My labouring days

Yesterday was the Labour Day public holiday in New Zealand. As usual, I didn’t do anything special on the day, apart from labouring on my work on the house. I did not, however, do any actual gardening this weekend, like so many other Kiwis do on Labour Weekend. This is a sort of review of what I’ve been up to, and what I wasn’t up to, at this time of year.

Technically, I did do some work on the gardens, loosely defined, all of which was directly related to taming the wild lands that is my backyard. It began a week ago today when I mowed the back lawn—or, more accurately, I started mowing it. I used the line trimmer first to tame all the boundaries, including the infamous bank along the side of my yard, which is something I haven’t done since early winter (around two months, in other words).

I then started mowing the itself, but only got about two-thirds through before the battery died, something that hasn’t happened in a very, very long time. The issue is that it had been around three and a half weeks since I last mowed, with extended rainy spells delaying me. Unfortunately, that rain coincided with somewhat warmer temperatures than is normal at this time of year, meaning everything grew fast and thick. It also meant that it was moist down near the soil level, and that heavy glugginess is what drained the battery.

I went back inside and put the battery down to cool (it won’t charge right after heavy use because it’s too hot and the charger has censors to prevent overheating—and the “thermal runaway” that can cause the battery to explode). Then, I grabbed a broom and swept the cemented areas out there (the patio, and outside the side door). The mower battery didn’t finish recharging until around 5pm, and I was over it by then.

The next day, I finished the mowing. Monday’s mowing took around 23 minutes, and Tuesday needed another 13 minutes (my watch tracked it for me). To put this into some context, it normally takes me 20-odd minutes and around half a battery charge to do the entire back lawn.

We’re now at the point of the year when I really ought to be mowing the back lawn every week, not every other week as I had been doing. I looked at the lawn late this afternoon and saw it could use another mow already. Actually, the photo up top shows weeds blooming in my lawn on Saturday—and that was just the biggest (and, I’d argue, the prettiest…) display in the lawn: The first small blooms reappeared a few days earlier.

However, I’d originally planned to plant some things for summer (like tomatoes ), and that meant a I’d have to join the throngs at the home centre—except I didn’t. I reviewed my budget and decided to put it off a few more days.

A much bigger barrier was that some rainy weather returned. I still need to move the Vegepod to its new home, and that means putting some pavers into the lawn to keep the wheels from sinking into the ground. The weather kept me from working on that, but I at least made the paper template that will make it faster and easier for me to place the pavers—when the weather permits, of course.

Actually, part of the reason I pushed through the mowing was that I needed to do that before I moved the Vegepod. Just as the weather delayed the mowing, it then again delayed me working on the Vegepod, too. This week, maybe? I live in hope.

Before last week, I was working slowly on Spring Cleaning inside the house, with tidying, scrubbing, and also lots vacuuming—so thorough that it required several battery recharges. As I worked through all my recent projects inside the house, I realised that all of them—indeed, all my many projects that are in any way related to my house—will take as long as they take. Nearly everything I’ve done, especially over the past few months, has taken me longer to complete than I’d anticipated. I now expect that to be true.

Nevertheless, I have a new goal: I want to complete my “Operation Reinvent My House” (mega?) project by the end of the year. That project is a refresh and reorganising of the inside of my house (not including the Garage of No Return, but it does include the patio, which is why I need the Vegepod moved). Why the end of the year? Well, mostly just because I don’t want to extend this work into yet another year: I want it to be over. Well, “over” until down the road I either decide to redecorate again, move somewhere else, or whatever. I still hope to get the garage sorted by then, too (a birthday present for myself?), but, yeah, first things first.

So, that’s what I’ve been up to in recent weeks. What’s new with you?

Update – October 28, 2026: Today was a sunny day, so I mowed the back lawn, and it did, in fact, need it. In fact, it was long enough in patches that I could hear the mower briefly labour a bit. However, mowing the whole lawn took me a more typical 19:30 and I ended up with a similarly typical roughly half of the battery's charge remaining. At the moment, next week is looking to be rainy, apart from Monday. Yay.

