Fixing the outside of the house

Now the concreting is done and the lavender shed is (nearly) put back to rights, we are moving onto the next big project, which is fixing the outside of the house. It is weatherboards - but all sorts of boards added on at all sorts of times and done over all sorts of sub-structures. Carpenter guy's first job was to wander around the house poking things with screwdrivers. 

Many did not respond well to being poked with screwdrivers. Carpenter guy has two verdicts: "strong enough" and "completely rooted". Many of our weatherboards are completely rooted ... but this corner post - manifestly an actual part of a tree - was still solid as a rock.

Speaking of rocks, our house is genuinely built on them. This is the original back verandah (now my husband's model room) and the footings are rocks. Apparently completely fine except for a couple of places where mortar was used and that needs to be replaced with a bit more concrete. 

So the boards come off, get repaired or replaced, insulation goes in wherever possible, boards put back up, and away they go around the house. It will cost a fortune and take forever but everything does at this point. Not a good day for the plants by the house either; one rose has already been sacrificed to the cause.

The studio is still staggering towards the finish line. The insulation is on the back wall but not the colorbond yet; the electricity wiring is in but the lights aren't installed; the flooring is down but not the skirtings; the painting needs one more coat. Aaaargh.