Wednesday 7 October 2015

Demolition time

The time has finally arrived for us to move on with the renovations to the kitchen.
We knew  well that this would firstly involve the total demolition and removal of our old chimney and wood cook stove  before the builder can return..
The stove was badly burnt out inside and was leaking smoke terribly and the chimney brickwork leaked like a sieve every time it rained.
There was a huge amount of brickwork inside the house and out( probably far way more than we anticipated.
The builder had loaned Hubby an electric jackhammer to help with the demo,
so he gave it a quick try out as I was leaving for  a few appointments in the next town.
When I returned home, he had removed all the brickwork above the roof line and had made a big hole in the back of the chimney.

The next morning a good friend and nearby neighbor called by to offer a helping hand and he and Hubby  made a great team, quickly removing the old stove and more brickwork.
The boys worked really hard , but it was a massive job.
They erected a few support props inside the kitchen to hold up the ceiling, and continued to demolish.
This was where we got to at the end of day 2. We would only work until lunchtime as it just was becoming too hot on the western side of the house, and we have been having some early extreme heat this last week.
The third morning they started to remove the chimney header,
We loaded all the bricks into the utility each day and every afternoon Hubby  and I would take them to his brothers' farm and drop them off into wash aways to help prevent erosion.

We reached the end of day three, and were exhausted, the helper said that we should have a break the next day and he would return, but Hubby  and I continued on ( we decided that if we stopped we may never start again)
We continued on and got the right hand side of what was left demolished and dumped.
When our friend returned on day 5 he was surprised to see what Hubby  and I had accomplished in his absence .
While they worked away on the bricks I erected a shade shelter that we used to have two of until a windstorm attacked, so I made one out of the two. I thought that it may add a bit more sun and heat protection for when the builder  comes.
The boys finally removed the last two sections of brickwork,
This was the  final load of bricks, we estimate that we dumped  between 4 and 5 tonnes of them, even though I was wearing gloves and Hubby's  hands are tough as nails, our hands and arms  are a mess.
The biggest issue we had was the horrendous influx of blowflies, they nearly drove me insane over the week, especially the last two days, more flies than I have ever seen here in 12 years.
Finally we realized we had the shade cloth
 from a previous shade area that we had on the coast, so Hubby  nailed that up to the opening and the fly issue ceased to exist.
It has really opened up the house, allowing so much more light into that back area of the house.
Our builder will return on Monday and I hope to be selecting kitchen cabinets and tops and have it measured up in the next week or so. We will start demolishing cabinets in  about a week.
It really feels good now, the kitchen destruction  is a small inconvenience  compared to the rest of the house.
I will do a follow up post as the work continues,
so until we meet up again,
Take care,
Cheers,
Jane.

23 comments:

  1. I do not envy the work involved in getting that chimney down. Well done to both of you for such a monumental effort.

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    1. Hi Jane,
      It was a huge job, much bigger than we thought it would be. But once we made t he decision for it togo there was no going back.
      Take care,
      Cheers

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  2. Awesome effort both of you & your helper. Yes the heat can be a bit extreme but then we went (down south) from 38 to 18 in one day. Crazy. I'm thinking you might need some TLC for your hands. Cotton gloves and lots of cream overnight.

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    1. Yeah Lynda it dropped like that here too, sweltering one minute and chilly the next. Hands are much better now.
      Cheers.

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  3. Wow, big job! Very ingenious with the shade cloth, nothing worse than flies getting into everything. Look forward to future piccies of the project.

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    1. Thanks for popping by Clarissa,The flies nearly drove me insane, so much better now.
      Cheers
      Jane.

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  4. Wow that was a mammoth job for you all but its opened it up so much, im sure once your new kitchen starts to take shape you'll be in absolute heaven, Well Done xoxo

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    1. Thanks Karen, I am really looking forward to the change, I have made do with the old one patiently, i think it will be lovely
      Cheers,
      Jane

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  5. Wow that was a mammoth job for you all but its opened it up so much, im sure once your new kitchen starts to take shape you'll be in absolute heaven, Well Done xoxo

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  6. wow such a big job, shame about the old wood stove, i always feel sad when they can't be revamped. will you be getting another wood stove? they are just amazing to cook in/on. looking forward to see what you do with the 'new' space
    thanx for sharing

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    1. Hi Selena,
      It was sad to see the old girl go, but she really was very ruined inside, I had hoped to use it out under the verandah, but it was not salvagable.
      We had already installed a new wood heater/cooker earlier in the lounge room which I wrote a post about on August 8th this year calle "fire, fire, burning bright", it is a great dual purpose stove.
      Take care,
      Cheers,
      Jane :-) :-)

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  7. Wow! That was a mammoth task! Well done you two for doing asll that work! It does lighten up the kitchen though. Are you going to have windows there?
    Looking forward to the next 'installment'.
    Blessings

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    1. Thanks Lisca,
      There will be a glass door in that space( not a slider) just a standard size door, and we will replace the smaller up and down window with a slider twice the size, so the light level should still be good. Our builder returns on Monday Morning to begin.
      Cheers,
      Jane
      .

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  9. Wow lots of busyness going on at your place, and a lots of hard work too by the looks. Job well done!

    I cant wait to see your new kitchen :)

    xTania

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    1. Thanks Tania,
      Sorry I haven't answered earlier, just been so snowed under.
      Still lots to do, but we are getting there. We allocated 12 months and a certain budget to do this and so far all on track, when it's done( or mostly) we may do some caravan trips around this great country of ours )
      Cheers,
      Jane

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  10. Nothing compares to brick dust - you'll be finding it in nooks and crannies for years to come - trust me :-)

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    1. I am sure we will be Phil, already the case... just can't believe where it creeps into. That and plaster dust. !!
      Cheers,
      Jane.

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  11. Hi Jo,
    I too used only to do waterbath, and about 5 or 6 years ago discovered pressure canning.
    I did a lot of online research and chatted to a lot of long time canners in the US and most of them by far favoured by far the All American if finances allowed.
    The main reason being low maintenance as the All American has no seal but is a metal to metal closure.(I cover both surfaces liberally with vaseline every time I use it).
    Many of my canning friends use Presto pressure canners and highly reccommend them.
    I love my All American, it is big ( and fairly heavy) but I can do 19 pint sized mason jars or 14 quart sized mason jars at one time. I use a gas stove for my canning.
    I also use my Fowlers Vacola Jars in the pressure canner , so far with 100% success, although you cannot do as many at a time.
    Good luck with your preserving, whichever way you go I don't think you will be sorry.
    Take care,
    Cheers.
    Jane.

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  12. Hi Jo,
    I messed up with your reply, so it is below as a seperate comment,
    Cheers,
    Jane

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  13. Hi Jo, mine is the 930 ( says 30 quart capacity on box)
    I am able to double stack pints (19 in total) and quarts (14 in total)..Hope that helps.
    Cheers,
    Jane

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  14. Hi Jo, mine is the 930 ( says 30 quart capacity on box)
    I am able to double stack pints (19 in total) and quarts (14 in total)..Hope that helps.
    Cheers,
    Jane

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  15. Hi Jo,
    Congrats on buying your pressure canner,
    I am sure you will never be sorry,
    It really is very addictive, I am really suffering withdrawals at the moment, but will be back into it when tge kitchen is back up and running (I can hear a crop of apricots on my tree calling me)....all the way to Wollongong where I am babysitting my grandchilren for a couple of days
    Have fun with your preserving,
    Cheers , Jane.

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