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Two Years in the House
July 1st marked the second year in our own house.
1st year review was back here
We finally got the rotten wood (damaged by vines) in the balcony replaced, and some time later the possum in the ceiling space finally vacated.
At this point in time we are living in relative peace with the possums. One is currently resident in our bird house and has eaten all my parsley and spinach, but otherwise it's just the occasional thunder of possum paws across the roof.
The dining area got painted purple. This and the kitchen remain the only areas to be painted to date. Because we forgot to finish the gaps around the new balcony doors we ended up with leaks and need to paint a couple of ceiling downstairs now as well. (Those gaps are now sealed and tiled, although I think the grouting still needs work on one of them).
We've replaced all the lights in the lounge/dining area now. Now we're just keeping our eyes open for the perfect reading lamp for the library.
The drainage problem is still being moved around. At the moment it's non-urgent but needs work. Putting down a layer of sand in the new cat run actually seems to have helped more than the drain digging. The cat run is basically done now, just need to get the door installed so the cats can access it.
At the start of November the Laundry was renovated. In the last few wet and busy weeks I've had cause to be grateful for the new tumble dryer. The room still needs painting, and there's a hole in the floor currently plugged with a rag, but otherwise it's all good. We also finished off the last few things in the kitchen.
The new toilet also went in, somewhere around September since it was in before David's birthday party.
At around the same time we had the solar panels installed. We are still (!) waiting for a smart meter, but they have had an impact on the bills.
Outside, David finished the stairs for his little deck, we got a balustrade put on, and it's all looking good and working well. The paving we re-laid last year is starting to slide in places, but still serviceable.
More pruning and mulching has been done.
The house render was done in March, and was worth the huge pain in the neck that was the workmen and their process. Still need to paint, but most of the house now looks lovely and everyone seems to like it.
The new rain tank was installed, and the two tanks were plumbed in to laundry and downstairs toilet. Still somewhat annoyed we couldn't get anyone to plumb in the bathrooms, weak city folk.
Still waiting for our first post-tank water bill.
On the finances, the loan is now $36k (or 4 years) ahead of the scheduled balance. I'll need to go and check how much we've spent on the renovations to date, but I think everything else should be coming in at under $15k.
The To Do list:
Paint interior
Paint Exterior
Walk in Robe renovation
Install Cat Door
Wall shingles on front of balcony
Storage for bikes & lawnmower
More drainage fiddling
Possibly more balcony timbers to repair
More gardening, including tree removal
Bits and pieces I can't remember right now or haven't noticed yet.
And finally, a comparison of the last 2 years worth of utility bills.
This year has for the most part been colder and wetter than the previous one, which is going to be reflected in our usage. There were, for example, very few BBQs this year, and the heating has had a lot more use.
The heatpump on the hot water service wasn't working properly for a while last August, but we're not sure exactly how long.
Solar panels were switched on in Mid-November. As mentioned, still no smart meter so we're not getting bonus for feeding into the grid at peak times.
Water tanks plumbed in during April. I await the next bill with keen anticipation, but suspect we need to replace David's showerhead if we really want to make an impact.
One other thing I'd like to say - the graphs they put on our bills to let us compare usage against the previous year? As far as I can tell they just make it up. I've got the bills from last year sitting right here, and they're doing well if they have even a passing resemblance to each other. WTF is with that?
1st year review was back here
We finally got the rotten wood (damaged by vines) in the balcony replaced, and some time later the possum in the ceiling space finally vacated.
At this point in time we are living in relative peace with the possums. One is currently resident in our bird house and has eaten all my parsley and spinach, but otherwise it's just the occasional thunder of possum paws across the roof.
The dining area got painted purple. This and the kitchen remain the only areas to be painted to date. Because we forgot to finish the gaps around the new balcony doors we ended up with leaks and need to paint a couple of ceiling downstairs now as well. (Those gaps are now sealed and tiled, although I think the grouting still needs work on one of them).
We've replaced all the lights in the lounge/dining area now. Now we're just keeping our eyes open for the perfect reading lamp for the library.
The drainage problem is still being moved around. At the moment it's non-urgent but needs work. Putting down a layer of sand in the new cat run actually seems to have helped more than the drain digging. The cat run is basically done now, just need to get the door installed so the cats can access it.
