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A Renovation Update | February 2017

It’s never been my intention to rave on and on about our farmhouse renovation, but boy oh boy, it is looking exciting at the moment. It hasn’t been without a few little hiccups, and we have a long way to go yet, but I thought it was time I spilled the details and shared some progress pics.

For those who don’t remember, our little old farmhouse has been largely unrenovated since it was built. It had a few additions and cosmetic upgrades in the 1970’s but was seriously overdue for a rewire, and some other big maintenance jobs.  It had been sitting mostly empty for about 10 years before we moved here in December 2011. We also found that the room configuration gave us generous bedrooms but pokey, dark, inconvenient living areas.  (Here’s a link to a super early post of photos of the house before we moved in – excuse the terrible photos and bad page layout).

Fortunately, CB’s brother is an architect, and so he designed us an extension and reconfiguration to better accommodate our lifestyle. Once we started to nail down the design it became obvious that we were going to need to move out for the duration of the build. Only two rooms in the entire house are being untouched with doors being moved to create a larger bathroom, and a fourth bedroom, as well as removing the covered back veranda.

You might remember that last year was a record year for rain around these parts. And all that rain caused our builder to run late from his previous job so instead of starting in late August, it was late November before he was finally ready to start with us. I can tell you it was an exercise in patience for me, and we were all super excited when the excavator finally turned up to dig the footings for the extension part.

The arrival of the concrete truck to pour the slab was even more exciting. Once that had been poured, it had to cure, and that brought us to the Summer break. While the builders took their break, we packed up the entire house and moved up the road to a farm house we have rented from a family friend.

I don’t have any pics of the asbestos removal, but in one day they took off all the sheet asbestos from both inside and outside the house, and then suddenly the frames were going up, and we got a feel for what the new rooms will actually feel like.

Since then it really has been all systems go. The old kitchen and bathroom were gutted, and the back veranda removed. Windows and doors have arrived and been installed. The cladding is going up as are the roof trusses. It’s all very exciting. Of course, I know that once the big jobs have been done, the changes will look less impressive, but still… super excited.

In the meantime, we are living in an old farmhouse another 5 km up the road. We’ve kept most of our stuff in boxes, and because we don’t have much that we don’t use regularly, we spend time every other day looking through boxes to find something we need. The kids are missing living on our farm. They miss the animals, and their cubbies, and the freedom to do whatever they want. I’m missing the farm too. I’m actually surprised by this, as I didn’t think I would.

There is still several months worth of construction to go. Electricians and plumbers, as well as a myriad of other trades all need to come and do their bit. There are lots of decisions still to make. Tiles, flooring, kitchens, bathrooms, lighting… the list goes on. In some ways, it all seems a little surreal, as though this is not really our house, and it’s not really happening. But it is our house, and it is happening. I just need exercise my patience a little longer.

Have you ever done a major renovation or extension? Did you find it exciting? Did you ever get in there in the end?

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Previous Post: « Taking Stock | February 2017
Next Post: Autumnal Pleasures »

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Comments

  1. Erin says

    March 22, 2017 at 10:01 pm

    Jo
    Catching up on your renos, it’s finally happening!! Reading back over your posts to date, soo exciting and love your plans for the kitchen. We’ve been reno/building forever, put two ovens in new kitchen last September and it was one of our best moves, smiling to see you’re doing the same. So happy for you 🙂

    Reply
  2. Maxabella says

    March 10, 2017 at 10:59 am

    That’s so exciting! Keep the pictures and detail coming please I loved the trip down memory land to the house when you first moved in. Wow! Like a museum. Good luck with the reno, Jo.

    Reply
  3. Jim McKenna says

    March 5, 2017 at 8:02 pm

    Hi Jo, great pics and great story. We just received our DA and Engineering report today for Bega. Will love to see the dirt finally dug. Kind regards, Jim.

    Reply
    • Jo@CountryLifeExperiment says

      March 5, 2017 at 10:50 pm

      It’s so exciting when work finally begins!

      Reply
  4. Kathy says

    March 3, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    Very exciting…renos always take longer than expected but you won’t know yourself when it’s done and ready to move in again. Looking good.

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a few presents, an afternoon swim and dinner on the veranda as the sun set. Time to stop and be thankful for the many blessings of the year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas too!
We have been mulling over how to fix up the drivew We have been mulling over how to fix up the driveway and lead up to our house for a while. Currently it’s just a dumping ground for old bits of metal and a big pile of mulch, but C would like to create a turning area and put in a garden. First up though, there’s a huge old stump that needs to go. What better excuse is there to have a fire on Sunday afternoon? C and the kids jumped on the quad bike and trailer, and hauled back a big pile of sticks and logs to help the stump burn. Once the fire was going, marshmallows were found and roasted. No better way to spend time together.
Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is of course not. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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