September ends well

Today’s the last day of September 2026, and it was a good one—and this is a much more positive month’s end than the end of July was. This is because I accomplished what I wanted—starting back in July and thought I’d have finished in August, but still: I’ll take the win.

Today I finished the decluttering work in the living area (lounge/kitchen/dining), with a few concessions to reality, which I’ll get to. The goal, though, was to clear out all the excess stuff so the living area is neat and tidy. However, I decided to install the guest room wardrobe system first, and the reason was that the guest room was already neat and tidy, and so, the closest to being done. When I began working in the living area, sorting magazines was probably the biggest project in that room, and it wasn’t all that big—none of them were. I didn’t feel well for several days last week (maybe a cold, but probably allergies: It’s still pine pollen season), and that delayed me a bit.

I also added in a bit of work: I cleared part of the kitchen, too. The kitchen is U-shaped, with a long peninsula (with the sink in it) separating the kitchen from the living area. It was the peninsula that I focused on, mainly because it had become cluttered over the past few weeks while I was busy with other projects.

This is where the concessions to reality come into it. I haven’t yet cleared the benchtop on the other side of the kitchen, and for a very specific reason: The shelves I installed in my kitchen are above that area, and they’re filthy (I think I might not have cleaned the shelves in Spring of last year). Cleaning the shelves means taking everything off each shelf, cleaning the stuff, and then the shelf itself, and then putting all the stuff back on the shelves. This will inevitably mean that the kitchen bench beneath the shelves will get dirty (well, dirtier…). I realised it made more sense to clean the shelves and then clean the final benchtop underneath them. Why do the job twice?

One other concession is that I have a small end table that has parts for outside projects, but it’s still pretty unpleasant outside most days, and so, the projects are still on the waiting list. Sure, I could put it all away and then get it back out again when I’m ready to do the projects, but yeah, that’s not happening.

Over the next few days, including this weekend, I plan to do my Spring Cleaning chores starting with those shelves in the kitchen, but also including pulling furniture out of their normal spots so I can vacuum underneath them (I’ve actually already started doing that, so it should be completed tomorrow or Friday).

By next week, the living area will be tidy and Spring Cleaned, so the next task will be clearing my bedroom, and that will be a challenge: The stuff in my bedroom that doesn’t belong is in there mostly because it should in my office—which is already overflowing with stuff. This means that, at the moment, I’m not sure what to do with some of that stuff—in fact, clearing stuff will probably be the most time-consuming part of the whole project.

Once all that’s done, the plan is still to turn my attention to my office. I have absolutely NO idea how that’s going to go, but I’m motived to finish it because once the house is orderly, then I can finally begin the “Operation Re-invent My House”, which is about redecorating and refreshing my house. On the plus side, the weather will be improving and warming in the coming weeks, and that’ll be handy if I decide to paint, because I can leave the windows open.

I haven’t talked about The Garage Of No Return, but it was supposed to be after I finished my office, and before it gets too hot in there. Honestly, I’m no longer sure I’ll make that deadline after all the delays leading to today. The same goes for outside, too, of course, but that work has always been dependent on good weather, and that’s still true, of course. I’ll fit it in where I can.

My new plan (hope?) is to finish all this before the end of the year. That means up to around three months of work, some of which will be physically demanding. I honestly don’t know how all of this will go, but it’ll make for things to talk about here, I suppose. Onward.

Progress, neverthless

Four weeks ago, I finished the guest room wardobe project. That project should’ve taken me less than a week, but instead it took four weeks to complete, due to an unfortunate bad reaction to a prescription. Finishing that project meant the inevitable: Moving on to the next project—and I did.

Back in July, I talked about my plan for (finally…) finishing the inside of my house. I hadn’t even yet begun when I changed it, after I decided to start with the guest room, because it was closest to being finished. The next step in my revised plan was to focus on decluttering the living area (excluding the kitchen, which is its own project).

