! Doesnt look that heavy does it?   
Thanks to this message from a tradie long ago, I now know she was built in 1951  :Smilie: 
It funny when I think about what some people will think in 50 years when they see some of my messages left hidden under plaster during my time as a chippy.  
I removed the "ugly" aircon hanging out the front window to keep a previous poster happy :P

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## jago

If you're removing stuff  becuase of posts how about giving the letter box ago :Biggrin:   
Love the armchair in the sea of studs!

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## ibuildbenches

Haha, I need that letterbox for now! It matches my lawn anyway so Im happy!

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## sundancewfs

Funny how those Monaro projects can finance a home reno....  :Biggrin:  
I sold my HQ Monaro coupe project ( not to mention about five Landcruiser projects) to finance my trip to the States. 
Looking good! I bet its nice to sit in the armchair at the end of the day surveying inside framework  with a coldie.

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## ibuildbenches

Yeah the only problem with the chair and coldies is when I take my 2-3 tins over with me, without having a fridge in the house I decide to drink them BEFORE I do any work.. cos.. yanno, they will get hot otherwise!!  
That method probably doesn't help with progress!

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## Armers

You in kinda of a lul like me?  
I am waiting for the weather to kick in so i can start painting again and maybe get soome the garden up and running! 
Still looking good though!! Keep it up! 
Cheers

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## ibuildbenches

Been a while since updating. My computer shat itself so I havent been able to logon or upload pics! 
Got all the floor up, all the plaster up to the picture rail (will take that down when I lay the new floor) is gone apart from my storage bedroom. 
Got about a dozen or so stumps in. Been very busy with work, grand final weekend.. grand final weekend 2, and other things! 
Going slow but steady!

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## ibuildbenches

Only got a couple of barra loads of rubbish in the bin and had to stop for the rain! 
I cant work in this!!   
Downpipe would be handy haha

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## ibuildbenches

Ok, bit of an update. Got a 1/3 of the house re-stumped. (20 odd stumps).
With the amount of rain we've had here and the amount of water under the house I was a bit worried that my new stumps may drop, so I have been a bit slow putting new ones in as I want to see how they go with so much moisture around. I got the laser level out today and they are all within 3mm so thats a good sign!! 
Have had the plumber around to disconnect the gas and water and run new gas lines, water pipes, waste and stormwater. Im also moving the HWS to the opposite side of the house and the ducted heater around the corner behind the chimney, so its not visible from the front of the house. 
I will be putting a beam in the roof tommorrow so I can remove the kitchen/laundry/toilet walls to make one bigger kitchen/dining room. The beam will pick up the hanging beam in the kitchen and a hip prop in the roof. 
I just spent a few hours today planing and packing the kitchen floor to get it nice and FLAT!
Got a bit excited and put a sheet down.. finally I got somewhere nice and flat to stand rather than jumping on joists all the time!!

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## ringtail

All praise the platform floor. Funny how every tool you own will soon be sitting on that sheet, better lay another one to make room eh. You dont want that fancy pants framing gun sitting in the dirt. lol. Nice work by the way

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## ibuildbenches

Going through the ceiling to put the LVL beam in. The timber prop is holding the hanging beam up.   
I ended up putting the beam hard against the existing ceiling joist and laminating it together with batten screws. I did it this way as the ceiling joists in the next room butt into that existing ceiling joist and it would of made more work taking it out. I will be putting brackets onto the ceiling joists that butt into the existing one as they are only fixed by a couple of nails and sit on the wall im taking out.
The hanging beam now butts into the LVL beam and ill also put a bracket on that.  
This is the dunny thats being removed. This room along with the laundry beside it will become the dining room.
This toilet was an add on at a later date Im thinking as the joists were cut out and a slab poured to house the pooer. Ill have to put new floor joists in here.  
To give you an idea how much this corner of the house came up when I re-stumped!
The bottom plate was originally sitting on the concrete! That little temp block I put in there was 60mm thick.

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## ibuildbenches

Wall being removed. There is one more hip prop thats sitting on the dunny wall that remains. Ill put another beam up there this week and hopefully have this area fully open and ready to sheet floor by the weekend.

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## ibuildbenches

Hope everyone had a great Xmas and New Years! I certainly did!
Ok, the festive season is over and time to get stuck in the renovation again!   
Kitchen and dining room now a bit bigger.

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## jago

Demolition over and the rebuild starts...

