Tuesday 12 January 2016

Attic Painted White

The Android had first dibs on the attic for his studio. Like the rest of the house, it hadn't been updated since the 1970's. The worst offender in this room was the carpet, which had an evil rubber underlay that had stuck to the timber floor, and needed to be scraped off with a trowel... all 30m2 of it.
Here's what it looked like before we attacked it with said trowel... and the spray gun...

Android Attic Studio - BEFORE
No, that's not the Android's music equipment - these photos were taken before we moved in.
We discovered that the particular type of pine used to line the ceilings with was still bleeding tannin even after 40 years. So the whole area at the be sealed with Zinsser Cover Stain before we could paint it. And that needed to be applied with a brush...
All the walls were spray painted with our favourite Dulux "White on White".
After scraping up the old carpet (and going through several dust masks), the floorboards weren't in good enough condition to leave exposed. Also, those same boards form the roof of the rooms underneath, so needed a bit of cover. 
So we laid foam underlay, then covered that with chipboard sheeting screwed directly into the joists.

Android Attic Studio - DURING

We have since lime-washed the floors using Feast Watson Liming White, and we have new light fittings (to replace the buzzing flouros) waiting for us to book the electrician again.
The stairwell leading up to the attic also got a thorough stripping.

Stairwell to Andoid's Attic - BEFORE
The previous owners were obviously of the opinion that one could never have too much red shag pile. And there was always scope to line a room with pine panelling.

Stairwell to Android's Attic - DURING
Dulux "White on White" makes yet another appearance. The good thing about knowing you are going to rip the carpet us, is that little care to what lands on it needs to be paid.
This is a fairly terrible photo of the concrete stairs (I forgot the flash on the camera). 
We are in the process of sealing the concrete on both these stairs and in the hallway (shown painted white in a previous post) using a low VOC product by Livos.
Updates on the sealed concrete floors will follow next.
Until then
V&A

5 comments:

  1. Hi there,

    You sound like you've had a rough time....I know your pain. My wife and I are also relocating from Bris to Tas (south of Hobart) mid 2016. We bought some land and now have some bushfire management concerns. The BAL itself is only 12.5 which is good, but the ongoing property management (pruning a 100m stretch of trees each year at $5 to $10k cost pa) blows our budget.....what to do!

    I hope your journey has smoothed out.

    Regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi James
      Exciting times ahead for you! Congratulations on making the decision for the big move!
      We went through the whole process of clearing land with plans to build (which did not eventuate) which we tracked in our other Blog http://buildingahomeintasmania.blogspot.com.au/.
      Brian Monks from Southern Excavation was brilliant (and very reasonably priced) for clearing & land maintenance. We've been here 5 months now, and our neighbours have recommended him too.
      We still have the 60-odd acres at Pelverata - and haven't decided whether to keep or sell yet.
      Keep in touch - we are just south of Hobart too, so will probably have sourced a lot of trades / suppliers by the time you are down later this year and am very happy to share.
      All the best (and yes, even with the drama, we are loving living here)

      Delete
    2. thanks so much for the contact, it's always a boon to have fair and reasonable tradies

      during our Tas travels we repeatedly met ex-mainlanders who now reside in Tas, each and everyone of them is happy to have done so.....it must be the oxygen concentration :)

      Peter (JA is just the account name)

      Delete
    3. We also have an awesome plumber, electrician, wood heater installer, chimney sweep... :)
      Happy to help & refer where we can.
      We're at Neika (near Fern Tree).
      And it's Vicki & Andy :)

      Delete
  2. Your awesome tradies gives me confidence. You'll hear from me later in the year, once we are ready to build.

    Peter and Laura (Woodbridge)

    All the best on your project.

    ReplyDelete

Please leave a comment if you wish. We can be a bit sporadic in responding, but will try our best to reply as soon as possible. Viktoria & the Android

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