In the weeks since I finished the wardrobe project, my focus has been decluttering, and the photo above is related to that. Over the past few years I’d put magazines—read or not—on the shelf of a trolley I use as side table. To be fair, the pile wasn’t necessarily all that unsightly, but it was to me, and I thought it’d be a (relatively) easy win—and it actually basically was easy, much to my surprise.

The first thing I did was pull out duplicates (there were a couple…), and one-off copies of magazines (ones I bought to “try out”). I put them all in a pile and, ultimately in the recycling bin, which is emptied every other week. I realised right away that the magazines collectively weigh a LOT, and there’s a weight limit for how much can be in the bin, so that meant it would take me several weeks to get rid of all the rejects.

My next goal was to gather together all the magazines I wanted to keep, because they were all over the house, and arrange them in chronological order. Then I’d put them in the two cubes I set aside for them: Whatever fits stays, and what doesn’t would be recycled. This goes back to something I began at our house on Auckland’s North Shore (the one before our last house together).

I had a set of shelves in our guest room wardrobe (before I installed a shelving system in that one…), and I had a simple rule: “One in, one out.” Every time I put a new magazine on the shelf, the oldest would go into the recycling bin. I should probably add that, yes, I do actually look at older magazines from time to time (the magazines I was keeping are a title that I’ve been buying for more than 20 years).

Here in Hamilton, I put the magazines in two bottom cubes of the nine cube shelves in my living area, shelves that are mainly a mix of cookbooks, some decor, photos, that sort of thing. I realised that I liked the colourful spines of the magazines all lined up (as in the photo up top), and I had nothing else to go in those two cubes, so here I am (a side note: I have three cubes of cookbooks, too, and I want to purge some of them, too, but if I ever need another cube, I can just purge more magazines).

I sorted the magazines for those two cubes between August 31 and September 5, and this past Friday, September 11, a large pile of magazines were emptied from the recycling bin. The last lot is already in the bin, waiting for the next collection in two weeks. So, roughly two weeks after I began it, that project is basically done, though I expect I’ll keep refining the stash. I should add that I didn’t work on the project every day, and there was only one one day of sorting that was even remotely intense—though perhaps that was because I was trying to read the issue’s date in small type, often in white against a pastel colour. My increasingly elderly eyes were not happy.

Also, in the time since the wardrobe project ended, I went through five storage boxes that used to be in the guest room wardrobe. They’re a size that could hold a couple reams or so of office paper, but I’d put some of my random clothing items in them—two houses ago. I washed everything, tried it all on, and put some stuff aside to donate, and a few items I put with the clothes I actually wear. The boxes themselves are back on the top shelf of the guest room wardrobe—and they’re all empty. I think I’ll eventually use them in my office. Maybe.

So, another aspect of my house-wide decluttering and reorganising project is finished. I’m not even close to being finished with the inside of the house, but everything I finish brings me closer to that point. This magazine project is clearly very small, but I can see the difference doing it made, and while small, it’s progress, nevertheless. Onward.

Resetting the house, part one

This photo might not look significant, but what it represents is huge: Four large rubbish bags, one ordinary one, a shopping bag, and a box, all filled with stuff that I was donating. This is an ongoing story.

In late February, I started going through clothes and continued off and on until last week (I kept realising there were more drawers or boxes to sort through). It’s a mix of stuff that was mine, Nigel’s, and Nigel’s partner before me, Gary (who died a couple years before Nigel and I became a couple). On Friday, as my final sorting before the donation, I gathered all the bedding I don’t want or need anymore, mostly duvet cover sets and some sheet sets for a bed I no longer have.

Friday evening, one of the family and I finished sorting and folding the clothes, and then Saturday morning another family member packed it all up and took it to the op shop (aka charity shop or thrift store). The photo is of the stuff’s last stop before leaving the house.

Getting rid of the clothes, etc., wasn’t even remotely emotionally challenging for me, though I did keep three things of Nigel’s for purely sentimental reasons (two shirts and a jacket). However, most things had memories or stories attached to them, and remembering them can actually be more tiring than the sorting itself—tiring, but not even remotely painful.

