So there's this house we like...

[leckert]

Hoping it all goes well and is relatively easy to move in and do!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so sorry if I'm confusing you

[Netix]

Netix house inspecting, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire style....

"Hmm, okay Eddie. I think I'm going to have to go 50/50 on this one. I can't decide between 2 and 3..."


The house was okay for its age;
*Floors uneven. Foundations unknown.
*Some re-wiring *may* have been done.
*Genuinely two bathroom and toilets (plus maybe an outdoor dunny, if you're game to open the door!). Room to put a bathtub in the family bathroom ( )
*Really big master bedroom (which has one of the bathrooms, separate toilet to ensuite), with enough room for a lounge (but would need to put in some wardrobes).
*Electric stove in kitchen, along with wood stove (unsure of workable condition).
*Cellar is usable (maybe 12m2 ? Dunno, the Man went down for a looky).
*Three decent sized kids rooms, all along one side of the house, where the sun room is. Two of the rooms have french doors onto the sunroom, the other only has a window. I would change the window to another french door, and have all three rooms accessing the sunroom, as a play room/study...
*Fifth bedroom is quite small, but can be extended slightly into the master bedroom, and is right off the kitchen. And it has no windows....
*Has no "dining room", dining table would have to be in the kitchen. But, with large outside undercover area, this could be a dining room.
*Kitchen not huge, but usable. Needs a lot of cupboards, but do-able.
*The "store" is huge (bigger than the lounge room, and is entered directly off the lounge), but has a sagging roof, and for the time being would just make a great junk room.
*One of the 'sheds' is a sealed room, lined with tin. It looks like a dry store according to the Man (I didn't see inside), rodent proof. About as long as one and a half car lengths?
*BUT, and I do mean BUT. There is an amount of red saw dust around the place. And whilst we couldn't find any immediate signs of termites (unlike in the stationmaster's house), we are wondering if this dust is coming through the tongue and groove pine ceilings from inside the roof....

That's it so far, we need to get it inspected, and talk to the Man's carpenter friend about basic works and possibilities.

[leckert]

Still sounds promising - livable. Hope the inspections help work out a few of the details.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so sorry if I'm confusing you

[Calluna]

That sounds like it used to be a gorgeous house! Good luck, I hope further inspections work out for you. It would be amazing when finished.

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

Ohh i hope the inspection comes up well and your carpenter friend has some great ideas for you.
Aslong as it's liveable and you go into it knowing what needs to be done then i can't see an issue with it. IYKWIM.
Hopefully we can chat more about it soon

[Netix]

ZF; I'm looking forward to it!

The kids were talking to my Mum on the phone yesterday afternoon, and told her that we had gone "to look at the rusty house".... Aren't they adorable! THey call it the rusty house because half of the bullnose verandah is rusted. Then they told my brother on the phone last night too, but neither Mum or Bro have asked me about it yet, and I haven't told them!

I was thinking while lazing in bed this morning, about the fifth bedroom.... We told the Boy about the house last night, and he said he would take the room with no french doors onto the sunroom (which is the middle room of three), purely because it has no french door. Okay, if that's the case, that makes things a little easier in terms of not having to source another set of doors to match the others, and the work involved in removing window and putting in the door. The front bedroom is *maybe* slightly larger than the other two (that side onto the sunroom), so *MAYBE* (and these are all just maybes at the moment, need to talk to the Man, and get his opinion on it), two kids could go in there (two boys or two girls, whatever I have in June), and the fifth bedroom (which remember is right off the kitchen), could be transformed into a "butler's pantry".

My reasoning behind this is because the kitchen really is quite small. Our dining table is quite large, and would take up the majority of the kitchen, and there is very little space left over for workspace. We could fit our fridge and probably the two chest freezers in, and not much else. We *could* make a top to fit over the two freezers to create a workspace, but how to lift it up without necessarily having to empty it to get to the freezer underneath? We could fit lots of workspace in the butler's pantry, and pantry space (because there's not much of that in the kitchen either!).

It would keep all the kids at one end of the house. None would be in the room right next to us, which would be nice when they are bigger, and we just want our space!

The two kids who would share the front bedroom could use one end of the sunroom for extra cupboards/wardrobes, etc, as there is a bit of wall space in the sunroom that doesn't have windows on it. As I think there may not be enough room in the bedroom for two beds and two lots of clothes, etc, due to the placement of the doors. As it is, there are three doors in that room; there is a set of french doors leading out the front of the house, but I would hope that these doors wouldn't be used.

Further thinking about the master bedroom; there are no robes from what I recall (was a little distracted by the faux timber wall panelling! lol), so a fair bit of space would be taken up by robes (I seem to have too many clothes ). And there is also a door through to the store, so we'd have to decide if we'd want to keep that door or not (it's currently blocked up). That bit of space would be useful. It also has a sliding door out to the side of the house, so we could keep our eyes peeled at recycling yards for some old french doors to suit. And maybe some windows (that side of the house faces South, so extra windows would be good), but it does face the train line. So perhaps a private courtyard garden would be in order? Hey, dreams are good aren't they?

