Introduce yourself to the community

[Jason]

Welcome to your Workshop. It is great to have you as a member of the community. We encourage you to say hello and introduce yourself.

Please reply to this post and tell us a bit about yourself. Whatever information you feel comfortable sharing is fine.

You might like to tell us about your current D.I.Y. and garden projects, your work, your passions, your hobbies, your dreams, what you struggle with, what you hope to learn from this community, and/or your favourite ice cream flavour.

And for something truly revealing about yourself - tell us what you call a barbecued sausage served on a single piece of bread.

We look forward to your post and getting to know you. Thanks for joining the discussion.

Jason

Community Manager

[jaga]

Hi @Baretta11,

Sorry for slow reply..

I'm in NSW. The kitchen costs could have easiliy gotten away from us and its very, very easy to reach $30,000 without even realising it... I'm fortunate to have some close connections, (and some favours to call in..!!), so my costs were fairly low.. And mine is a small kitchen..

• The kitchen cabinets/cupboards, etc cost $3,000
• The stone benctop cost $4,500 (could have been less, but i wanted the 80mm downturn)
• The appliances cost $4,000 (this includes dishwasher, sink, mixer tap, oven, cooktop, rangehood)
• Electrical cost $900 (materials only, labour was free from a mate)
• Plumbing cost $1300 (including swapping kitchen to new location)

I'd like to think i have "jack-of-all-trade" skills, but really i'm a master of none..!! I have decent knowledge of most trades, as I'm in the construction industry, however i don't have a trade qualification, and my hands-on skills are rather limited.. Alot of what i'm doing at my house is by qualified tradesmen, not me..

Congratulations for completing the septic system and cabling yourself.. in particular for the in-ground works, which aren't easy on anyone, trade qualified or not..!!

You said you were interested in see progress photos, so feel free to have a look at what i'm working on:

• POST 1 - Kitchen
• POST 2 - New-Timber-Deck
• (Not sure if these links will work - they are both within the Workshop group..)

Jamie

[Baretta11]

Hi Jamie,

The links worked perfectly.

You will no doubt have a beautiful home once you complete all the projects you have planned. I especially love the deck, it is now so much safer and a gate at the top will allow for a child to play in the fresh air without risk of falling!!

Thanks for your kind words re my projects.

I have to agree with you about the difficulty of the inground or trench work for the cabling, especially whilst I was between two large cypress trees, trying to pick up a decent shovel full of dirt/clay to toss back into the hole with branches etc... in the way. I'm only a midget at 5" tall but I have a euro background, so I'll not let anything stop me from getting the job at hand done!! Being farmers, we do have access to tractors and the like, so the trenches were easy to fill over once we were finished.

Like you, we have access to tradies too and I so love the barter system, works great for us here in the country.

Hubby is a mechanic, so he fixed our sparkies tractor and that went towards the cost of the internal cabling.

Hubby borrowed an excavator from a neighbour to dig the trench, as he has driven dozers etc... for years and the owner of the machine will borrow our coolroom later in the year.

We have one plumber, right next door as a matter of fact, who has fitted out the internal hot and cold and we baled his hay and silage.

We also bale silage and hay for our other plumber, who is overseeing the septic system etc...

Our plasterer lives in the same small country town as us, albeit we're about 10km out of town but this guy will come and go as he chooses and I will be the gofer for his needs including coffee etc... ha-ha

I really didn't know anything about building a home before we started, in fact my father made a little hammer for me with a short handle when I was a teenager, as he used to tell me a long handle wasn't any use, as I was always choking a hammer no matter what the length of the handle ha-ha

I have learned to hold a hammer correctly now though and to use a saw, drill and even measure and cut a piece of timber and cut and hang plaster!!

I'm not to good with 4" nails, if I have to use a hammer although we did have a nail gun for most of the framing but I often cheat and use a batten screw instead, goes in first time everytime, would have built the whole house with batten screws if I could have except for the expense!!