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## ibuildbenches

Bloody rain! 
Shouldn't complain too much as its only filling up my stump holes, not washing my house away (Hang in there QLD'ers! Thoughts with you all!) 
This seems to happen after every big down pour here. As my house is on a slight slope, Im thinking of digging a 15 metre trench a couple of meters from the back door down til I hit the clay and putting an 'aggy' drain in there, maybe 100mm into the clay. The water seems to be soaking through the soft topsoil until it reaches the clay and running under the house. 
Anyone had a similar problem?  
Was going to put a few stumps in but as soon as you bucket the water out you got about 5 minutes before its full again!

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## Smergen

I hear your pain 'benches. My post holes for my retaining wall are like yours (check the thread for photos). Interestingly some frogs have come out of nowhere and love them as a swimming pool! 
Given up dealing with the water for now and waiting for it to ease until I bucket it out. 
The ag drain sounds like a good approach, just have an idea where you might put the outlet. I'm still trying to work that out myself.

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## ibuildbenches

Yeah I was thinking of running the ag drain across the back of the house then into a 90mm stormwater pipe and run it back down along the side of the house. Im thinking I can also connect my downpipes on that side of the house into it too. Im not sure if thats the best option, will talk to the plumber about it.

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## ibuildbenches

Not much to update, had to go back into work today so didnt get much done on the house. Got a couple more sheets of flooring down and a couple of studs in. 
Oh, and my stump holes are nearly empty, haha.

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## Bloss

Gunna be good in the end though Matt.  :2thumbsup:  Pity the poor buggers who had to install that ducting - not much headroom there!  :Frown:

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## ibuildbenches

Got a few more sheets down today plus put in a few more stumps.   
If I had of replaced all the floor joists the sheets would be going down a lot quicker than this! The work in planing and packing the hardwood joists, which vary from 85mm-110mm, slows things down just a touch! 
Not too mention, not one of them is anywhere near straight, haha. 
But its all worth it in the end when you can walk on a FLAT FLOOR!!

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## ibuildbenches

41 of 63 stumps done! Getting close now. Was told today that a local crew charges $120 a stump, which would of cost me $7500! 
So far 41 stumps has cost me just over $600 or $15 a stump! I should be able to do my whole house for a $1000. Fair saving!

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## ibuildbenches

Stumps finished!  :Beer:  
Total cost was just over $920.00 
Fair to say Im pretty happy that job is done!

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## ibuildbenches

Time for an update. Apart from bedroom 2, which is my storeroom, and has pretty much remained untouched, I have replaced most of the floor with yellow tongue flooring. I haven't done the bathroom yet as Im waiting for my plumber to come back and he cant get access under the house. 
Im now in the process of straightening the walls... :Doh:     
I have figured that once this job is done its relatively smooth sailing from here!! 
My god the cornice was a pain in the A$$ to remove. Apart from the nails it had blobs of horsehair plaster behind it every 600mm, sometimes wrapped around the ceiling joists  :Mad:  
I have ordered my NEW *horsehair-free* plaster which Im told should arrive by next Monday so all my walls need to be straight by then. I also need to order a skip and get rid of some rubbish before they get here too as I don't think they will be too happy carrying sheets of plaster over all my little rubbish piles! 
I also bid on and won a hardwood kitchen on eBay, which cost me around $1350 which should do me for now as it has appliances etc. I will install it and get a mate around at a later date to update the doors and benchtops if it doesn't suit the house.   
I have also removed the door and window from the new dining area wall and framed it out for 2 french style doors that I will install when I get my mind onto it! Sorry about the pic, kinda hard to see.   
Apart from that its been consecutive 40 odd degree days here and working in the house is like sitting in a sauna. I reckon thats where my last 5kg's went!

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## shauck

> Stumps finished!  
> Total cost was just over $920.00 
> Fair to say Im pretty happy that job is done!

  I'm interested in the process of re-stumping. Is it straight forward? I'm wondering if it's worth trying myself. I've done just about everything else there is to do in renovation.

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## ibuildbenches

Hey Shauck. 
Yes its a pretty basic process, its just a pain in the ass job  :Smilie:  I think its definately worth while if you can do it yourself as you will save yourself a small forture. 
Have a think about it though as I initially thought to myself that I would just replace a few of the really bad stumps and leave the others, but I ended up doing the whole house! 
I got my level point from the joists at the base of the chimney and front door (both with solid brick footings) and they matched up within 3mm and soon found out pretty much the whole house apart from these two points had dropped from 10 - 65mm 
Do you have much access under the house or are you thinking of pulling the floor up?

