Mortar Trouble

Argh, just what we needed right now, crumbling mortar!

Along the back wall of our house, which is the wall that experiences the most weather and rain, we have found an increasing amount of holes in the mortar between the bricks. The holes start small and slowly increase over time as the weather and rain hit it.

At some points I can very easily stick a knife straight through the mortar, and I have even done the same thing with a plastic pen at some of the mortar joints between bricks!

We had a brickie come out last week to look at it for us and what he reckons has happened is that when the wall was originally built, many of the cracks between bricks was just given what amounts to a surface scrape of old mortar. This can happen if the mortar stuck down between the bricks isn’t enough, or gets washed out. After the mortar has dried the gaps are seen, so the brick layers tries to squeeze in mortar between the bricks. This mortar is often old and left over stuff, so it doesn’t adhere well, and doesn’t dry very solid.

This problem with soft, crumbling mortar seems to be what we are experiencing now!

Over the next few weeks the brickie will be coming around and needing to cut and scrape out the old mortar. Then he will need to mix up some new mortar, try to match it to the colour of the existing mortar, and attempt to fill the gaps between the bricks.

Getting the gaps between the bricks repointed should be sufficient to stop any further dissolving of the existing mortal, and hopefully we can then look at fixing up the problems that the holes have caused inside the house …

What Car to Buy in Australia in 2018

As of 2017 Australia no longer has local car manufacturing. The last manufacturer that pulled out is Holden, and they have been suffering dramatically since then. The “iconic” Holden Commodore is so unpopular since being moved overseas that they have had to stop manufacturing it (source)!

As you look at what cars to buy in Australia in 2018 Holden, they come near the bottom of the list of cars to buy. Not least of which because in 2012 they received $275 million from the Australian government that was never paid back, and when they closed down manufacturing in Australia in 2017, they transferred $150 million to GM in the USA.

Enough complaining about Holden, here are the 12 cars manufacturers that, according to AutoExpertTV, you should look at buying in 2018:

  • BMW
  • Honda
  • Hyundai
  • Isuzu
  • Kia
  • Lexus
  • Mazda
  • Mitsubishi
  • Porsche
  • Subaru
  • Suzuki
  • Toyota

Waiting for the Ikea 2015 Catalogue

Walking around Ikea today with my youngest son made me realise that I am eagerly anticipating the newest Ikea catalogue, which is due to come out in Australia starting on the 23rd of August, 2015.

Ikea 2015 Catalog

There are some fun looking new items that you can see on the American Catalogue here. Of course, I can’t find a link to the new catalogue for us poor plebs in Australia, but the American catalogue at least gives us an idea about what to expect from our favourite home furnishing store.

History of our House in Townsville, Australia

1870 - 1930 Colonial Federation and Interwar Pyramid HouseThe house was first built as a miner’s cottage around 1870 in Charters Towers during the gold rush. It was a simple 4-room colonial style miner’s pyramid roof style house.

House Being Moved by HorsesAround the early 20th century (1915 – 1930) the house was moved, most likely by a team of horses, from Charters Towers to Townsville when the gold mines shut down.

1870s Miners Cottage in TownsvilleWe purchased the house in 2005 in Townsville, performed some major renovation and upgrades to the house, and then sold it in 2009 prior to moving to Canada.

My son Caleb is currently learning about the Gold Rushes that have happened in Australian history. It is quite fascinating how much Australia has been influenced through it’s various gold rushes. During one decade after the first gold rush the Australian population doubled as fortune seekers came to Australia to try to get rich!

I thought that the history of our home, and many others like it during that era of Australian history, also made an interesting footnote for my son to learn about …

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