The previous owners added “renovated” in marketing the line. Sure, its noble to slap on a coat of paint, however being a fundamentalist I believe in doing things r-i-g-h-t, irrespective of the repercussions. The result? Hennie inspects the future view from the rooftop and realises that the parapet walls need to be sealed. We procure 10 liters of Nuclad, because Neutron reckons we need 10 liters… 30 liters and lot of bidem later we now have water tight parapet walls – finally! So give it a couple of months and the damp on the inside should dry up and then we’ll re-paint the inside, not to mention the outside where the paint is flaking off the walls in places. Fact is: its dry now – very dry, ‘cause I did it myself (with the help of a couple of friends – obviously!)
It did take close to a day to clean the parapets with a high pressure washer - and another 2.5 days to clean the roof... see, after removing the dirt and moss from the parapet walls (in preparation for the sealing episode) I cleaned a small piece of the asbestos roof sheet and... well being a fundamentalist and a perfectionist, I realised that I might as well clean the roof and re-paint it! Was shoddy looging anyway.
Then, just as we're about to finish sealing the walls, Steve accidently fall through the roof... oops! So we patched that - after all, not a major setback! And then, just as the two of us had painted about 20% of the roof (1st coat, diluted with 50% water) the cold front bring the biggest downpour in recent history. If it wasn't for Steve's support (and presence) I would have sat in the middle of the wet paint and rather cried until my tears washed off the paint, than see the rain wash it off. Upside: we went for a great kite boarding session!
Ready to cry...
Ever so slightly damp - perfect for DIY... NOT!
Being an avid sailor, my beach house MUST have an ouside shower. Check. However, a hot water ouside shower is much nicer - especially in TheBaan (ever sailed in a North Westerly storm until you can't feel your fingers?). So we installed one. QED!
Beacuse every beach house needs one!
The "workshop" during DIY
So what's been done?
- sealed parapet walls, hence soon no more damp inside & outside (1st step to re-painting)
- hot water ouside shower installed
- plumbing for washing machine and dishwasher in the kitchen (an absolute non-negotiable)
- new lights and power sockets (the previous ones were plain hideous) - new light switches currently on order, but its custom thus might take some time
- new bathroom fittings (okay partially - I ran out of time and was short a pair of hands to install the new towel rails)
- replaced the glass in the front door (desperately needed to be modernised) - thanks Deon!
Next on the agenda?
- complete upgrade of ligths, power sockets, light switches and bathroom fittings
- balau deck for outside shower & equipment rising area
- re-do the garden to conform with Hennie-style!
- replace front deck with balau
One day...
- re-paint
- re-do bathroom: add another toilet, create wet-room shower, sunk bath and his-and-hers basins
- get rid of the oh-so-not appealing novilon flooring and replace with tinted-concrete (complete with underfloor heating)
- upgrade kitchen
- build massive garage for all the toys and add multiple doube ensuite rooms on top with amazing views, leading out to the deck on top of the current house!
However, until then... we'll enjoy every moment at 5Oostewal, because in Langebaan its NOT about WHAT you have & what it looks like or what you wear - its about WHO you are (and how many water-toys you have!)