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## jago

Looking good when do you think you will get it finished now all the big jobs are near completion ? 
Good saving on the stumps thats why I did my own house not prepared to pay other peoples mortgages off until I paid mine off!  
Is it my eyes or is that header cupping in the middle of the last picture? 
Jago

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## barney118

I take it you had somewhere else to live while this goes on.

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## ibuildbenches

> Looking good when do you think you will get it finished now all the big jobs are near completion ? 
> Good saving on the stumps thats why I did my own house not prepared to pay other peoples mortgages off until I paid mine off!  
> Is it my eyes or is that header cupping in the middle of the last picture? 
> Jago

  Well I go back to work next Wednesday so progress may slow down a bit but Im hoping my plaster has arrived by then and I can get most of the sheets hung next week. 
Re. The lintel cupping - It looks that way in the photo but its not bowed. I thought the same when I put it in and had to check it with a straight edge. haha. I think the dodgy veranda behind it throws the eyes off abit!  
Im going to have to re-check it now you said that  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## ibuildbenches

> I take it you had somewhere else to live while this goes on.

  Yeah currently back living with the old's who are only 5 mins down the road.

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## barney118

I was the same oldies living 2 doors away, while I repainted, sanded floorboards and bathroom reno before we moved in. Now I am living while extending, totally different and longer to do.

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## shauck

It's not my house that needs re-stumping but I was recently asked if I was interested in renovating someone else's cottage and one of the things that needs doing is the re-stumping which would take a bit out of the 40,000 budget. I wondered if I should try it myself, get it done for her a lot cheaper than a pro and keep the budget under control for other things. I haven't seen the house yet so not sure how much room there is under there and am wondering about the process. Pulling the floor up seems like a big job. Either way how do you go about removing and replacing stumps? 
Cheers, Su.

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## ibuildbenches

Shauck, I just literally wrote a 1000 word instructional on restumping, including pictures mind you and clicked 'preview post' and RF told me to log in.. 
It then gave me an error and told me to click 'back' to access the previous page. 
I return to find my reply box empty.  :Doh:  
Sorry but im going to have a beer! haha

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## Bloss

> It's not my house that needs re-stumping but I was recently asked if I was interested in renovating someone else's cottage and one of the things that needs doing is the re-stumping which would take a bit out of the 40,000 budget. I wondered if I should try it myself, get it done for her a lot cheaper than a pro and keep the budget under control for other things. I haven't seen the house yet so not sure how much room there is under there and am wondering about the process. Pulling the floor up seems like a big job. Either way how do you go about removing and replacing stumps? 
> Cheers, Su.

  Really depends on how many need replacing and what underfloor access is available. The process is simple enough - the bearer needs to be supported adjacent to the stump to be removed, usually using a hydraulic jack (I use 10T squat multi-shaft bottle jacks) and something solid to extend its reach (you really only need a small amount of lift). If one at a time then it's jack up, remove old, prep hole for new stump by cleaning out and squaring up and setting the new stump - and that can be rammed earth or concrete or a concrete pad and earth. Generally you'd set the new one in a few mm above the finished height (btw - checking levels to see where the new floor should be is a step I should have mentioned!) and then let the bearer down onto it and then attach the bearer (concrete stumps can be had with or with embedded strapping and timber stumps you strap. 
If whole rows or a whole house then steel beams are slid in place to support the whole house and much larger jacks are used etc - a professional mob will do it faster and better and probably cheaper too. 
A couple of pics give an idea.

