Waitangi weekend – Even though it was wet on the coast, even by coast standards, the windows were being delivered on Saturday and we needed to get them in to stay on track. So Friday after I finished work we (myself, Al, Neil, Quasi & Essie drove to Bluespur. I drove the mighty falcon with the doggies and Neil and Al came drove the ute with the trailer. We had already been told by the scaffolder that he needed the gap around the foundation filled in so he could erect his scaffolding safely. He had offered the use of his kanga (ride on the back mini loader) so Al and Neil pick this up from Moana on the way and I drove straight to Bluespur via the supermarket for supplies. There was a lot of rain on the way over and I got drenched between the supermarket and the car, as well as when I got to Bluespur and had to unload in the pouring rain. But when Al and Neil arrived the rain had fortuitously stopped.
Saturday morning we got to BB just after 9 and we could see from the building site that there had been a lot of rain. The wood had all been covered but there was a reasonable pool of water on top of the tarp. The windows were arriving around 11 so the first job was to fill in around the foundation. Al on the kanga moved the shingle while Neil & I spread it into the gaps. The windows arrived as promised and we help Mark from Design Windows (our neighbour) to unload (very carefully) all of the window/door frames. Due to the frames being wet we were only able to get the internal door from the woodshed installed. There was more rain due overnight so we put up some tarps & plastic sheeting over the upstairs windows and the roofs above where the windows were going to try and reduce the effects of the rain. The scaffolder turned up in the late afternoon and made a start. We returned to Bluespur for the night and hoped it would be a fine day Sunday and the frames dry enough to get the windows in.
Waitangi day Sunday we headed to BB at the usual time but with a stop at Mitre 10 on the way to pick up a couple of items. When we arrived in BB we were pleased to see that the rain had stopped. The weather protection had done a reasonable job but the first job was to remove it all and get some airflow in to help dry the frames. The upstairs frames were dry so we decided to install those windows first. First the flashing tape had to be put on and working together we lifted the windows up and got them in to place. Al on the outside and myself and Neil on the inside. I would then go outside to help Al while Neil put the blocking in place and put the fixing screws in. The 2nd upstairs window followed next and we got that into place. With both windows in the effect was amazing both from the inside and outside. After that followed the kitchen window, the back door/laundry window and the external bathroom door/window. By the end of the day we had managed to get all of the windows and doors in place. The views from the upstairs windows and kitchen windows are just amazing. We finished up for the day and headed back to Bluespur where the sun was shining and we were able to enjoy an evening on the deck, with a beautiful sunset as well.
Monday (and my Birthday 😁) we packed up at Bluespur as we were heading home after a finishing a few jobs in BB. Al and Neil did some finishing work on the window framing while I cleared up and swept the building site. Without the scaffolding finished we were unable to finish the work on the fascia so we were all done by 11 and so headed home dropping of the kanga in Moana on the way.
Al and I will be back in BB next weekend.