Since the last coat of render, Cooinda’s Nest has been going through a slow and steady transformation. Who knew painting the plasterboard walls and ceilings could make the house look more like a home? Well I didn’t, but it is my first time building, so let’s excuse my ignorance. Matty and I have to keep reminding ourselves that there is yet more work to be done, till we can truly call it a day… or a year really.
Plastering joy
Matty used to be a plasterer for about 12 years, so this phase of the project ran pretty smoothly; albeit the frustrations of simply doing it. Within a week, Matty completed the base coat, first, second and last coat of plastering as well as sanding it all back.
Picasso will be impressed
Matty and I considered hiring a professional painter to give us a hand, as we are quite over the build process and just want it finished. Though as time ticked along, it seemed more prudent to do all the interior painting ourselves, and outsource only the exterior fascia and eaves. Help came from a painting/dirt-bike riding friend of Matty’s, Luke (aka Beefcake), whose expertise has helped us throughout this process. He was also generous enough to come for half a day to help Matty with the last coat of the ceilings. It’s taken 10 days to do all the interior painting, including undercoat, first and second coat. All render surfaces will remain as is, and the external painting will be completed in late spring to ensure that the paint dries well (the temperature cannot drop below 10 degrees to allow for this).
We surely didn’t feel like fainting from the paint fumes, that’s because there weren’t any! The Rockcote Ecostyle range is quite impressive with its zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs) certification. Colours come out beautifully too, and the texture is velvety. I didn’t think I could talk about paint like that before. Stop me before I become one of those <insert item> connoisseurs!
Windows prep continues
During this time, I have been cleaning window frames and sills in preparation for another coat of oil (interior) or varnish (exterior). This seemingly simple task took the following attempts to remove the render sticking into little crevices of the timber:
- wiping them down with two types of sponges and water to remove any render (x 3 times)
- wire-brushing areas to remove any sticky tape residue (once)
- wet tooth-brushing (x 4 times)
There is still sanding to be done prior to applying the oil or varnish as well. These windows and sills had better look as if they have had at least 100 hours of labour put in them! I’m no domestic goddess, and this house is probably getting cleaned more now than it ever will be in its full lifetime. No joke.
9 (ish) week countdown
We have a rough estimate as to when we would like to move in, it is 2 Nov 2017, exactly one year since the slab pour. We don’t know whether this is feasible as there is a lot of bespoke work to be done. In somewhat of an order, here are the remaining tasks:
- final fix electrical
- tiling
- final fix plumbing
- grouting the crazy paving tiles
- oiling the windows and window sills (interior)
- varnishing the windows (exterior)
- complete the in-ground fish tank
- complete the open fire chimney and flue
- full bathroom fit-out
- full kitchen fit-out
- painting the fascia boards and eaves
- making the cabinetry for the walk-in-robes in both bedrooms
- making our bed frame
- making the bookshelves
- building the pergola
- landscaping
It’s quite an extensive list, but I feel more enthusiastic when I think about how far we’ve come in a relatively short period of time. Spring is on the way, and so is our home… can’t get sweeter than that :)
Cooinda's Nest 