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## ibuildbenches

Bloss has covered a few of the points I was going to say.  :2thumbsup:  
The main one I think is getting the initial datum point, or level. You need to find a stump or footing that hasn't dropped and work off that. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I went off the joists at the base of the chimney and front door (brick footings) as these were both the same height and more importantly, the highest points.  
Double check to make sure you have actually got the highest point or you will be cutting stumps down. I found that the stumps in the middle of the bedrooms etc, without load bearing walls, were within 5-10mm of the level height. Every other stump was 20-60mm low. In my case anyway  :Doh:  
I would advise doing the outside stumps first, then working a bearer at a time from one side to the other. By doing the outside ones first you can get the hang of it and learn a good technique without laying under the house held up by jacks! 
Ideally you would need 8-10 jacks so you could do a bearer at a time but even a 4 tonne jack from supercheap is about $50 so please yourself with what you decide there. If you ever near Bendigo, I could lend you 4 of mine. 
I worked in a sequence of removing every second stump 
First jack up a bearer and try to keep the weight evenly distributed over all the jacks and remove the X stumps first. The more jacks you have the more X stumps you can remove at one time 
X  O  X  O  X  O  X  O  X 
I dug my old stumps out and removed what was left of the sole plate and dug an extra 30-50mm down into the natual ground. I then poured a concrete footing (200mm deep) and left it overnight to set. 
My stumps that had sunk 50+mm and were carrying a lot of weight (directly under roof props etc) I made a little more solid. I made the footings about 400mm thick under these stumps. 
Come back the next day and *re-check levels*. Like Bloss said, jack the bearer up an extra 3-5mm and cut a new stump at that height. Usually when you lower it all, it seems to 'settle' a few mm lower 
Once you have replaced the X stumps, you can go back and dig out the O's 
Im not a restumper, this is just the technique that worked for me. 
Oh and if you can read this message it means my post worked  :brava:

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## shauck

Thanks guys. Lots of great info. I'm kind of interested now. Will ponder and research on this what I can find and if I take it on, I'll no doubt post some questions in the appropriate place.  
Cheers, Su.

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## ibuildbenches

Big weekend! 
Started by driving down to Melbourne on Saturday morning to remove and pick up my kitchen. Drove through some very heavy rain on the way and saw 3 accidents on the way there/back. Saw one young lady driving in front of us at 100km/h and she didn't see the 'creek' of water running over the road. She hit the brakes way to late and hit the water at 90km/h. She aqua-planed off the road and luckily didnt hit anything!  :Eek:  
Anyway, here is the empty room after 2 hours removing the kitchen. Very happy with the kitchen. In very good condition and no damage.  
Got home around 5:30pm and unloaded the kitchen. Didnt have time to mess around with it too much as I had a Bucks night to attend!  
I would add a picture or two of the Bucks night but Im not sure it would comply with the forum rules  :Biggrin:

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## ibuildbenches

Plaster arrived today. Was supposed to turn up yesterday but they couldn't get it too me because of the floods apparantly. 
Felt a bit sorry for the guys who dropped the sheets off as my 5 meter bin is still sitting in the driveway (supposed to be picked up 2 days ago) making the guys walk the sheets around the bin and that bit further into the house.
They were happy with the slab though! 
This was a big test for my new foundations. I was a bit worried when I first rocked up as I was going to put half the plaster in the lounge but when I got there they had already unloaded most of it. 
Im not sure how much plaster weighs but there would be a good 2 tonne sitting there!
Floor is still flat though!   
Exciting to get a few new sheets up. Starting to look like a house now.

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## ibuildbenches

Not a big update. Got most of the wall sheets hung now. Laundry area is the last room. I had all my kitchen stored in there so I decided to trial fit it to get an idea of the layout I wanted and also to decide where I needed the new powerpoints for oven, cooktop, rangehood and dishwasher. 
Plumber should hopefully be back next week to connect the waste and water.

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## ringtail

Making good progress mate. If your floor wasnt flat before the gyprock was stored there it will be now ! Kitchen looks neat and tidy aswell. Nice sheeting BTW - you should see some of the abortion jobs up here with homeowners doing there own sheeting after the floods- OMG. Multiple joins over doorways, butt joins everywhere - shockers. I was in one house yesterday where a group of well meaning amatures had resheeted, I was walking out when the setters turned up to quote - not happy jan, they just walked around shaking their heads. - lol. You better get onto those doors mate - lol.

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## jago

:2thumbsup:  
But I did notice the beer and radio ... 
when you going to get rid of the dayglo yellow windows ?

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## ibuildbenches

The doors wont be far away ringtail  :2thumbsup:   
Still deciding whether to go with flush panel or the 4 panel doors? Im hearing that the 4 panel doors are starting to go out of fashion.. 
Thats what the painters tell me anyway.

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## ibuildbenches

> But I did notice the beer and radio ... 
> when you going to get rid of the dayglo yellow windows ?

  Beer and radio keeps me working! 
Speaking of windows, does anyone know if anyone produces these style of window anymore? 
I was originally going to pull these out, strip them back and paint them but if someone makes them at a reasonable cost I might just buy new ones.

