The first thing that we had to do to pick our new double kitchen sink was to measure the exterior dimensions of the old sink. The new double sink had to be the same size, or bigger, than the old sink, otherwise we would have to look at replacing the countertop, which we would rather avoid.

Because our single sink had drains on either side of it we had to get a double sink with drains on both side. It was wider than our single sink, so we had to cut out some of the bench top to make it fit, which was a lot harder than we expected since the bench top ended up being made of synthetic stone, rather than the laminate that I thought it was.

After grinding away at the counter top and making a heck of a mess we finally got the new kitchen sink in. One thing that I hadn’t planned very well for was the drains. We almost had to remove the shelf on the left side of the cupboard under the sink, but after getting the plumbing set-up just right we managed to get around that problem. It’s pretty tight under there, but it’s not too bad.

Ideally I would have liked a double sink with a drain only on one side, but this worked out pretty well for us.

I was pretty excited when I first saw this offer, but then bummed out after seeing that it is only available for people in Victoria. The free water saving kit includes:

• 4 Minute Shower Timer
• Water Saving Books
• Water Saving Tips
• Information on How to Receive a Free Water Saving Showerhead

We have actually been looking for a while for a good shower timer, and the other three things would prove useful as well I’m sure (although we are about to sell a spare water saving showerhead in a garage sale in a few weeks).

If you are interested in the free water saving kit, and you live in Victoria, then check it out here.

Source: Australian Freebies

When I first read this my first thought was “Where do I sign up?”, but we would not be eligible. The government has decided that the homes being selected for the test would be located on Magnetic Island, just off the coast of Townsville.

The idea to use Magnetic Island as a test bed makes a lot of sense. They are isolated and a small community that is already using solar power in a big way with solar hot water. Although Townsville has only about 5% of homes using solar hot water systems, Magnetic Island has significantly more homes on a solar hot water system. This is because most of Magnetic Island residents are long term residence, where as Townsville is known for it’s “transient population”. The savings found in using solar usually comes in about the 5th year of ownership, so it is a long term investment.

During the seven year period of the “Solar City Project” they reckon greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by 50,000 tonnes, which is the same as pulling 1700 cars off the road.

Not a bad return for putting a few solar panels on your roof …

Source: Townsville homes goes solar | Townsville Bulletin News

This week I found a free Star Wars audio book that I have been listening to while painting the ceilings under our house. I’ve actually found it to be really good to listen to an audio book while painting.

You can download the free audio book here. It’s “Star Wars - Legacy of the Force - Betrayal“, which is supposed to take place after “Return of the Jedi”. You can get Star Wars - Legacy of the Force - Betrayal for free, but then if you want any of the follow up books you need to purchase the written or the audio versions of them

Although I am a fan of Star Wars I have yet to see the second or third of the new movies. My wife can’t stand sci-fi, so I haven’t seen them yet, don’t know when I will.

What do you do when painting? Do you have a favourite thing to listen to (music, podcasts, audio books, etc.) while painting?

Let us know below…

When I took time of work to paint it took me about 4-days of full time work preparing before I could even start painting. This involved a lot of putty, no-more-gap (calking), scraping and sanding. It felt like every door had nearly 100 holes to putty, scrape and sand.

Now that the undercoat is finally finished I’ll be working on the ceiling paint first. It’ll be a basic flat white ceiling paint, which I hope I can get done within the next two weeks of evening painting.

Should new green housing legislation be applied to new homes only, or also to existing home?

I’m listening to an ABC By Design podcast that is interviewing Tim Redway, the chief marketing officer for AV Jennings, one of Australia’s larger residential builders. He is advocating for the federal government to enforce green standards on all new houses. Old houses are also targeting, when an old house is sold he reckons the owner should be forced, through legislation, to improve their sustainability.

You can listen to the podcast here. The segment discussing the legislation of green housing in Australia is from about 14:00 - 26:00.

What do you reckon? Should the government force home owners to improve the sustainability of their homes? Should it include old and new homes? Let us know below in the comments …

I was lucky in that I had some railing left over from the old landing that was torn down when they lifted our house. I was able to cut that down to the width of the opening from our veranda to the new landing. On either side of the cut down railing I added a 2×4 and then added a diagonal support to help it maintain shape, since it would only be attached on one side.

For the gate latch I used a pool gate lock, which was easy to install, and makes it hard for the kids to reach the latch top open the gate until they are older and taller.

The gate is a bit of pain to open if I don’t have a free hand to pull the latch, but I figure that the added safety outweighs that little bit of inconvenience.

In the end I built a 3.6m long shelf that is 44.5cm deep for only about $120.00. Other than the shopping time it only took about 2-hours to put it up, which was nice.

The shelves consist of 2 x 1.8 metre long x 44.5cm wide x 14mm (I think…) melamine shelves and 6 x 40cm x 50cm galvanized brackets. Each bracket is anchored to a wall stud with 3 x screws, and then attached to the shelf with 4 x short screws.

The two 1.8m sections are also attached to each other using a 10cm x 40cm piece of timber screwed to each section at the bottom of the shelf to give it a bit more strength at the join. This should give it a bit more strength at what is probably the weakest point of the shelf.

I should be able to store about 30kg per metre, based on what I’ve read about the melamine and the brackets.

This shelving model is pretty easy to add to in 1.8m sections, and it can be very easily modified based on the size of wall being used and the depth of shelf needed.

Although the melamine already has  an edge on the front of it, I’m going to finish it off with a piece of 19mm x 38mm timber that was left over from the builders. I’m going to put that on the open side and along the front of the shelf. It should make it a bit more resistant to chipping than the melamine is, although I will have to paint or varnish the timber edge to give it a finished look.

There are four bedrooms, a hallway, an ensuite and a toilet to prepare and paint in a week. In the middle of day two I have dusted off most of the walls and done all the caulking (no-more-gap) and puttying. Tamara’s Dad is helping again as right now he is sanding down the putty.

Tonight (second shift / day 2) I should be able to start sealing the plasterboard with the white primer.

I’ll try to give an update later in the week with how it’s going. I’ve got a bunch of mates coming hopefully on Friday to help, so that will help to get it done by the end of this weekend.

By the end of the weekend I will definitely need a bit of a break.

Technorati Tags: painting

The magnetic fly screen has made a huge difference in the dining room with greatly improved appearance, more natural light and increased air flow. Although it is not as secure as the previous security screen, it would take a very determined person to get 4 metres up the exterior wall to get into the house.

We had a fantastic experience in getting the Magnetic Insect Screens. From our first phone call to installation was less than a week! The company that did it was Freedom Retractable Screens. It’s run by a gentleman named Kevin who, with a partner in Cairns, covers North Queensland for retractable screens and magnetic insect screens.

The Magnetic Insect Screen cost us about $300 for three windows, which we felt was quite reasonable. For the three windows that we had the magnetic screen installed we paid the same as we did for one window with the Amplimesh Security Screen.

Here are the contact details for Freedom Retractable Screens:

Freedom Retractable Screens

Phone: 07 4775 4000
Mobile: 0438 136 945
Web: www.freedomscreens.com.au

Unfortunately their web-site doesn’t publish anything about the MagicSeal magnetic insect screens, but you can read about them at the MagicSeal website.

Technorati Tags: insect screens, magnetic insect screens, magicseal, amplimesh