Fun pulling it all down

I was not sure what was involved with pulling out a fireplace, I knew there is a concrete pad down onto the ground and we had taken out the top of the chimney when the new roof went on so what I had to remove was below ceiling height but a lot of brick and concrete to break up and remove that will be used as a base for paths in the garden most of the concrete was a light weight pumice mix that made it easy to move outside.
View from the bedroom side that will become an open wardrobe as we find doors on wardrobes an inconvenience that sucks up floor space, I think we will have a hanging space at each end with space in the middle for a chest of draws, the room is the old 12ft wide or in my language 3.660 making it difficult for sheet sizes.
The gib board is very weak the core is crumbly and the paper has no holding power in those days nothing was glued so the gib was  easy to remove but messy so lots of clean ups, the stud work is very bent and uneven varying in width so it is going to be an entire new wall and as there is a bracing member there I will line it with gib bracing, at the top the ceiling is a mess a result of hot fires and leaks so the ceiling could face a similar future.
I have an idea of some wall lights on the lounge side probably the type that would be mounted over a picture, there is also a lot of work to fix up the floor which could involve some concrete cutting work, it is also a good opportunity to place the insulation in the right places.
Up and onwards with the fun.
 
   

One thing leads to another

Here is the photo that should have been in the last post, that daunting block
of concrete under the toilet that I took about 80mm off I then put some timber around the waste pipe to eventually fix the flooring to I then put some mastic that will remain flexible around the pipe to protect it, the flooring will all be cleaned and look like that on the right, most of that problem has now gone away.
The problem of what to do with the bricks and concrete around the fire place was often on my mind but as I got on with the garden project it became clear what I should do with it, the raised garden to the left is always in shade during the winter so putting a foot path along the side was an obvious choice, our soil is very deep and at about 500mm becomes sand

so a thick course of bricks and concrete will be covered with pebbles, the small middle path may be the same, I still need more soil so digging out more of the path to the end of the carport is on the cards.
I have been reasonably free of back ache these last few days so felt able to swim 40 lengths of the pool yesterday and felt the effects all day the result was an early night in bed, today we started with a 40 minuet walk before breakfast but then the back started to complain, I do find it best to keep moving about if I can when this happens with the hope that I can work the back right that is with rest, sheeting off part of the house and pulling down some gib board seemed manageable so here we are creating a footpath, those concrete blocks behind the stud work look heavy, the wardrobes on the other side of that wall are going to be demolished so the blocks may be coming out via the bedroom, there had been a few roof leaks prior to the new roof the ceiling is effected and will be another job once this wall is rebuilt and the bedroom brought back to use, I can see a few weeks work here given that I try not to put too much strain on my back by not doing too much at a time.
Keep watching. 

Windows and Garden

The windows arrived then it was my turn, I wanted to avoid painting the liners so I had them delivered loose and spent a while gluing formica to the face and edge, I used PVA or epoxy both work very well, then I used biscuits and epoxy to glue up the miters as it is the miters that often part as water gets into them and look tatty after a few years.
This photo is of the completed laundry wall, I used some of the old floorboards to edge the ply around the window creating a look I an so pleased with, the white liner behind the washing machine is 4.5mm
thick glued to 7mm ply, I used a H jointer between the 12mm ply and the white board below giving a very neat finish, at the window I cut off the legs of the plastic jointer.

All three windows are in now and the wall is lined with gib board unfortunately the supplier is out of the tile looking board I want to use on the walls in the bathroom so this room is going to look like this for some time now, I did install a new toilet, the project daunted me as there is a great lump of concrete below that the pipe comes through and used to show around the toilet, once I started demolition and saw how it had been assembled many years ago my concerns were not what I thought though I did dash off to the hire shop for a kango hammer which made the job easier on the arms, the mess at the top of the wall is my attempt to create a straight line for a scotia to fix to at a later date, the floor will all be tawa tounge and groove but not till the new shower base is installed, the shower will be in front of the toilet.
I had to find somewhere to plant 3 Blueberry trees that arrived home so I decided to have a break from house alterations, the bottom of the garden has for years been a dumping ground for grass clippings piling up the fence higher and higher, the Feijoa tree is now much smaller than it was so a plan was hatched to create a raised garden I am not sure how it is going to be used but it is stamping my mark on the back garden, a change in colour of the back fence could be in line.