Demolition continues - Construction begins!

Deconstruction:

Hole in the back wall enlarged to make the space for the new, larger sliding doors. (More light!)

Hole cut in the floor of the second bedroom where the new bathroom will go, with a tiled floor.

Construction:

Preparing for the new beam to hold up the roof in the back room where the wall has been removed. One end goes here (left) and the other there (right).

Let there be light!

The wall is down. With each bit of the demolition, the back room becomes brighter. Still to come, bigger sliding doors and a skylight.
Meanwhile, here's the current picture...

 Here's where the wall isn't any more. On the left, the end-on view. Above the view from the side.

The new beam will go from here (on the left)...

  ...to here (on top of the nib on the right).

From the back window, looking in...












From the doorway, looking out.

Demolition continues...

Today Tony (builder) comes with Chris and Luke, so we can discuss the finer points of how the beam and new ceilings will work, and where the skylight might go. Chris and Luke then get on with erecting temporary framing to prop up the roof, then start to remove the internal wall. Tony comes back later for a look and informs us that there was so little holding up the brickwork above the place where half the wall had been removed back in the 70s that it was a bit surprising it hadn't fallen down. We are looking forward to it being replaced by a nice solid steel beam.
Tomorrow they are going to start removing the actual wall.

Here are today's pictures of the temporary framing and the removal of the bricks and old beams over the space between the two parts of the room.

On the right - framing.
Below right, looking up into the new gap where bricks have been removed.
Below left, the old wall, next thing to go.

Action at last

All the plans, permits and paperwork are in place, and so we have lift-off at last. It begins with further demolition in the back area - ripping down the ceilings in the back area. And yes, I do mean ceilings plural as there are two separate roof structures, separated by half a wall and a beam. And in the inner part of the room, the old 10ft ceiling had had a second lower ceiling inserted, so there are two to remove there. When the first one comes down, it reveals the original ceiling rose stuck firmly to the old lath and plaster ceiling. But by the middle of the day it is all gone, with just a huge pile of timber laths in the back courtyard.

We are excited by how much better the room looks with the higher roof line. Once the part wall is removed the roof in the back part will just slope down gently from just below the new beam that will hold up the roof between the two halves of the room.

On the left (above) you can see that the main roof above the inner part of the room is in good shape, and also how high it looks with the two ceilings removed. On the right you can see that we will need to replace the tin on the skillion roof that covers the outer part of the room, but that we can put the ceiling flush against the roof beams to keep it as high as possible as well.

Paperwork and more paperwork

Contract signed today. That means the builder can get insurance for the project, the insurance certificate goes to the building surveyor and we get a building permit, and the builders can start. Finally. Should happen next week or the week after.
Meanwhile we've had an inspection by the Council for so-called Asset Protection: more forms, more fees and a whacking great bond paid to the Coucil in case we damage a footpath or bend a parking sign.

Inspected

Today a nice man from the City of Port Phillip comes to inspect the pavements etc around the house, as part of getting an Asset Protection Permit. Peter takes photos as well, so that they can't later blame any existing issues on our building works. We then cough up a substantial deposit which the Council holds until works are complete, then returns to us provided we haven't damaged anything. Even for a very modest lot of building work we have to pay $2,000 - one wonders how much money they have in these deposits at any one time. As Albert Park/Middle Park are at the top of the leader board for most-renovated suburbs, one imagines that it's millions. Ah well...

Plans!

Winter has wended it's weary way - it's been cold, we've had colds, and nothing much happened on the building front until this week. Plans arrive Monday, are checked out by us Tues/Wed, and we fill in the form to appoint the Building Surveyor on Wednesday afternoon.
Builders tell us that action will commence once the plans are approved. Forecast for next week is more cold wet winter weather, despite the fact that Spring has officially sprung - hopefully it will have improved by the time work kicks off.