Let the renovations begin

Hi All
I came across this forum and found it had a lot of freindly helpful threads and replys so thought that I best join as My wife and I are taking on some pretty serious renovations on our new (new to us but we estimate the place to have been built in the 50s) Cottage on 6 acres just next to jervis bay on NSW south coast.

I suspect I will be turning to the forum for a lot of reasons as there is a lot of things that need doing.

I am a cronic "I can do it my self" kind of guy and in the past it has bit me in the rear but I have lernt from a lot of my mistakes in the past so think that I might be ready to take on a project of this size of course I will get hired help in from time to time to do the impotant jobs how ever will be doing it mostly myself.

I have a strong beleif in useing recycled materials so if there is any of you out here that have any tips on where to look and alternate uses for things I would love to hear from you.

Still on he enviornmental side of things I would also love to hear about energy efficiant building materials or fittings that you may have experiance useing.

So Thanks for the help I have already got from this forum and I look forward to sharing your knowlage to start with then hopfully I can share some of mine as it comes to hand lol.

Cheers Dave

Dave
welcome to the forum and I am sure you will find lots of useful info and help on the site. Don't be afraid to post questions. There are no silly questions and all will generate discourse, some of which may be useful:D
As I said in another post I wish this forum was around 35 years ago when I was attempting my first reno.
:2tsup::2tsup:

You may also follow the link to the Renovate Forums, a sister site, as they are specifically for renovations.


Peter.

thanks saturdee I noticed that today while googling, will check it out.

Hi Dave

From one "rather do it myself" guy to another - welcome. Great bunch of people around here and I'll second that recommendation to the Renovate forum. This was a great resource when I did my reno.

Danny

Welcome to the forum.

well the long week end is just around the corner and we have acess again so we are heading down to start the list....... but where do you start, my wife in wisdom sugested we start at the top and work our way down. so we will be checking out the ceiling and roofing, good looking at smart wonder why she loves me lol.
interior wise my question is what is the best place to start? consider it all needs replaceing.
any advise apreciated.

Get the wiring sorted first off. If you need to rewire its easiest and cheapest to do if you don't have to worry about spoiling finished work, and its a safety thing. Then stumping, then the roof, then everything in between LOL

good point, my neighbor is a sparky so I will take a few photos so he can check it out. I want to install LEDs so its a good place to start.

Hi,

I'm really new to wood but have been around energy for quite a while. When buying LEDs be very careful of the light output and the quality of that light. They are pin-prick points of light so are very bright if you look straight at them (down lights above a TV for example) but also weak overall so are not good for reading.

Always look at the lux output (for example 9W LEDs can very from about 180 to 600 lux) and also the beam spread, if it is narrow you'll also need a lot more of them.

My house is currently in bits and pieces but I've called in a builder. I'm not as brave as you, but I will tackle some less challenging bits.

Good luck.

Well we have the keys, and have gutted just about every thing we need to, we found a picture lost in a cavity dated 1940 and showed the old owner aged 21 so it will give you an idea how old the place is. have re lined most of the kitchen and purchased a greatalmost new kitchen on ebay for $900 including a dishwasher and oven (that we then swapped for a near new gas cook top and free standing oven) the roofing needs replacing a professional quoted $2000 to replace what needs doings but I might get away with it for less (i did the roofing on our extention a few years back) I need to get some plastering tips so if theres any one out there who is in the know let me know
Cheers