Back at Work

I'm am resuming the renovation effort after a 3 week absence cruising in Geographe Bay with boats from several yacht clubs. 

On Thursday (6 March) I telephoned Paul to tell him that I expected to be back at Fremantle on Friday and would visit the house on Sunday.

Paul was supposed to have completed the interior paneling of the final 3 rooms (ie office, sitting room, and back porch) during my absence but he told me that he had taken on another job and had done absolutely no work at my house.  I laughed and told him that that is what I had expected because I've gotten to know him pretty well.  I told him that it didn't matter because there was plenty of painting work ahead of me and he was not slowing me down at all.

I expect him on site today (Monday the 10th) with his son who has recently returned from a long visit to Katmandu.  His son has a lot of experience of working with Paul and if they get into gear they should  be able to finish those rooms in about a week.

However, there are a few other things beyond the paneling to be done by Paul, such as:

- Complete the plumbing work in the kitchen
- Complete the cabinet work in the kitchen, including installation of handles
- Install the flue over the kitchen exhaust vent
- Patch 3 holes that we had to cut in order to complete the electrical work
- Cut and refit the upper 6 jarrah wardrobe doors in the office room
- Complete the new access to the attic, including some structural work and a new lid
- Complete the trimming of the roof

For me there is much work ahead, including

- Strip and paint two more window frames
- Complete the painting of ceilings and walls of 5 rooms
- Complete the sanding and and varnishing skirting boards for the living room and office.

Then the final phase will begin for me:

- Seal the jarrah paneling of the dining room (probably use Danish Oil instead of varnish)
- Seal every jarrah floor in the house (6 rooms plus the hallway), which will include:
      - Punch down nails and apply wood filler
      - Final sanding
      - Clean area to eliminate all stray dust particles
      - Lay down 2 coats of super expensive and super toxic 2-part estapol

I very much want to complete the floor work before the advent of the winter rains, which start in May.  At that time I will move into the house which in practical terms will save me 2 hours of traveling per day and about $100 in fuel per week.

Once the interior has been more or less completed we'll probably have a building pause until next spring, when we well clad the outside of the house.  During the winter I'll do as much work as I can on the verandah and try to do some badly needed maintenance on the boat.