Anyway, keep up the good work and continue with the before and after photo's

Cheers,

Barbara

[Jenny888]

Hello, 

My name is Jenny.  I am a member of Permaculture Sydney West.  I like gardening.  I bought some tools from Bunnings.  Few I am not sure how to use them.  I would like to learn using tools safely to make some fernitur or fixing some thing around house.

[Jason]

Welcome to Workshop @Jenny888 and many thanks for introducing yourself. I'm sure you will find lots of like-minded gardeners and D.I.Y. fans in the community who are more than happy to share tips and information.

I recommend you start a new discussion about your new tools. Community members will be happy to help you get the most from your new purchases and provide advice for your projects. Include photos if you can!

Please let me know if you ever need a hand using the site. I'm more than happy to assist.

Thanks again for joining us. I look forward to reading more about your projects and plans very soon.

Jason 

[Fantus]

Hi I've spent the last 40 plus years working on making things and fixing things.

I'm a Fitter and Turner by trade which involves a lot of different skills, too many to list here, but I'm open to questions, if you think I can be of assistance let me know.

[Jason]

@Fantus

It's fantastic to have you join the Workshop community, thanks for introducing yourself. It sounds like you have a lot of terrific experience and knowledge you can share. I also hope you find plenty of inspiration, information and advice from other community members. A very warm welcome to you.

Looking forward to seeing more of your projects. Please post again soon.

Jason

[Tia]

G'Day All.. 

I'm Tia,

I kind of just 'wing it' through almost everything so to speak, but, seem to know a little about a lot, or it could possibly be the other way around, who knows!!!

At the moment, I've got more projects going then Parramatta Rd has Cars!!! 

From Bathroom, Kitchen & Interior Restoration & Reno's... To;

Building Gardens, Fences & Sheds... To;

Restoring a Caravan & couple of Motocycles... To;

Fixing Push Bikes, Cars & 4x4s..

Just to name a few!!! (are you exhausted yet?):asleep:

And all the while these "FAB" ideas just keep on coming!!!!

And.... 

Yep!!! Another new project is started and added to the "To Do" or "To Be Completed" List... 

I'm hoping to pick up some tricks of the trade, knowledge, ah-haa's, opinions, ideas, how to's & not to's, hints and advice from some, let's say, less scattered minds...

At the same time I can share some of the weird & wonderful bit's and pieces of knowledge & ideas that are floating around in my head with anyone who's interested.. 

Hmmm, @Jason, It's definetly a 'Banga Sanga' or 'Snosage Samige'.. Or for me personally, a "Banga & Onion Sanga with Dead Horse, but hold on the Banga".. 

Cheers

Tia Mushroom
(Always kept in the dark & fed B.S)

[Jason]

Hi @Tia,

A very warm welcome to Workshop. You'll find plenty of friends here who have just as many projects on the go. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine. It's wonderful to have you join the community.

It would be great if you could start a new discussion or two and share some of the work you've done so far on the house, as well as your plans for what comes next. Please let me know if you need a hand with getting the most from the site, whether it's kicking off a new discussion, subscribing to popular topic or adding photos. 

Thanks again for joining the community and for introducing yourself. 

Jason

[Baretta11]

Hi Tia,

You sound like a pretty cheerful, happy person, welcome!

I think I might be a bit like you except I know a allot about a little I think ha-ha

Hubby and I are building our own home together and I have learned how to do so many things but only because I have been shown it all by a jack of all trades!!

Looking forward to some of your photo's and/or discussions etc...

Cheers,

Barbara

[autumn79]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Autumn and I'm so excited I found this community. We bought a 40's style 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom old brick house 6 months ago. We painted the walls and moved in, but there is so much work that needs to be done.

The doors and trims need to be painted.  

We need to renovate the bathroom

In 12 months we will add another bathroom

We need a front fence

The front/ back garden is in disarray.

The list is endless........

We've undertaken and changed a fair bit with the house but we have a longgggggg way to go. With two children and full-time employment we are finding it hard to keep up but are keen to do most of the work ourselves.
I'd love to get your input and ideas on the renos.