0027 Working around the house

0027  Working around the house

 23rd October - 5th November 2020

The house really needs some TLC !!

 

Between driving round the world between 2014 - 2016, rebuilding the Healey and doing the Peking to Paris between 2017 - 2019, and rebuilding the VW since late 2019, I must admit I haven't done a lot of work around the house for a while !    And I am not talking about the washing up or other day to day chores - I am talking about painting, repairing, mending etc !   The Big Things !   In the past we have never lived for long in any house, so we have never really had to repaint or recarpet or do major repairs before.  But we have now been here some 14 years, and suddenly I look around to see that some things are starting to look a bit tired.   Must be time to do some work !

Patch underneath

Old paint vs new paint

A few weeks ago I noticed a part of our guttering had rusted through - Not badly, but, like rust on a car, these things can get away from you if you don't take remedial action quickly.  So I fabricated a patch, cleaned away all the corroded guttering and treated it with phosphoric acid to
delay further rust, then applied the patch and painted the immediate area.  Painting

was a bad idea - The new paint now shows up that all the other guttering on the house needs doing !!  Grrrrr.   Anyway, pleased with the patch - I consider it better than a patch a professional did a couple of years ago. The guttering will all need replacing one day, but for the moment it will survive.  

Then we noticed that our roof top solar panels were no longer producing electricity !  A service call from the solar people quickly determined that the solar invertor had given up the ghost, so was not putting the power produced through to the grid, and as we were one of the early installers of solar panels, we are on the highest rebate possible, so this was hurting us.  Only solution was a new invertor - Duly fitted at considerable expense, and we now have electricity being put into the grid again, earning us our rebate.

Beer kegs for Tas

We received a call from daughter Sarah down in Tasmania - Their Fox Friday brewery had some of their kegs up in Brisbane after a tap takeover at the beginning of the year, and they needed them to be returned - Could we please hold them at the house ?    Delivered to us, we not only stored them for a few days, but one was even half full of old beer which needed to be emptied out before we could freight them down to Tas.  Ever tried to empty a pressurised beer keg with a screwdriver ?   An interesting exercise, but successfully completed, and the kegs have now returned to Tas.  But we were starting to look like a brewery here for a while !

Bogged and primed

Scratch on pax door

I then needed to do a bit of car stuff - This time on poor Troopie who has been almost totally ignored for some months.  I removed a few of the decals which were starting to peel and look ugly, and decided to fix a couple of dings - One on the back door where the high lift jack had slipped and pushed in one of the rear doors, and the other on the passenger door where I hate to admit it, but our sharp edged letter box had jumped out at me in the dark a few weeks ago and scratch and
dented all along the door !  I removed the inside panelling so I could get behind the dents to push them out - But found that there was inner metal skin in the areas I needed, so I couldn't push them out.  As a result, I had to use bog and just hope it works - I ground off all the paint back to bare metal so it should be OK.  I masked off the whole area, then lots of sanding, followed by primer, and then I got a couple of spray cans made up of the correct white colour and sprayed that.   All came up pretty well, but I think it will need some clear coat over it to give it a bit of gloss.  Not perfect, but acceptable repairs.

Sanding & oiling shutter

Outside "faux" shutters

We have wooden plantation shutters on the windows in all the bedrooms,
and love them.  We also have 4 "faux shutters" outside 2 of the bedrooms on the walkway to the front door - They do nothing, but are screwed to the wall for effect only, but they add to the ambience.   However the lower half of them catches the afternoon sun, and as a result all the varnish has peeled off and they were looking pretty ugly.  Janet had some stain-come-oil coating she has used before, so I set to work.  Sanding them takes for ever due to the louvres,  and painting them is equally fiddly, but with 3 coats of the elixir, they came up really well - Slightly darker than previously, but this actually matches the front door now, so in fact very happy with the result - Even though it took a week or two to complete !    

 

Front door all treated

Then I turned round and looked at the front door and its two side panels - Which have two more louvre windows - fortunately smaller ones !   And it looked really sad compared to the now pristine panels on the wall - The wood was all very dry.  Ah well - Moving on to the front door, and a new can of stain, I continued my work with sanding, wiping, and painting !  I did all the outside first, and it came up really well - Completely re-juvenated the wood.  I then moved inside to do the same, plus of course the louvres, and once again that was a fiddly job, but once complete, it really brings the front area back to life.  Very happy with the result.

What happened next ?  Would you believe the chlorinator on our salt swimming pool decided to pack it in !!  Once again, an unexpected expense, but with a bit of luck we will be able to sell the old unit for a few bucks, but more importantly, the new unit is "self cleaning", which will hopefully alleviate the incessant weekly acid wash cleaning required on the old cell.  This was a major problem when we went away as it needed constant attention.  So, more expenses, but a definite improvement.

