On Monday morning, I woke to sound of pelting rain on the windows and thanked my lucky stars that I didn’t have to venture out into it. All the renovation jobs I had to do were admin jobs – paying bills, ordering kitchen appliances, booking a carpet quote, etc. That was at 9am. At 9.34am, the day took a very un-welcomed turn.
I had a call from the cornice company saying that my cornices and ceiling roses (which I had ordered on Saturday) were on the truck on the way to our house. EEEEK! Since it was raining, the builders were not there, and I was at Mum and Dad’s place, an hour’s drive away from our house. Throughout the renovation process, I have learned to never turn down a delivery, or they may not show up again for 3 weeks!
So, I bundled Jack up in his winter woolies and packed him into the car – in the pelting rain. Anyone who has tried to buckle a baby into a car, in the rain, and managed not to get soaked in the process, is my hero.
Luckily for me, once I got to the house I had a very pleasant surprise! The gyprock, water-proofing and tiling in the en-suite were complete and it was looking gorgeous.
This is what the en-suite looked like last week…
This is what it looked after the gyprock had been installed! This photo is taken looking at the back wall of the shower. You can see the plumbing for the taps and shower roses on the side walls. (That standing window is to be installed on another wall in the ensuite).
A TIP: Recessed shelving in bathrooms are all the rage at the moment. We wanted one in the shower, so we had to inform the builder what size shelf we wanted BEFORE the gyprocker began.
Once the gyprocker had finished, it was time to call in the waterproofing specialist. There are various stages throughout a renovation where you have to call in the Council, or a Private Certifier to check that you are meeting building codes. Water-proofing the bathrooms is one of those times. Our waterproofer did a great job, and our Certifier was happy with the standard – so we could continue building.
Councils often require the water-proofing to be done by a licensed waterproofing applicator, so don’t try this on your own! Typically, these are the requirements for water-proofing:
- waterproofing the full floor within the shower recess
- at least 100mm over the hob or step down onto the bathroom floor should be waterproofed
- at least 150mm up the walls inside the shower walls needs to be waterproofed
- the vertical angle between any two walls in the shower needs to be waterproofed up to at least 1800mm high
- the entire bathroom floor needs to be waterproofed if it’s timber flooring, plywood or particleboard, or if it is above the ground floor of the house
As you can see – the surfaces are now ready for the tiles!
Disclaimer: We have lost internet at home, so I am currently writing this is a noisy cafe with free wifi. Jack has just woken up, so I will have to wrap up for now. I’ll write a post about the tiling later in the week.
Stay dry Sydney-Siders!