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## ringtail

Only cause they cant paint them with a roller - lol

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## martrix

> The doors wont be far away ringtail   
> Still deciding whether to go with flush panel or the 4 panel doors? Im hearing that the 4 panel doors are starting to go out of fashion.. 
> Thats what the painters tell me anyway.

  
ditch the 4 panel doors. Minimalist is in. Neat, least maintenacnce possible (ie, 4 panels = dust collectors). Still I guess its about what kind of look you're going for. Oh, consider this. I am also renovating my new house right now. Painting all the trim was killing me, plus I'm using Aqua enamel, hard to get a nice finish. Ive ended up spraying all the trim. I did 3 bedrooms and a hallway in 1 day, finished. Obviously there is a good chunk of time masking up necessary areas, but laying on the paint is stupid quick and a superior finish. Loving the water wash up.  :2thumbsup:

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## ringtail

I must admit, I'm not a fan of panel doors either. I reckon they look a bit poxy and you are a bit limited as to handle location and asthetics IMO. I like em flat and shiny with handle height of at least 1000, but each to their own

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## barney118

I couldnt match my windows and stripped them back with heat gun/sanded/have the wood look each window took upto 2 days for the strip. 2 weeks for complete overhaul. Alternative was buy similar windows for $2k that was enough motivation to overhaul them.
Are you planning on doing the cornice yourself? standard one or fancy?

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## ibuildbenches

Yeah I was leaning towards the flush panel doors anyway as I too like the older style 'high' handles. 
The windows is a job Im not really looking forward too but its gotta be done! I cant stand not having smooth opening/closing windows! Looks like Im stripping em back and painting them! $2000 is a bit much for the windows. 
I havent decided on a cornice yet. Im not going overboard with it, but I do want to have bigger cornice and skirting. I will be getting a plasterer in to stop the place up and put the cornice on.
I will have a go at stopping up a couple of walls, inside cupboards etc to see what kind of finish I can get but Im not risking it in the rest of the house. haha

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## ringtail

@@@@ of a job IBB. I set my own and keeping with my tradition of over doing everything, I ended up sanding and sanding and sanding and sanding and sanding and sanding........ had more on the floor ( and through the whole house) than on the walls. Now I leave for setting and sanding for those that know no better life .lol

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## ibuildbenches

Yeah well I did a couple of walls with base coat, not too bad. Although I know what you mean about overdoing it. haha 
I reckon I would be the same.. sand sand til shes dead flat!

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## ibuildbenches

On another note my plumber has just finished all the work under the floor and he hooked up my waste. I then told him "Oh good, now I can piss down those pipes" to which he turned around, gave me a death stare and then started yelling expletives at me. 
haha

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## ringtail

Doesnt stop the ukranian tilers from doing it. I had a crew of  5 of them working on a house - all of them pissin in the pipes.

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## barney118

Just finished stopping up my joins on the walls and corners, the drywall sander and vac I bought on ebay made light work of it.

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## ibuildbenches

I have decided that Ill stop up the plaster myself.. surely cant be that hard!!  :Biggrin:  
Internal corner first time round was pretty messy, haha.       
I ordered a plaster lifter off eBay this week so hopefully it arrives by the end of the week and I can get some ceiling sheets up. Ill also buy a sander and vac off eBay. 
Barney, what one did you buy and was she any good?

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## ringtail

Oh man, you need at least another inch of topping on those joins. How are you meant to sand for 3 days with so little compound - lol

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## ibuildbenches

Haha, im on my way to an inch, thats only the basecoat!!

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## barney118

This one I bought, great buy. I think it is even cheaper that what I paid ! BTW I notice in the photo they have it plugged into the top which is wrong that is the blow outlet! Vacuum Cleaner Drywall Plaster Board Gyprock Sander (eBay item 250782170933 end time 05-Mar-11 20:20:50 AEDST) : Home Appliances

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## ibuildbenches

Thanks Barney, will look into buying that sander soon. 
In the meantime still hanging sheets and stopping up. Plumber still hasnt been around so bathroom and laundry are getting behind. 
I got a start on the ceiling battens today. Got the lounge and main bedroom battens done and got the ceiling in the bedroom hung with the help of my new plaster lifter!

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## ibuildbenches

Plaster lifter nearly killed me today.. All part of renovating! haha 
I wound a 3.6 sheet up to the ceiling and just as i turned and bent over to grab my drill it had come down on top of me! If I had of paused for 1 second before I grabbed my drill I would of had a sheet fall on my head from 2.7 high! 
The sticker on the frame says it all... "Made In China"  :Doh:  
Anyhow I survived and have the main bedroom, hallway and lounge ceiling up.
Anyone seen my plumber???