However, all relevant to inspections.... But yes, promising.

It is livable, but definitely a lot of work. Needs a helluva lot of cleaning to start with. The fifth bedroom needs so much work! It is painted a dark colour too, so maybe that's what's making it look small. The lack of any windows doesn't help either, but it does have a large skylight. And SOOOO many cobwebs!

We also spoke of demolishing the laundry (which is an add-on at the back), and building the undercover area along the whole back of the house. Would just then need to rebuild the laundry, which I can't really think of where else it would go, so would have to come up with a nice way of hiding washing machine, dryer, hoses, etc on the porch area (Carpenter, are you listening? lol). The trough would be useful outside. Be nice if I could find a good cement one, it would certainly suit the place!

[meow]

Oh it all sounds very exciting!!

My only real concern for you (apart from all the work) was the 5th bedroom... I think your idea of converting it to a butler's pantry is awesome! You may find that by the time the two children sharing a room are really outgrowing it, then The Boy may have moved out anyway so 3kids bedrooms could work out fine

[~TT40~]

=) been quietly stalking. FX it passes the inspection. The good thing about old house (that I LOVE) even though they need work, they have so much potential and can basically become anything you want!!

[Rowellen]

That sounds so very exciting. I think I'm a teeny bit jealous lol! We love to renovate! I love the idea of a butler's pantry. It sounds like the house has heaps of space and potential. Good luck!

[Netix]

Meow; I am rather awesome, aren't I? Ha, lol at me.

Lol, I didn't know people were stalking me! (Looking at you Teirae.... lol)

It is very exciting, everything is crossed for inspections. I've never thought of having a butler's pantry before, and we saw one in a display home a few years ago, which was huge, to the point that you were supposed to do EVERYTHING in there, and keep the pretty "show" kitchen clean for your guests.... . Before that, I don't think we had ever seen that. Or even thought about it. Not that this pantry would be to keep the other one showy, just to be a usable space!

And when the Man was showing the Boy last night the photos he took in the store of all the shelves, the Boy turned to me and said that if I said there was not enough room in there (on the shelves) for all my stuff (kitchenalia and old books), that he would flip his s***! lol. I said to him that his Dad and I had already had that discussion, and your Dad seems to think that there WON'T be enough room for all of it. lol. The Man asked me if he could have one little group of shelves in the store for his stuff, to which I asked would I be able to have one of the sheds to use? He said no!, so, so did I. lol. Then the Man said he wants me to say there's not enough room, just so he can see the Boy "flip his s***". Funny.

If we get this place, fear not, I am sure I will be asking many reno' questions Rowellen, just so you can be a part of it!

[Rowellen]

If we get this place, fear not, I am sure I will be asking many reno' questions Rowellen, just so you can be a part of it!

Yay! I can live vicariously through you

And is that some new teen slang (flip his s***) that I am way to old for?

[Netix]

And is that some new teen slang (flip his s***) that I am way to old for?

lol, maybe. I've heard it a few times. I always think its hilarious, that's why I had to share!

[~TT40~]

I didn't get what he meant, at first I thought it was literelly through his ****... which I thought, wow teenagers are uncontrollable these days... but thought maybe it just means go off? I hope its the later, otherwise there would be heaps more cleaning to do in your house!!

yea i stalk...I'll admit it, truth is cause this house sounds fantastic (i LOVE old rundown places just the possibility of what it can become gets me so excited, plus all the history and character in it), that im actually hanging out for photos on the off chance it might happen =)

[Netix]

Teirae; yep, definitely just the later! Means to just "go off".

Been thinking.... If you guys want pictures, guess I'll need to create a blog? Gonna need a name... Any ideas?

[~TT40~]

Umm... Little house on the praire seen as youve refered it by that in your other blog? ..i have no idea... But i would stalk *cough* i mean read it =p

sent via my vortex manipulator!

[Netix]

But i would stalk *cough* i mean read it

Lol! I couldn't think of what else to call it. The "original" Little House On The Prairie in my blog was probably more suited to that name. This place, it may be a bit on the 'grand' size for the same title... 'cos it ain't little! Maybe though... It's certainly on the list.

[Rowellen]

I don't think I want teenagers. It's hard enough understanding a toddler Maybe you could name it after one of the mansion houses in Jane Austen. I'm having a bit of a mind blank. The only ones I can think of are Mansfield Park & Longbourn. I'm not sure the second one is right. But you get the idea.

[Netix]

I missed a call from the real estate agent this morning (read: didn't want to talk to him while my mum was around!), and he left a message saying there was interest on these two properties.

Took a call from him this afternoon (after Mum left for work), and he said the same thing, and that he doesn't want to ring us to tell us its been sold, even though no offers have (yet) been made.

I don't know if there really is interest, or if he is just saying it to get us to hurry up and make an offer, etc, and get it sold.

And, my Mum has just offered us $10k towards a deposit for the house. Interesting, considering she recently sold my 21st birthday present (that she got for me). I don't know what it will cost me in the long run, but it would make our (me, the Man, and the kids) lives easier for a while.