I still have a lot more stuff in the house to go through, like, for example, Nigel and I had lots of stuff for big family get-togethers, and I don’t need all of it anymore. That’ll be a big job, too, but it’ll free up a lot of space for the stuff I DO need or want.

Then, of course, there’s still the garage to declutter/clear out, but I don’t actually care about that: My top priority is to free the house itself of excess stuff, and then take on the garage. The reason is simple: I don’t go into the garage often, but I’m inside my house every day (obviously…) and I want it to be my sanctuary. First things first, in other words.

I first mentioned this decluttering in a post back in April, when I described as a project “neither planned nor even intended”. Technically, it’s actually a “sub-project” because it’s really one part of my “Operation Re-invent My House” project—or maybe “mega project” is more accurate? Anyway, this particular part was done in small bits, mainly because I kept sorting through more stuff until I decided to stop for the time being simply because I wanted to get the massive piles of stuff I’d set aside to donate out of the house. There will definitely be a lot more.

So, yesterday what felt to me like a massive amount of stuff left my house, and that was just the beginning. Suddenly this long and difficult journey I’ve been on felt a little bit shorter and easier, and, yet again, the family helped me get there. Now, on to the next goal! It feels a bit more achievable now.

A project neither planned nor intended

I’ve had lost of projects over the years, most of which I’ve at least mentioned, but I never could’ve imagined that one of my biggest-ever would be one that I neither planned nor even intended. And yet, this project can change so much.

Last month, I started getting things together to donate to op shops (aka charity shops or thrift stores). It began because I’d never gotten around to getting rid of Nigel’s suits—absolutely no reason, I just never did. But then I started looking for what I could add to the donate pile. I started with shirts that had been Nigel’s, but that I kept to wear. All of them fit, but I decided I didn’t like them anymore, or else I realised the sleeves were too shot for me. That was just the start.

I started looking through my own shirts—ones that had always been mine—and I did that several times, always finding more shirts to add to the donate pile every time I looked. Then I found shorts, pants—all sorts of things. I knew I wasn’t done, but the donate piles were growing higher.

Nigel had put some stuff aside in those plastic zipper bags that you suck the air out of with a vacuum cleaner. Some of the stuff was his, and some was from his partner beofre me, Gary. Nigel wasn’t particularly sentimental about things, but those things he kept meant they were meaningful to him, and I wanted do right by him.

The problem was that after so many years in those bags, the stuff smelled bad. The culprit was the perfume in the laundry powder: Some scents deteriorate over time, and that’s what happened to those items. So, I spent a couple weeks washing, re-washing, and then giving them a special pre-soak before washing them yet again, and they finally stopped smelling bad/odd.

There was one more bag of Nigel’s stuff, things that no longer fit him, but that he didn’t what to get rid of, and that included t-shirts from our last trip to the USA. I went through an expedited process to wash them (I’d learned…), and, after trying them on, I kept most of them. One from our last trip to New York City was a bit too small, so I made that a t-shirt I wear to sleep in, and added one of my too-small sleeping t-shirts to the donate pile.

I then remembered that sometime in my first year in this house I’d put under-bed storage bins under the guest bed. I pulled them out—and it took a rake to pull them close enough for me to grab. Some of it was an instant add to the donate pile, but there were some of my shorts that I didn’t know were there (but wondered what happened to them…), plus a couple of Nigel’s that are perfect for my walking workouts. Even so, a lot ended up in the donate pile.

I know that if I go through my wardrobe yet agin, I’ll still find more things to donate, and this is a good thing, of course, so I’m going to do exactly that. However, there’s SO much more! I have—what’s the word?—“homeware”? “Decor”? Basically, decorative things that I don’t want or, in some cases, even like. There’s so much of that sort of stuff.

I also have excess bedding (chiefly duvet sets) and good quality towels that I can donate—once I go through them. In fact, I found one duvet set recently when I went through the blanket box at the foot of bed what I was working on the ill-fated steps for Leo.

