Lisa the brickie Monday 1 June - Wednesday 3 June 2020

Back again so soon....

Peter, our underpinner had organised for his brickie James to come and fix up the brick work disturbed by the underpinning, on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I was keen to see how it was done, and had also organised for the plumber to come and use their cherry picker to fix up the cracked drain pipe

Drove up on a very dreary Monday afternoon - quite rainy and miserable.  However by the time I got to Marong, the weather had cleared a bit  ( I was told that it was still gloomy in Melbourne)

Still had some daylight - so went and inspected the electricans work - connecting up the rotunda to power - he did a good neat job

Unfortunately, I went into the garden with my "city" shoes, and was dismayed at how caked in sticky mud/clay they became by the time I returned to the back veranda.  Took them off, and just left them in the laundry sink to be seen to later

 

11.9 degrees in the house - but not seeing your breath yet

Dinner was 1/2 a can of chilli beans, some salami from the cellar, and an egg all put in a bowl, and then into the microwave - was actually pretty good

And then to bed to watch some Netflix under the doona

Tuesday morning - and I'd learned, better to get dressed straight away, rather than breakfast in pajamas and dressing gown and then get dressed.  So, straight into my trusty Winter coveralls and beanie

James the brickie and Lee were there around 7.30, and Peter arrived soon after with the cherry picker

And up they went

Lee also did some remedial work in the dining room - mortaring up those cracks - so that we no longer see daylight through the walls

And the finished job - now just ready for plastering

I was watching for a while, but spent most of Tuesday weeding/trimming

Got distracted by a huge clump of bridal veil creeper rhizomes  near the stump.  It's so prolific, and mats the ground so efficiently - nothing else will get through

And, despite it being the start of Winter - there were a few jonquils out which was cheering

Lunch was on across the road at the Town Hall (saw Faye when I arrived yesterday, and she reminded me, said I should come).  I told James and Lee about it so they wandered over, however by the time they got there, it was sold out, so they went to the bakery instead

That said, about 20 minutes later, Faye came over to tell them that there were still some quiches that could be warmed up if they'd like.  They had already bought an alternative lunch, so I said I'd come across a little later

I did, and also saw Colleen (the councillor), and Rosemary from WaterWheel there.  Colleen asked me if the house would be open for the Women on Farms conference in November - it had been postponed from March - because of the corona virus - I was non committal - as who knows where we'll be up to by then in the renonation process

And, because of the corona virus - there was no one sitting at the tables - eating, just the people helping out.  I had to knock on the kitchen door.  Faye asked me how many quiches I wanted - just one, and she warmed it up for me, I took it back to the house, and had it for my lunch - very nice

Back to the gardening for me,  and James and Lee back to mortaring

And as per my new habit, a good hot bath at the end of the day, followed by my chilli bean, salami and egg dinner, and netflix in bed

Wednesday, and it started out the same as Tuesday, ie early start, gardening for me, mortaring for the boys

That said the plumber(s) came early also. I saw one go up the cherry picker, and they disappeared soon after that. I hadn't really had a chance to talk to them, so was a bit annoyed, as they didn't say when they would be back.  However on closer inspection, it looked like they had pop riveted the crack, and they had also attached a plastic bag type hose to the end of the drain pipe so that if it rained it wouldn't go under the house - so that seemed ok.  I'll have to recontact them to find out when they'll be back 

But then I had a brilliant idea, I'd been watching James, and how he was mortaring  - so asked if I could do some too, as there is an approximate 2 metre square area on that back wall where the mortar has mysteriously disappeared leaving denuded loose looking bricks (they're not loose)

Anyway, James gave me a quick run down - ie must put 2 x pairs of surgical gloves on - as the lime in the mortar mix will eat away your skin. 

Then get a small bucket to put the mortar mix in (they had mixed up a big barrow full),

Lastly, you need a sponge, and a large bucket with clean water in it to dip the sponge into

Next, wet down the area that you are going to put the mortar into - and then press it in.  I was just using my fingers (no trowel), and was initially dropping more of the mix on the ground than was going into the cracks.

However, I eventually developed a reasonably productive system

And the other important thing was to keep wetting down/rinsing the wall - in order to get the mortar into the cracks properly, and also to wash the mortar off the face of the bricks - and make it all a lot neater

Below is the before shot - with the mortarless gaps between the bricks

And here is a grinning photo of me (what a surprise) - posing with my mortar bucket and sponge

   
David and Arleen also dropped in to say hello (and make a phone call to Daniel - because we have better mobile reception than Kingower)


And here is the after photo.  Some sceptics might point out that there is some mortar covering a brick in the middle - that's because that brick was part broken

Anyway, apparantly the secret was in constantly wetting it down/rinsing it off.  I was actually quite enjoying it - and must admit that I did stand back to admire my work at times

Even got more adventurous and fetched a ladder to attack some higher bits next to the window

And here's the after shot

And yes, of course James and Lee did a fine job also

At one stage I had to go and put my gum boots on - as the section in front of me had a large puddle in front of it - good to be prepared

Bought a pie from the bakery for lunch - my favourite, Butter Chicken.  Had a chat with the owner.  Despite the government allowing restaurants and cafes to open for sit down customers, she had decided to just stick with takeaways.  She said it would be too much effort/expense to adhere to the stringent cleaning /spacing regimes, and I agreed with her.  I also didn't see that either of the pubs were open for sit down diners.  In fact, the Royal has been closed for a while.  I hope that it reopens soon though.

So, I finished up my section, and was pretty pleased with myself, peeled off my gloves, and was somewhat appalled at my right hand's appearance - it wasn't just waterlogged, I wondered if some of the lime mortar had got through some nicks (even today - Friday - my right hand is quite dry, and I can rub the surface skin off my fingers....)

Empty mortar bucket

And peeled off gloves

I also whatsapped Justin, sending him amongst other photos, the before and after shots of my piece of wall

His initial response to my bit was - "is this before or after?"

Then he realised

i then asked him what he thought - which he obvioulsy regarded as a strange question - responding with "looks good to me - why?"

I then 'fessed up, saying it was me - obviously very much impressing him with my new found skill

I now plan to do around near the gas bottles on the other wall also - at another time.  James gave me his mix proportions, and also left me some sand, mortar and lime, which was very nice of him.

Some time in the mid afternoon Lee received a call from Peter - asking how it was all going.  Peter also advised that Amon the engineer was on his way, as he wanted to talk to James about how to address the big crack in the back hallway/kitchen

I was already getting ready to go, tidying up, washing dishes, buying some eggs from David etc.  Helen and the kids were coming over for dinner, and I wanted to leave by 4pm at the latest

As it was - Amon arrived around 3.15  - showed him the wall/crack again - and they took off the loose plaster

 

 Amon will write up a report, initially he had suggested putting in a steel lintel, but is now recommending a metal pole with a removable steel sheet on top (like was what used initially in the underpinning, I don't know the technical word for it) - to support the wall while it is being rebuilt.  One side would be rebuilt, and then the other side. 

He then came and had another look at the external west kitchen wall.  Peter had said last time to Justin and me that he thinks it should be underpinned - not as a big a job as the bay window, but necessary nevertheless.  We had had a engineering report done some years ago, to see if we could replace the roof before doing any underpinning.  That report had said yes, we could, and that there were "superficial cracks on the south west wall, but that we could live with it, ie no remedial work required.

Given the obvious expense of underpinning, we would prefer to believe the initial report, also because if underpinning were to go ahead, our beautiful back veranda would need to be removed....

That said, I have asked Peter for a quote, and also one for James to rebuild the wall inside

We await the quote...