My BBQ is about 8 or 10 years old, but has actually survived quite well - Many of them rust out after a few years.  I always spray mine liberally with cheap cooking oil every time after use, and I think this has saved it.  But the two end "tables" on it had rusted quite badly, and were looking pretty sad, so the next job was to take that all apart, check the volcanic rocks and the burners, and de-rust and paint the end tables.  Everything was quite serviceable once cleaned, and with the tables all painted up smartly, the bbq is ready for another 12 months of service.

Repainted outside lights

While I was working on the bbq, I noticed that 3 of our outside lights, kind of oval "bunker" lights, were looking really sad.  The paint had all peeled, and the alloy underneath was also corroding, and they really didn't look very nice at all.   So I took them all apart, cleaned them up as best I could, repainted them, and they now look nice and smart and will last for a few years more.  There is a rubber gasket that seals them from bad weather, and the rubber is totally perished.  Fortunately they are in a relatively sheltered position, so they will last, but I need to start looking for some kind of rubber so I can make new seals.

Clementine beside Lotus Europa

The Lotus club had a bit of a mid week run last week, out through the country to Canungra for lunch, so Janet and I went along in Clementine and had a very pleasant outing.  I parked next to a Lotus Europa just to remind me of what I used to have - Interesting comparison !!

 

 

 

"New" speedo as received

The speedometer on Clementine is in mph, and it does not have a separate trip meter. While the mph bit doesn't worry me, I find the lack of a trip meter quite disconcerting for some reason, especially when trying to clculate how many miles I have done on the fuel tank. (I am continually doing mental arithmetic while I am driving - mpg, distance to next fill up, etc etc - Helps to pass the time of day !).   These Type 3 VW's did have trip meters in 1971, but my 1970 car just missed out, however I managed to find a second hand one for sale on eBay.  When it arrived, I took it down to my instrument man to check it out, and he cleaned it all up inside and made sure it was

New speedo all cleaned up

working properly.  Once I got it home, I took it apart again and cleaned up the perspex screen, sanded back the rusty rim and repainted it, and polished up the chrome bits, and it came up really well.  I also found a kmh decal that just sticks on the perspex screen, and will help me stay within speed limts - Not that excesses of speed are a major problem in an old VW !  I have also installed an LED light in the speedo, which is a lot brighter than the original old 2w bulb, which made the instruments very hard to read at night.   I will install the "new" speedo as soon as I have a day when I can pull out the driver's seat and cllimb in under the dashboard to install it.

 

Broken spring on garage door

A couple of days ago there was a big "BANG" somewhere in the garage, and I didn't know what it was.  Later, I went out and tried to open the garage door, and it made some horrible noises and the electric motor was really struggling - And I saw one of the two torsion springs that help the door open had completely broken.  These springs are under a LOT of tension, and when they let go, they let go with a big BANG - Which explained the noise.   We had actually replaced the springs in 2006 (we found the original invoice), and when the garage door fixer arrived the next day, he said that 10 or so years was about normal for these springs, and we should just replace them - They only replace them as pairs.   So another unexpected expense this month, but at least we again have a garage door that works, and should be good for another 10-15 years.  I also learned that our actual door is a very good one, and is insulated, so that is a bonus !

Nick & the girls

Son Nick, and Tanja, have this month bought a "bucket" bike in their home near Amsterdam.  With 3 young daughters, and a life that revolves around bicycles in the Netherlands, this is an ideal mode of local transport for them for the next few years, and they had their first outings this week.  The girls seemed to love it.  It does have an electric assist motor too, so the extra weight isn't too hard on the person pedalling !

 

 

 

New rear boot light

Last item this week was again on Clementine - the rear luggage compartment light.  There was no light fitting in there when I got the car - Just the two wires hanging out.  I have had a lot of trouble finding the correct light, eventually finding out they are extremely rare, and can cost upwards of US$75 even for a new copy unit.  However I found one of a Beetle for only $10 that was just a little too wide for the hole in the body work, but I decided to make it fit.  So out came the Dremel and I enlarged the hole by about 1 mm all around, and bingo, the light fitting

Hole for rear boot light

clips in perfectly.  I then had trouble finding a suitable festoon (tubular) bulb of the correcct size and wattage, but eventually found a 15w unit.  But it wouldn't light up !  I tried everything - poring over wiring diagrams, pulling rear lights and fuse boxes apart following colour coded wires - But everything seem to check out.   So why wouldn't the light go on ?  Then I suddenly decided to read the car manual - And there it was - "The vehicle lights must be "on" in order to the rear luggage compartment light to work" !!    Why on earth would they set it up like that ??  Ah well - That is just how it is - And with the car lights on, the rear boot light works perfectly.  I also checked out that the small switched that is activated when the boot lid closes does also work, so turning off the trunk light when the boot is closed.    Another job successfully completed.

Tomatoes galore

Janet had planted lots of vegetables in the garden over the past months, and although they are getting to
the end of their productive life, in the last couple of weeks they have ieally delivered on the tomato front.  In fact, I have so many tomatoes at the moment that I had to gove some to my neighbours - I just can't eat them fast enough before they go off  Or the birds or snails get them !   They are not always the most attractive looking, but their flavour is superb, and on toast in the morning the are excellent.  

