The Panic

Pop the champers – we’re homeowners!! Settlement went perfectly to plan and on Friday afternoon we picked up the keys and had one blissful evening walking through our new house and imagining all the changes we were going to make. We really should have enjoyed that time more…

On Saturday morning the work started. With only seven days before the removalists arrive and an entire house to sand, prep, prime and paint, the pressure was really on. Luckily we had some fabulous, worth-their-weight-in-gold family and friends who came and got us started with the work. I’m pretty sure that if they hadn’t arrived, Mr Fox and I would still just be sitting on the floor crying about how impossible it all was. In hindsight, we should have been more worried. On the first day there were eight of us, on Sunday we were down to four. Last night it was just the two of us, and at 8.30pm – 36 hours after getting the keys, we had only just finished sanding, filling holes in walls, more sanding and an epic clean up. By 1am there was primer on the walls, but not all the walls. With four more days until we move in the panic is starting to set in.

 

 

The time pressure hasn’t been the only problem – on other teensy little issue that arose right after we finished stripping wallpaper – asbestos. Or maybe I should say suspected material that could potentially contain asbestos. We already knew that there was asbestos in the study, and we very intelligently closed the door to deal with that one later. What we didn’t expect was to strip (the world’s ugliest) wallpaper and find sheets of something suspiciously fibro-ish. Cue panic stations. I’m still face palming about not investigating before we started work on the wallpaper in the kitchen and the spare bedroom. There’s still a paper layer over the board (Masonite? Fibro? We still don’t know) and none of the boards are broken. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t go home on Saturday night and spend a loooong time with Dr Google looking up asbestosis. We’ve booked in the pro’s to come and have a look and take samples on Friday, so obviously those rooms won’t be painted when we move in, but that’s ok.

As for the rest of the week, we do our eight hours at work, put in eight more hours with the paint brush and wish that there were more than 24 hours in a day. Tonight we really, really want need to get the ceiling done to have a chance of finishing by Friday night. Now, time to bulk by the caffeinated beverages and smash out the rest of this week.

Meet Our Fox Den

Hello!! Welcome to my little blog! My name is Margaret and I should probably start by mentioning that whilst this is planned as a blog to capture the highlights of a house renovation, my husband (Mr Fox) and I aren't exactly experienced renovators (unless bellowing advice at contestants on The Block counts, in which case we're seasoned experts).

Mr Fox and I have been trying to buy a house for a long time now and after years of job uncertainty, crashed contracts, more rentals than I'd like to think about and what feels like thousands of inspections, we have actually done it - we're the proud new owners of a mighty large mortgage! Our little cottage is a not-so-grand old Queenslander, built in the 1920's.

We initially fell in love with her when we realised:
1. She's right around the corner from where we live now
2. We could actually afford her
3. She's right around the corner!!!! Hello!!

We love the suburb we've been renting in and really thought that we'd never afford a house without moving considerably further from Brisbane than we are now. I knew when this house was advertised that there must be something wrong to be affordable to us. Our first inspection was at dusk and with the power at the house already switched off, within a few minutes of arriving we were all using torches. In hindsight, this was probably a very clever move by the agent - it's a lot harder to see where the wood borers have been when you can barely see where you're going!! Mr Fox and I fell deep in L-O-V-E with the location, the work that needs to be done at the house started to seem more do-able. The next day we made an offer, and by that night the deal was complete.

Here's what we got: two bedrooms, a kitchen straight from the 70's complete with yellow bench tops and very stylish flowery wall paper, one bathroom, and a decent size yard. The house is actually in pretty good condition, but there's still a mighty long list of jobs that need to be done.

We haven't moved in yet but the first part of the transformation has already been decided. The entire interior is getting new paint! The current colour scheme of pale pink with dark pink trim is just a teensy tad outdated, and the years as a rental has left it... well, it's gross. The house still has the original vj walls. Don't know what they are? Neither did we... turns out that while they're a gorgeous original feature of Queenslander's that look fantastic when cared for, they're a real pain in the backside to repaint. And we haven't even started yet!!

Right now we're busy booking removalists and cleaners and keeping our fingers crossed that settlement goes as smoothly as we're assured it will. Wish us luck with the move!!!