This update covers Days 47 to 50 of the garage build. What has become our usual routine the last few weeks is Al heading over to Blackball Friday morning with the dogs, and I meet him at Bluespur. This time I was slightly later than usual arriving at 7pm. We have really noticed the difference since we started building before Christmas and coming into Autumn – the shorter days and it’s a lot cooler in the evenings. We do miss sitting out on the deck chilling after a day’s work in Blackball.

By Friday Al had nailed off all the downstairs internal ply which was a big effort and there were many nails used, as this is the bracing it had to be done correctly to meet the building code. Neil & Dianne also arrived back for another stint to help us.

Sat morning – With the darker cooler mornings it is harder to get up but we set the alarm for 7 and are usually on the road by 8 and in Blackball by 9ish. We had to stop at Mitre 10 for some supplies so were slightly later. Neil and I continued on with the internal lining around the kitchen living area, while Al concentrated on getting the bathroom ply completed. This weekend the bathroom and kitchen areas were the priority as the plumbers were coming on Wednesday to connect everything up. But before that can be done the bathroom needed to be lined, walls and ceiling painted and the shower and vanity in place.

Sunday morning we had a few gaps in the cladding to finish so Neil and I carried on with while Al stated prepping for painting the bathroom and finished off nailing the ply, with the compressed air nailer rather than the battery nail gun as it is more efficient and a lot quieter. Once that was all done we were at the stage when we could start staining. Al and I started staining and Neil went back to the electrical fit off. I had to return to Coalgate at 3pm and left Neil and Al to carry on staining around the kitchen area. They got on a roll and decided to finish off the entire bottom area a great effort!.

Mon & Tues were a couple of long days. The gap fillers hadn’t dried in the bathroom on Sunday so Al had to do all the painting in the bathroom in one day to keep on track. It needed a primer and two top coats and with 2 hours minimum between it made for a long day as it was quite humid and the paint needed a bit longer to dry. During the drying times Al and Neil finished off a few smaller jobs including getting the kitchen joinery in place. Al finished up at 7pm with the final coat in the bathroom.

Tuesday’s mission was to get the all the fixtures in place ready for the plumber. The shower liner was a critical part to get right and cut the holes in the right place. Luckily it all worked out and after some reading of foreign instructions Al and Neil managed to work out and install the shower screen. While Al was getting the kitchen sink installed and the tap fitted Neil worked on getting the electrical all finished ready to be livened. By the end of Tuesday 95% of the electrical was completed, the shower was in place, kitchen installed, the laundry tub in place and the vanity complete with mirror was fitted. Al finished up at 4:30 and headed home while Neil and Dianne stayed on until Wednesday to finish off a couple of things and have a more leisurely drive home.

This weekend is hopefully the final push, it’s all but finished and when the power comes on the big move will begin.