At the start of November the Laundry was renovated. In the last few wet and busy weeks I've had cause to be grateful for the new tumble dryer. The room still needs painting, and there's a hole in the floor currently plugged with a rag, but otherwise it's all good. We also finished off the last few things in the kitchen.
The new toilet also went in, somewhere around September since it was in before David's birthday party.
At around the same time we had the solar panels installed. We are still (!) waiting for a smart meter, but they have had an impact on the bills.
Outside, David finished the stairs for his little deck, we got a balustrade put on, and it's all looking good and working well. The paving we re-laid last year is starting to slide in places, but still serviceable.
More pruning and mulching has been done.
The house render was done in March, and was worth the huge pain in the neck that was the workmen and their process. Still need to paint, but most of the house now looks lovely and everyone seems to like it.
The new rain tank was installed, and the two tanks were plumbed in to laundry and downstairs toilet. Still somewhat annoyed we couldn't get anyone to plumb in the bathrooms, weak city folk.
Still waiting for our first post-tank water bill.
On the finances, the loan is now $36k (or 4 years) ahead of the scheduled balance. I'll need to go and check how much we've spent on the renovations to date, but I think everything else should be coming in at under $15k.
The To Do list:
Paint interior
Paint Exterior
Walk in Robe renovation
Install Cat Door
Wall shingles on front of balcony
Storage for bikes & lawnmower
More drainage fiddling
Possibly more balcony timbers to repair
More gardening, including tree removal
Bits and pieces I can't remember right now or haven't noticed yet.
And finally, a comparison of the last 2 years worth of utility bills.
| Month | Mean Min | Mean Max | Rain | Gas MJ/day avg | Electric kWh/day avg | Water L/day avg | Mean Min | Mean Max | Rain | Gas MJ/day avg | Electric kWh/day avg | Water L/day avg | |
| July | 6.3 | 14.4 | 76 | 450.2 | 26.83 | 565 | 5.1 | 13.6 | 48.8 | 399.27 | 20.67 | 479 | |
| Aug | 8 | 16.1 | 113.4 | 6.1 | 13.6 | 98.4 | |||||||
| Sept | 8.1 | 17.9 | 264.4 | 293.3 | 17.21 | 7.9 | 15.6 | 57.2 | 233.8 | 16.44 | |||
| Oct | 8.3 | 19.6 | 50.2 | 472 | 8.8 | 20.2 | 131.2 | 484 | |||||
| Nov | 13.8 | 27.8 | 124.6 | 63.47 | 11.6 | 23 | 117.8 | 90.93 | |||||
| Dec | 12.8 | 25.9 | 54.6 | 13.6 | 12.5 | 24.6 | 153 | 5.57 | |||||
| Jan | 13.9 | 27.6 | 82.8 | 39.87 | 489 | 15.6 | 26.5 | 91 | 52.04 | 460 | |||
| Feb | 16.1 | 28.7 | 40 | 14.5 | 24.9 | 172.2 | |||||||
| Mar | 14.2 | 26 | 113.6 | 147 | 17.47 | 13.1 | 22.9 | 70.4 | 195 | 14.67 | |||
| Apr | 12.6 | 22.3 | 70.2 | 478 | 9.5 | 20.2 | 127 | 441 | |||||
| May | 7.5 | 17.4 | 52.6 | 362 | 7.4 | 15.4 | 124 | 419.8 | |||||
| Jun | 5.9 | 13.6 | 105 | 5.7 | 14.8 | 58.4 | |||||||
This year has for the most part been colder and wetter than the previous one, which is going to be reflected in our usage. There were, for example, very few BBQs this year, and the heating has had a lot more use.
The heatpump on the hot water service wasn't working properly for a while last August, but we're not sure exactly how long.
Solar panels were switched on in Mid-November. As mentioned, still no smart meter so we're not getting bonus for feeding into the grid at peak times.
Water tanks plumbed in during April. I await the next bill with keen anticipation, but suspect we need to replace David's showerhead if we really want to make an impact.
One other thing I'd like to say - the graphs they put on our bills to let us compare usage against the previous year? As far as I can tell they just make it up. I've got the bills from last year sitting right here, and they're doing well if they have even a passing resemblance to each other. WTF is with that?
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