And that’s where I’m at right now: Lots of stuff to pack up to donate, and more to go through. That’s why this will ultimately end up being my biggest-ever project, even though I neither planned nor even intended to start it. Yes, but I’ll feel so much lighter once it’s done!

Keeping the bugs outside

Today the flyscreens (aka “window screens”) were installed at my house. It took a couple months for that to happen, but they’re better than I expected. This is also the final of the home improvement projects I hired others to do. It’s been a long journey.

Back in October, I went to the Waikato Home and Garden Show with my cousin-in-law, and I signed up for quotes on patio covers, ducted air conditioning, and fly screens. The quotes were all in by mid-month, apart from the screens because I decided on a different kind of screen than was originally quoted, and they had to re-measure the affected windows. That happened in early December.

What I opted for were simple screens that attach with magnetic tape. Because all the joinery (windows and window and door frames) is aluminium, they put magnetic tape of one pole onto the window frame, and the other pole is attached to the screen. My windows are all awning-style, hinged at the top and opened with latch-handles at the bottom. When the window’s closed, it pushes the bottom of the screen forward, then when the window is closed, the screen snaps closed against the magnet tape on the window frame (see the photo up top).

I originally wanted a more or less conventional type with an aluminium frame, but it’s hinged at the top. Unfortunately, I couldn’t have those because the blinds I had installed when I shifted into the house didn’t leave enough room. It took me around a month to decide what I wanted to do, basically, if I couldn’t have what I wanted, did I want what I could have?

What motivated me to proceed was nature: I always open the en suite window after my shower (year round) to help the extractor fan remove the moisture better/faster, and I leave it open for around 15-20 minutes. Two different times this past Spring, a big, ugly outdoors cockroach crawled in through that open window. Both of course exited the house as ex-cockroaches. That horror was enough to convinced me to get the screens I could have.

I ordered nine screens: One for the en suite, three for the main bedroom, one each for the other two bedrooms, one for a little window in the living area, along with one for the window in each set of stacker doors (and because they’re stacker doors, this was the only screen option possible).

I chose not to put them in the two front windows because Leo might go through them to try to get at a passing cat or dog, and, anyway, I’ve never opened those windows, and can’t image that I ever would. I also didn’t get screens for the two windows in the garage (I’ve never opened them, either), nor for the toilet (room, not throne) or main bathroom, mainly because of cost.

The guy arrived a little after 9am (ugh) this morning, and he was finished a couple hours later. I kept Leo close to me, on lead, and he eventually settled, though he wasn’t too pleased about it—apart from when I slipped him a little treat. Twice.

So, that’s that: The last project I hired people to do is now finished. The first to be completed were window blinds for the toilet (room not throne), bathroom, and en suite. Then it was the ducted air conditioning (with an add-on project to remove the broken split unit from the living area, along with its compressor on the patio). Next was the roof over my patio (installed on my birthday, no less), and today the screens.

I’ll probably have more things done, but the only one I’m planning at the moment is having the range hood/extractor fan raised because it’s far too low—though, technically, it’s in the common range of height above the cooktop. I’ve my head on the thing many times, and I can’t see any pots on the rear elements unless I duck—and probably hit my head. I’ll need to replace the backsplash, too, but I’d thought about doing that, anyway, because the builder installed grouted tile, which is hard to get/keep clean.

I should add that I’m aware that there is an ideal height for hoods so that they can work efficiently, but this thing had a very powerful fan motor, so much so that when it’s running I feel like a guy at the airport loading luggage onto a jet—only a slight exaggeration. Actually, when I began talking about this above, I accidentally typed “rage hood”, which is a pretty fair name for it, really.

Mainly, though, the projects will now be all mine. I still have my outdoor work to do, delayed by all the heat and rain. The rain will come and go, but the heat will ease in a few weeks—which also means I’ll be able to open the windows and use all the new screens, and not just the en suite one.

Inside the house it’s mostly about redecorating, but I’m also prioritising decluttering/downsizing. Then I’ll do whatever decorating, organising, etc. that each room needs, including putting in shelving systems in each wardrobe (this will the third house I’ve done that, actually). The garage will be last, and in mid-autumn or so, after the temps are cooler, but before it gets too cold. Then, if the fates allow, my entire house will be done. Finally.