 

The piece that fell out

Then it was time to move onto the kitchen bench.  The end of it has been

Clamped in place

slowly become detached over the past several months - For some reason, after all this time since it was built (15 years), this end piece has expanded, and this has pushed it out of position leaving a big gap.  When I put a screw driver in the gap and wiggled it, it fell right out, so it was obviously ready to be repaired.  I sut a small section off the end to make it the

And all finished !

correct size for the gap, borrowed some big clamps off my friend Jamie, and bought some Gorilla wood glue that is supposed to be very strong.   It was very fiddly getting it to sit in the correct position, but once in, and clamped tight, it was fine.  24 hours later, clamps removed, and it was perfect !!  Should last another 15 years !

Full house at Fox Friday !

Meanwhile, down in Hobart Tasmania, Benn & Sarah have been working so hard to get there new Fox Friday bar / restaurant all ready for opening on the 4th November. On that date they just had all the people over who had helped them get the new place together - Tradies and friends.  A kind of soft opening to give them a chance to work out any things that needed amending.  Then on 6th November they opened to the public - and by mid afternoon they were filled to (Covid permitted distancing) capacity, and had a waiting list !  So far so good.  Unfortunately Benn is not feeling too good, so he has decided to stay in the brewery on his own (brewing more beer !) because although he doesn't have the virus, it is not a good time to be sneezing and sniffling in public ! 

Working in bi-fold doors

After washing some woollen jumpers before putting them away for summer (and drying them on the warm bonnet of the car !), I moved on (house repairs wise) to the bi fold screen doors in the outdoor bbq area.  These have wooden louvres like all the rest in the house, but this particular set has never been good right from the day we moved in.  Very damaged by the weather, and the wood has swelled a bit which made them difficult to slide across, and as a result we have never really used them - I just put it in the "too hard" basket !   But last year when friends Dean and Tony stayed in the house while we were away, he had very kindly given them a coating of preservative, which made them look a lot better - They still wouldn't slide easily, but at least they looked better !   So with my recent work on the

Bi-fold doors all finished

remaining louvres around the house, I decided to attack these.  Initially I was going to just give them a coat of oil/stain treatment while they were vertical in place, but the more I looked at the hinges and slider mechanism, the more I felt I could take them apart and fix them.  Long and short of it was that I slowly got them apart and started painting them. and then decided that cleaning up the old rusty hinges was going to take too long with not a lot of visual improvement.  A trip to Bunnings turned up some identical hinges in brass, while I also trimmed of about 5 mm from the bottom of each panel with my saw in order to stop them rubbing on the wooden boards of the verandah, and sticking.  I found that the bottom of

Open louvres on doors

the doors was slightly rotten due to rain and moisture, so I treated them with a coat or two of "hardener" - A liquid that penetrates the fibres of rotten wood then solidifies - It doesn't completely cure the rot, but it certainly slows the process and makes everything last a lot longer.  Plus, with the bottom of the door not being in contact with the floor in future, they should be able to dry out naturally a bit better in future.   After several days of sanding and painting, two coats of the laquer were applied to all 5 panels and their many louvres, the doors were put back together, and they not only looked really smart with their new brass hinges, but also slid open and shut with just one hand pulling them !  Absolutely perfect - In fact, almost too perfect because now they need a clip to keep them open, and maybe even a bolt to keep them closed, as the wind can blow them around too easily !!    Very pleased with the result, especially after living with them in bad condition for so long !

Supposed storm activity !

In the middle of that work,  we had a couple of days of big storms, which were very welcome but didn'tunfortunately give us enough water to top off the swimming pool.  But at least it gave the garden a good watering.

 With all the louvre plantation blinds around the house now renovated, I moved back to a couple of items on the VW.  As I had to take the driver's seat out in order to get under the dash, this project needed a bit of preparation, as I not only wanted to fit my "new" speedometer, but it also happened that the new tachometer i had got from the USA was faulty, and needed replacing.  I also wanted to compare the brightness of the standard bulb gauge lights vs a small LED bulb which I had bought recently.  I wired them both up at the same time on the bench, and once it was dark enough took some pics - And it is clear to see that the LED bulb is a lot brighter.

Old bulb vs LED

With that established, and the old speedo removed (NOT an easy task on the VW !) I was able to also remove the tachometer.  The USA supplier is sending me a new unit foc so I will install that when it arrives - For now I will live with a hole in the dash !   The new speedo is great - Works perfectly, trip meter also working well, and coincidentally the mileage reading is only about 800 miles different, so I am not "cheating" on the mileage much - Especially since I am not sure whether there are 40,000 or 140,000miles on the clock !  

It has been a busy week, but I seem to be making progress !  First service and oil change for Clementine next week, as well as some work on Troopie.

Rest of the pics are here :-  https://photos.app.goo.gl/FJBZFZDwt2fnPmYu9