Restoring the Old Girl

Home and the range

Friday morning our range arrived. It was very exciting to see it in place, and I had been so busy with other things I had forgotten, if it all went to plan, how great it would look.
We had handed the kitchen makers a photo of what we wanted, and the range hood delivered seemed to be the twin brother of the one in the photo.

This is what we asked for.

This is what we got. You still have to very much use your imagination. It needs to be vj-ed from the top to the ceiling, and the stove in place, tiling inside the range as well as the splash back either side, and open shelving installed each side. The kitchen is an absolute mess, but it's coming together.

At 3.30pm on Friday afternoon, my husband and I and the stone mason gathered around the island bench. Some of the builders also stopped work momentarily and stood around to watch, hoping for a bit of a show no doubt. He proceeded to demonstrate a little stone plug he'd made. 'That's one possible solution', he said. I disagreed with that.

He then told us about the nickel plug on it's way from Italy to go with our taps, and he presented us with a photograph of our taps.

'They're not our taps.' I told him. The tapware company rep had sent him the photo. I pulled out the bottom drawer of our new kitchen and showed him what our taps looked like. It was a bit iffy as to whether the plug would fit under the poles.

This is what our taps look like, except ours are a nickel finish.

We stood around for a while, no one saying much. My husband had to go off and talk to the glazier who had shown up at the same time.

I stayed with the stonemason, arms crossed, trying not to scowl too much. I felt sorry for him actually, he'd tried really hard to come up with some way to fix the problem.

He excused himself and went outside. I went and talked to the glazier for a while about the glass to put in above our doors. Some of the original glass lights remain, but they are an etched pattern, which is unavailable now.

The stonemason came back in, looking a little sheepish I thought. He'd been on the phone.

'We're going to replace the whole thing. I've managed to get another piece of stone from the same batch.' Music to my ears. I immediately felt guilty for not letting him off the hook.

In order to replace the whole top he had to get another piece of stone from the same batch as the other two benchtops in the kitchen. If it was from a different batch, there may be more or less grey flecks, etc.

He said that the faulty piece would probably end up being thrown out, but I'm hoping he was just saying that to make me feel bad.

On Friday I also took a trip out to a tile shop to find something to put on the workbench in the pantry. I needed something in stock because it will have to be done soon. I managed to get a metre of 15mm grey Cararra marble mosaic tiles. They are very extravagant for a pantry shelf, but I got the last metre they had for just under $200. They normally retail for over $750/metre. I love a bargain!

The painter worked on Saturday too. He had some peace and space while all the builders were gone, and he brought along three painter friends (who owed him a favour) to help. They cracked a carton of cold beer and away they went.

I'm happy to say we're very impressed with his prep work. He's also a very likeable person.

While the house was being prepped for painting, I went over to Dulux and got a sample of virtually every white paint that's ever been produced.

I've now got some paint on the walls to check out the real colour. At this point in time, I'm looking at Princess Bling for the exterior and possibly Whisper White for inside...but nothing's written in Caesar stone yet.

This coming week should be eventful. By next Friday I foresee the french doors will go in near the pool, the glass may go in on that deck, the internal stairs should be put in, the front stairs and verandah balustrade may be finished and the massive french door for downstairs should arrive.


Aah! Breathe.