Whatever happens—or doesn’t—I’ll document every part of it. And I thought that getting all those projects I hired people to do had been a long journey…

Best laid plans. Again.

Not for the first time, my best laid plans have gone awry. I made plans, changed them, changed them again, and then ran into supply problems. And so, here I am.

Last Sunday, I talked about a project in by backyard to make a spot to put my Vegepod raised planter. I said that I decided to use grass instead of gravel, but that didn’t last. I changed my mind.

I had two issues. First, it would be at least a couple weeks before I could put the Vegepod on it, meaning I’d have to move it around a lot to keep it from sinking into the ground. Then, I looked at one of the company’s brochures and saw a photo of the grass option in use—and I hated it. It looked like an old-fashioned bumpy chenille bedspread, which would be okay for a parking area, but this would be roughly one square metre out of the entire lawn, and I felt it would look weird. Also, I realised that have to move it every time I mowed the back lawn would be a pain, and when I eventually hire mowers to do the back lawn, they probably wouldn’t move the Vegepod out of the way. None of that was ideal.

So, I went back to using gravel, and I studied up on what materials I needed to get, and today I finally had a chance to go to Bunnings, which has a much better selection of base course and gravel—except this time they didn’t. Base course, and sand they had, but they didn’t have gravel of the right size—the stones were wither too small or too big.

I’m going to have to source gravel, probably from a landscaping supply company, so that whole project is back on pause. What I think I’m likely to do is source enough gravel to use at the two ends of the patio, too (so it all matches). It shouldn’t take long to find the gravel, but I don’t want to have to store what I’ll need for the patio project, and I can really install that until the patio roof cover. Still, I may figure out a way if the patio cover is delayed.

There was one other development: I thought I’d made a mistake in calculating what I needed. I knew the Vegepod is one square metre, but a couple days after my Sunday post I realised that the two black plastic panels I bought were less one square metre, and because of the way they link to each other, I’d have to buy two more.

But then I thought, “hang on a minute…” and I grabbed a tape measure and went out to measure the stand it’s on, and that is 780mm by 780mm, which is, of course, smaller than one square metre, and it would fit on the two black plastic thingees I have (the Vegepod itself tapers down to its stand). Crisis averted! But I came to close to buying two more black thingees I didn’t need.

It’s not uncommon for me to revise plans for projects several times before I do them, and I’m also delayed by trying to figure out how to do one or parts of a project. However, this particular project has had more than its share of disruptions in a short period.

This isn’t a big deal. I have lots of other projects to work on, and most of them will be much easier.

Projectile living

The weather has been unfortunate this summer. Because of that, I’ve talked twice recently about how my outside projects were delayed. That weather is now on its summer break, and so, I’m not” We’re supposed to have days of sunny weather this week, so that (should) mean my projects will be back on track.

Tomorrow will the day most New Zealanders return to work after the two-week holiday period/ So, tomorrow is the first day I could recieve a call to schedule the installation of the roof over the patio. I’m not expecting that, but wouldn’t be surprised, either, but I’m not really expecting the installation until mid-January.

The only thing that really matters about the installation is that I have things that I must do before that, namely, I have to clear the stuff off the patio, and even a couple days notice will be enough for that. However, there’s one related project that will take extra time Preparing the new/old spot for the Vegepod raised garden. But I now what I’m going to do.

A little more than three years ago, I moved the Vegepod onto the patio because it was sinking into the grass. Sinking aside, that was a good spot: It’s warm, gets full afternoon sun, and as late as possible in summer, and it’s conveniently close to the patio doors so I can collect fresh herbs or whatever. Yeah, but that sinking, though.

My first plan was to put down pavers, something I’ve never done, but I was keen to have a go. Somewhere along the thinking process, I suddenly remembered what I’d planned to do at one point to create a place to store my rubbish and recycling wheelie bins, and that’s what I settled on doing under the Vegepod.