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## q9

Good work! 
I was tempted to buy a plaster lifter, but the local bunnies has a hire one for $40/day - $120 for the week.   And I don't need to find a home for it... 
And it is Made in USA  :Biggrin:

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## ringtail

How level were your ceilings ? they dont look too bad eh. I see you have the beer fridge up and running - vital piece of gyprocking equipment that  :Tongue:

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## ibuildbenches

> Good work! 
> I was tempted to buy a plaster lifter, but the local bunnies has a hire one for $40/day - $120 for the week. And I don't need to find a home for it... 
> And it is Made in USA

  Yeah mine cost me about $240-250 delivered. I was going to hire one but I knew it would take me longer than week, haha. Dont wanna put too much pressure on myself! 
Plus I figured I could sell it when Im finished and stock the fridge with a few slabs of beer  :2thumbsup:

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## ibuildbenches

> How level were your ceilings ? they dont look too bad eh. I see you have the beer fridge up and running - vital piece of gyprocking equipment that

  The ceilings didnt look too bad before I battened them, they were just sagging between the joists but when I actually got a straight edge up there...  :Eek:  
Would of been hours in straightening the ceiling joists. I didnt want to suspend it either so I just slapped some timber up there. haha 
I was originally going to use metal battens but thought the timber might be a bit stronger and help to hold the sagging sheets up. The ceiling isnt dead flat, I did pack a few spots down and tried to keep the edges straight for cornice. 
If you couldnt notice the huge waves in the ceiling before you wont see the smaller waves in it now  :Biggrin:

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## racingtadpole

> The sticker on the frame says it all... "Made In China"

  You bought it in the wrong colour...should have gone the Yellow one.  When mine (exactly the same as yours except its yellow) comes down its in slow motion, the red ones go faster....   

> Anyone seen my plumber???

   Probably in the same place as my sparky...

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## ringtail

You can scare yourself a bit when the straight edge of truth comes out. She be right mate, no one stares at the ceiling anyway, unless drunk, which = all good  :Biggrin: . Getting close to door time too  :Tongue:

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## ibuildbenches

Plumber has finished the water now so I can finally do the bathroom and laundry!
Now I can tick the water and waste off the list and the gas line only basically has to be connected each end and its done. Stormwater shouldnt be too much of a hassle now. 
In the meantime I been sanding plaster. Obviously haven't painted the joint yet but I think my plaster job should come up pretty good! Just need to knock most of my teeth out and get a few more tatts and I can take it up full time  :Biggrin:  (no offence of course to any plasterers here!) 
I also hung these doors which need to be stripped back yet but I need a bit more room in the kitchen for access etc and it was a pain in the ass as I had temporary colorbond sheets screwed up covering the opening.   
Hopefully this view out the back looks a lot better in the coming months.  
I see a deck and BBQ set up here with 2 blondes on banana lounges  :2thumbsup:  
We'll see how the budget goes, haha

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## ringtail

Ahh the offcut room. Funny how everything ends up in the offcut room. What gap do you leave between the frenchies, I aim for about 4 mm but never quiet get there. They always end up about 3 mm. 
Bwahahahahahahaha on the plasterers comment, you can double as the gyprock deliver guys aswell ( no offence)

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## shauck

Careful what you say about plasterers. Have you seen the shoulders on those guys? :Shock:

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## ringtail

Yup, but we carry nail guns - lol

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## ibuildbenches

..almost 5 months has passed since an update. Been very busy over that period but the house is coming along sloooowly!

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## ibuildbenches



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## ringtail

I'll say, only one door swung - lol

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## andy the pm

geez it must be nice to have square corners, nice work Matt!

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## ibuildbenches

> I'll say, only one door swung - lol

  ahem! 2 doors!  :Smilie:

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## ibuildbenches

> geez it must be nice to have square corners, nice work Matt!

  Yes its a lot better than when I started!. I sit back sometimes and think "Gee I havent done much" but after I look through past photos I soon remember how stuffed the joint was. haha 
Im glad I took a heap of photos before I started.

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## ibuildbenches

Plasterer came around for a couple hours this morning to do some cornice.
Pretty happy with how it looks. I cant stand the standard 55mm 'cove' crap.

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## ringtail

Lookin good Matt. Just think of all that painting to do.

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## sundancewfs

> I sit back sometimes and think "Gee I havent done much" but after I look through past photos I soon remember how stuffed the joint was. haha

  Trust me........ You have done a lot of work!
Its looking great! well done!   :2thumbsup:

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## ibuildbenches

All cornice is finished and painting has started.

