*** 100 somerville

Finished stripping back the wall paper in the lounge room and hallway. Very patchy Gib walls, cracks, holes, and hundreds of pin holes! Thought the pin holes might have been borer, but have been assured that borer don't go through gib. Used ready mixed putty for the standard holes where there was not likely to be any wall movement or flexing. Used the No More Gaps where the gib did not have a lot of support and so there was flexing causing cracks, and holes where there was movement.

Once as much of the holes and crack were filled, we sanded it all smooth with a gauze sander. Dusted of and vacuumed the walls and carpet, the stuck down this 2 in one tape and drop sheet roll along skirting boards etc. We used an oil based sealing paint to seal the gib. After applying one coat, we could see more clearly the holes and uneven surface, so we'll putty up again and do another coat after that. We're doing the hall at the same time.

We also bought some furniture yesterday. After spending almost the entire day despairing at the prices and quality, we found a 2nd hand restoration place near New World with very good prices, quality and style. I think we'll likely buy all our furniture from there.

We needed a steamer to finish the wall paper stripping. Hiring one was $50 for 24 hours, buying one was $150. So I bought one. Took me 6 hours to finish stripping the lounge room and putty up the cracks. While I was buying the steamer I also picked up a 2.6 metre and a 3.8 metre multi purpose ladders. After I made up some planks for them using 150x20.5 box wood on slats, they really are a handy thing.

The ladders cost $90 and $150
Steamer $150
Wall filler $9
475mL No More Gaps $7
(Wall filler is good for holes in the wall, while No More Gaps is better for cracks, especially cracks that are likely to still move - such as near doors and windows, or in corners, as NMG is flexible when dry)
Caulking gun $7
Paint scraper $7
2 x rubber sanding block $6
50 sheets of medium sandpaper $10

TOTAL: $436

We moved all our stuff in today, stroing it all in the 2nd bedroom on the ground floor. Sunshine couldn't stand the wall paper 1 more second, so she tore it all down. We're thinking to knock out the wall section just to the left of the fire place and to the right of the window. This will open the lounge room through to the kitchen. Eventually there will be doors from the kitchen side of this wall out onto a deck.

Well this is our online journal for our new place. In this journal leigh and i plan to keep track of what we're doing, new ideas, thoughts and progress pictures of our place. In doing this, friends and family can see what we're up to and also make comments and give their opinions and thoughts on our plans. Hopefully, this will help us feel a little closer to you all back there in Aus.

The backyard is quite big and has 2 levels with wooden log retaining walls. We plan to put up a fence asap for the dogs. We noticed in the topographic map that there are a flock of sheep nearby. Being our own place, we can afford to put up a really good fence for the dogs and privacy.

The loungeroom is the warmest room, getting the most sunlight from the two big windows. We plan to strip the wallpaper to give it a fresh coat of off white paint, rip up the carpet and polish the floorboards and also knock out the wall around the fireplace to make the loungeroom and kitchen open. The kitchen is directly behind the loungeroom.

After a while of looking around our new house, we discussed what we wanted to do and it hit us that this is a place is all ours and we can do whatever we wanted! We ripped up the carpet on the bottom floor to reveal nice dark hardwood floorboards... very exciting

The kitchen is quite big... lots of cupboard space and potential to do it up. First plan is to repaint the cupboards and fix new handles. Secondly, rip up the vinyl floor to expose and polish the floorboards, put in a new sink (and hopefully a dishwasher). Last plan is to put a deck off the side with french or slidig glass doors off to the deck to attract more sun and to create indoor/outdoor flow.

We have just got our keys to our new house and excitedly went to have a look at it. Strange... doesn't feel like our house. Nothing in it, smell of another person, someones ironing board left in the coupboard with a stack of old magazines shoved in the corner. What do we do now?...