Underneath the house transformation - part two - planning

OK, so this is part two of the underneath the house transformation. It's the back part of the house, where the lower level ends so the ceiling is ultra high. It's a big, open space, but it has its challenges. 

Firstly, because the house is so, so high, the builders put extra bracing. It's awesome because even in the highest winds, the house is completely solid. But it also means that the space underneath doesn't flow with the cross bracing.

It's still a great area, well, will be a great area, once I've finished doing whatever it is I'm going to do with it. I have a few weeks to plan because Jansen's old cars are still stored there. Josh is also using the space to restore an old guitar, so until both are gone, there's not too much I can do.

Originally, I was just going to fill the space with the tumbled river rock like the rest of the house. But there's not much left after the first stage, so that option might be off the table. So I'm thinking perhaps I might either put some decomposed granite down and compact it, or if I have enough money, I could use the same pavers I used for the side path. The first option would be much more economical, but the second option would look much better.

There's not very much left of the river rock pile. But still enough to cover a decent area.

So I was thinking what I might do is a side path exactly the same as the other side of the house, going from the laundry steps to the end of the house. There should definitely be enough rock for this part of the project and whatever is leftover we can just use to build up the the rock underneath the lower part of the house.

OK…yes I think this is a plan. Now for the execution…

Baby it's cold outside...

It's freezing! I'm wearing a shirt, a fleece, my duck down ski jacket (with the hood on), jeans and ugg boots and I still feel cold.

My kid just came out wearing his underpants.

How??

Underneath the house transformation - part one complete!

The first part of transforming underneath the house is C.O.M.P.L.E.T.E!!! I'm loving it so much and it took a lot less time to do than I thought - only about three weekends. (Click on the photos to see them in all their high resolution amazingness!)

This was how it looked just after we moved in. The lower part of underneath the house is where we hang out the washing and where the dog houses are and it was horrible and dirty and muddy when it rained. It was generally just not a very nice place to hang out.

And THIS was how it looked just a few weeks ago. All the building materials saved from the demolition of the granny flat were being stored under there and everything that was previously stored IN the granny flat was also in there. What a mess! As you could imagine, it drove me crazy. A few weeks on though and I'm glad to report we sold EVERYTHING from the granny flat demo on Gumtree - the windows, doors, weatherboards, the lot. Gave us a few thousand cash and our space and sanity back. Win!

And now, with about 3 tonnes of tumbled river rock, it's an even surface that's clean and stays that way even when it rains. I also got tumbled river rock, as opposed to gravel or blue metal so it's a little kinder on bare feet. I'm sure the doggies appreciate it too.

It's quite a nice, cool, breezy spot under there, especially during summer. I'm thinking with a few chairs and tables, maybe a lounge, it could actually now be a nice place to hang out, read a book. Josh can definitely hang out there with his mates and he's probably more likely to use that punching bag more often.

I'm going to take a couple of weeks off from the next stage of this project which will be the back part of underneath the house. Those three old Landcruisers parked there, which are part of Jansen's restoration project, won't be moved to his new property until early August and they're in the way where they are now. Might think about doing some decorating in the meantime and just enjoying the space.

New console….wrong colour

This is the console table that I've been waiting 12 weeks for! The design is gorgeous and matches the dining table and Josh's bed but…

It's the wrong colour :( .

Everything else that I've bought from this supplier has been "lustrously waxed natural American black walnut" as this was supposed to be.

After sending a squillion photos to them showing a comparison with the previous pieces, they've said that the new look for this range has a walnut stain and not just a wax.  They've been great and are getting one made specifically to match my other pieces but it has to be custom made overseas and may take another 12 weeks to arrive.

Waaaah!

In the meantime though I'm keeping this one where it is. It fits the space perfectly, even if it is the wrong colour.

Plant stand love

Hey! So I got a new plant stand and plant to go in the dining room. I'm so loving it. It's pretty retro, yes? The peace lily in there is gorgeous, but I was really after a devil's ivy for that cascading effect, but haven't been able to find one anywhere.

I'm not 100% sure this is the place for the plant and stand. It kinda gets dwarfed by the large artworks and table, but until I find something bigger this is it.

Underneath the house transformation commences

I've started moving the stones underneath the house and it looks a million times better. The space is just uneven dirt and every time it rains, it pours down in streams, making the surface even more uneven and turning everything into mud for days.  It drives me crazy!

This is only about one eighth of the amount of space underneath the house. Moving the stones is a long, laborious process because the pile is at the back of the house and I have to drag them, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow to the front of the house. And the house is 22 meters long. Sad face.

Behold, my rock pile! This is what 11 cubic meters of tumbled river rock looks like. It actually doesn't look like that much, but I've taken all the stones for the path and all the stones for the small part underneath the house and even after that, the pile looks the same. It's like it magically refills after every wheelbarrow load. And not in a good way.

To put things in perspective, this is all of the underneath of the house. Right to that very last pole riiiiiight down yonder at the end. All in all, about 100 square meters plus the path on the right and the path yet to do from the stairs on the left. The small part I've done at the top end of the house took about 2 hours, so I'd say a number of weekends are going to be required to do this.

Watch this space…literally.

Side path and garden finished…finally!

Before

After

The side garden and path are finally finished (jumpy claps) and if it feels like it's taken forever to complete that's probably because it has!

The before photo was taken just after building was complete and we'd moved in. The walk from the front of the house to the end is over 20 metres and we use this side section often to get underneath the house to hang out the washing.  It's always been something I've wanted to do, but there's always been so many other priorities and only one of me.

I did finally make a start back in November last year, but it's taken 8 months to get it finished. I'm really happy with the result though, the mixture of pavers, stones and gardenias works really well.

July 2013

July 2016

The front side garden looks amazing now that the gardenias have grown. The aggregate path is a godsend - I don't know how many times I rolled my ankle on the uneven ground before.

I'm happy to report that we've pretty much stuck to the plan for this part of the outdoor area. The only difference is the decking at the end of the house, which is just too expensive to do. We'll put stones under there so we'll still be able to put some outdoor furniture there and it won't turn into a muddy mess every time it rains.

There's still the path on the other side, but one thing at a time. I'm just celebrating the completion of this phase for the moment.