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## ringtail

Good to see I'm not the only one that stores crap on / in / in the general vicinity of the new vanity. Lookin' good Matt.

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## sundancewfs

In the second last photo, it looks like you have an archway to nowhere..... Is this for shelving. a screen, a shallow built in cupboard? 
Its all looking very neat now too. A lot different to the bare frames.

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## ibuildbenches

> In the second last photo, it looks like you have an archway to nowhere..... Is this for shelving. a screen, a shallow built in cupboard? 
> Its all looking very neat now too. A lot different to the bare frames.

  That archway will be a shallow built in cupboard. Its the same size as the old existing robes and it would of been a hassle to make it bigger due to the position of the bedroom door.

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## ringtail

20 minutes to relocate that problem door for a man of your talents  :Biggrin:

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## ibuildbenches

> 20 minutes to relocate that problem door for a man of your talents

  Thats true mate! haha 
I was originally going to have half the wall as a robe, making the wall a 50/50 robe with the second bedroom but I changed my mind.

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## ringtail

> Thats true mate! haha 
> I was originally going to have half the wall as a robe, making the wall a 50/50 robe with the second bedroom but I changed my mind.

  As ya do. Why make more work for yourself.

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## ibuildbenches

IM BACK! 
Ok im trying to upload some pics but the page keeps freezing!!!  :Mad:  
Doing my head in!!

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## SlowMick

three attempts to say i am looking forward to your pictures.  good luck. :Smilie:

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## ringtail

So it should be all shiny and new eh Matt ? :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Tongue:

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## ibuildbenches

Rest of the painting..         
2nd bedroom robe     
Laundry fit out   
Kitchen tiles

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## ibuildbenches



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## Uncle Bob

Fantastic job there Matt! Looks great!

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## dominicw

Great work. Has the outside changed much?

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## ringtail

Someones been a busy boy. Looks great Matt. Backyard still looks rough mate :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Tongue:

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## SlowMick

Awesome work Sir.  you have achieved heaps in the last few months.  looks like you're enjoying your hard work.   :2thumbsup:

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## shauck

Very nice. You must be feeling pretty pleased to have gotten so much done.

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## ibuildbenches

Thanks guys! It definitely feels good to see the before and after photos now and to see all that hard work has paid off. 
The inside still has a couple of little finishing touches to go. Splashback tiles, couple bits of quad and bi-fold doors to go on the laundry. 
I have tenants in there at the moment so that explains the pink wall (teenage daughter). Trust me if I didnt know them, it would be China White! 
Regarding the outside..
It has been cleaned up a bit for the tenants but nothing major has happened as of yet. Im currently getting a quote for a 2 lot subdivision so if thats a go-er Ill clear the block and subdivide. 
Im looking at buying my folks house at the end of the year so HOPEFULLY ill be starting a new GO 2 WHOA thread! haha

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## ringtail

Geez Matt. You are turning into a right little capitalist and empire builder - I love it.

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## ibuildbenches

Id love to start a empire mate.. I just have to try and avoid bumping into my new friends over here first :P 
Its funny how quickly your fear and awareness of snakes goes out the window when you know these things are everywhere! haha

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## ringtail

Where abouts are you ?

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## The Bleeder

> Someones been a busy boy. Looks great Matt. Backyard still looks rough mate

  Can't you see....he's in his back yard. :Biggrin:

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## ringtail

> Can't you see....he's in his back yard.

  Wild :Biggrin:

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## ibuildbenches

Haha, well my backyard looked similar to that pic last year after all that rain. 
Im in Derby, WA. 2 hours north of Broome. 
Definately enjoying the weather over here atm :P

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## ringtail

> Haha, well my backyard looked similar to that pic last year after all that rain. 
> Im in Derby, WA. 2 hours north of Broome. 
> Definately enjoying the weather over here atm :P

  Sounds excellent. Working or holiday ?

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## ibuildbenches

Im working for a builder over here. 
I'am still shocked at some of the tactics used to build things over here  :Eek:

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## ringtail

Nothing would surprise me over there :Biggrin: . Is there a lot of work about ?

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## ibuildbenches

Trust me when I say this. You would be shocked haha. 
A very small example.. When erecting frames on a new slab, they do not use chalk lines or anything of the sort. Wherever it fits is where it gets bolted down. I have basically spent the last 4 months fixing f'ups! Walls out of plumb 25-30mm over 2700 is very common. 
Even the surveyors are in on the act. When setting out a job/slab they don't use hurdles etc, 1 fence dropper hammered in the ground or held up by a few rocks is the edge of slab. We have just finished moving a whole job, that was ready to pour, 500mm off both the front and back of the job as it was too close to the boundary!! 
Heaps of work here! Good money too. If you can put up with the talent of course haha

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## ringtail

Hourly rate Matt or contracts / negotiations ? Just standard domestic stuff or housing commision ?

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## Optimus

10years time you will have to restump/re floor/re paint/re plaster because your stumps have rotted  :Eek:  :Eek:   
I see you went to the trouble of pouring a concrete footing for thestumps to sit on, why would you not put a concrete stump in? They cost roughly $8.00 a metre ffs and by the looks of things your stumps wouldnt of been a metre long...

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## ibuildbenches

> Hourly rate Matt or contracts / negotiations ? Just standard domestic stuff or housing commision ?

  Hourly rate atm, mostly domestic housing/unit developments.

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## ibuildbenches

> 10years time you will have to restump/re floor/re paint/re plaster because your stumps have rotted   
> I see you went to the trouble of pouring a concrete footing for thestumps to sit on, why would you not put a concrete stump in? They cost roughly $8.00 a metre ffs and by the looks of things your stumps wouldnt of been a metre long...

  Well for starters the concrete footings are only to act as a level sole plate and were only 100-150mm thick, I still had to dig down to solid ground (upto 1300mm in a few spots). If I had of used concrete stumps I would of had to concrete them in too. Timber is easier to work with, cheaper and much, much lighter. 
But in regards to your concern about the "restump/re floor/re paint/re plaster" in 10 years time... The house wont even be there in 5 years. It will be a townhouse by then and I can guarantee that ripping my treated pine stumps out of the ground will be a hell of a lot easier than pulling 65 concrete stumps out. 
If I planned on keeping that house sitting there for the next 40 years I would of made it a hell of a lot nicer than what I did!

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## ringtail

I smell a block split coming on  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:

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## activeman

Great work and congrats on the outcome.
Kind of shows me what I'll be doing to my weatherboard. 
Rob

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## ibuildbenches

Finally got a start on the outside of the house!

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## ibuildbenches



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## ringtail

Geez, where have you been hiding Matt ? Still in WA ?

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## ibuildbenches

Hey mate yeah still in WA. Got a gig on Barrow Island doing FIFO. Been a year today since I started here. Haven't had much time for the poor old house. Got a few mates working on it between jobs. Ill try keep up with the updates!

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## ringtail

Ahhhh, make the most of it Matt, the rest of the economy is shagged :Tongue:

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## ibuildbenches

Some more progress on the house. Last wall of weatherboards to be finished today. Filling and sanding already underway on the remaining boards ready for paint. Next step is baseboards, then fascia, eves and gutters. Its been awhile since I have updated my thread and I have forgotten how to add larger photos?? These small ones are driving me mad. Can someone please help me out?

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## Bedford

> These small ones are driving me mad. Can someone please help me out?

  Once you've posted them, try hitting "EDIT" then back out of there without actually changing anything. 
It should increase the size, that's all I did to your post above.  :Smilie:

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## ringtail

Fun fun fun. :Biggrin:

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## ibuildbenches

> Once you've posted them, try hitting "EDIT" then back out of there without actually changing anything. 
> It should increase the size, that's all I did to your post above.

  Cheers Mate, much better.

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## Hkdave68

> Funny how those Monaro projects can finance a home reno....

    

> I sold my HQ Monaro coupe project ( not to mention about five Landcruiser projects) to finance my trip to the States. 
> Looking good! I bet its nice to sit in the armchair at the end of the day surveying inside framework  with a coldie.

  
I had my Hk Monaro for 15 years until I sold it to fund the extension 4 years ago!

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## ibuildbenches

I brought another one late last year  :2thumbsup:  Anyhoo, the house has been weatherboarded and painted. Im still working FIFO from Perth so I don't get back to Vic much and since moving to WA, I have gone and brought myself another 2 houses! What am I doing/getting myself into??

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## ringtail

Property mogul Matt. Probably not the best time to be a high income earner  :Biggrin:

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## phild01

My favourite model Monaro, 186, 307 or 327.

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## ibuildbenches

Its a 186s, all original with books. I have it in a resto shop atm getting a full resto, cant wait!

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## Gaza

Mats got to take out coolest car pic award on here   
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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