I’ll use a product called “SurePave” by a company called Strol (see the photo at right—and this is NOT an ad—I bought all my supplies at normal retail prices). The product is manufactured in Thames (not far from where Nigel and I lived 20 years ago), and is made of recycled plastic and is also recylable. It’s used to create a stable suirface to walk on or, in the case of the “heavy duty” version I picked, park on. The voids in the “honeycomb” can be filled with gravel or dirt with grass growing in the voids (there are several ways of doing that, and it’s sometimes called “grass paving” because when it blends in with lawns, but it’s also dytong enough to park on.

I was originally going to fill the voids with gravel, but just today I decided to use grass instead. That’s because I’m going to use gravel at the ends of the patio, and I felt that the grass paving under the Vegepod would be more subtle. The downside is that I'll have to pull the Vegepod off to mow underneath it, just as I did when it lived there before.

The reason I decided on the SurePave system was because it’s permeable—water can soak into the ground. If I’d gone with pavers, as I originally planned, it would’ve been impermeable and water would have to run onto the lawn to soak in—somewhere. With more rain and storms due to climate change, it made sense to me that I should make it easy for rain water to soak into the ground like normal.

Work on the new parking spot for the Vegepod starts this week, but I doubt it’ll be ready until after the patio roof is installed, because the grass will need time to grow before I park it there. As long as I move the Vegepod around until the new spot is ready, it should be fine, with no sinking into the ground. If all else fails, I can park it on the patio if (when?) we get another extended rainy period.

And that’s the first project to get ready for the patio renovation project. I’ll have photos to share, of course, but right now I’m just glad the weather is finally cooperating.

The (not yet) great outdoors

There are only two things about my house that annoy me: The inside and the outside. I’m kidding, yes, but maybe only a bit? There are plenty of things I’ve changed about the place, and there are more changes to come, not all of them soon. It’s a process.

I’ve been having a lot of things done to the inside of the house, and will soon begin some decorating, all of which is part of my “Operation Re-invent My House”. Now that the work done by others is almost over, I’m giving the outside some attention.

The outside of my house has long been an ongoing source of annoyance, embarrassment, and frustration, three things in particular: The Damn Raingarden™, the lawns, and, especially, the bank along the side of the rear part of the property. I hate the Damn Raingarden™ mainly because it’s so damn difficult to maintain, but also because it’s so damn ugly. I hate the lawns because they were never done properly in the first place. I hate the bank because it, too, is damn hard to maintain. All of these are things would be expensive to change into better and more appropriate solutions, but the larger problem is that I’ve had no vision for what I wanted it all to look like—but now I at least have concepts of a plan.

I realised the other day that once the patio cover is installed, it’ll change the look of the entire back part of the property, so I think it may give me a better idea of what I want it to look like, and that’s when I’ll bring in contractors to do the work. However, there are things that need to be done more immediately, and those are things I’ll (probably?) take on myself.

First, I need to weed the bank (yet again, again…), especially around the patio which I haven’t given any attention to in a couple years. Since I never used the patio space, it felt pointless to spend my time and limited energy keeping the patio area tidy. Now that I’ll soon be using that space, I want it tidy—and yes, I’m well aware that this is a big job precisely because I didn’t keep up with the weeding. Moving on…

Related to that, I need to clear out all the weeds on the bank, a big project I first worked on back in 2022, though I never mentioned it here at the time (partial before and after photos form 2022 are up top). Since then, my “maintenance” has mainly been whacking the weeds back down with the line trimmer, and in between, I tried to figure out better solutions for the entire bank. I still don’t have a plan for that, but in the meantime I’m going to clear out the weeds, then remove the old bark and weed mat (which has deteriorated). I’ll lay new weed mat and spread bark over that—essentially restoring it to what it was like when I moved in, and for the first year or two afterward. The bark started sliding down the bank not long after I moved in, especially after heavy rain, and that kept exposing the weed mat, and then the sun sped up its deterioration—over and over.

Back in 2022, the weeding was entirely manual work because the weed mat wasn’t yet totally perished, but now that it’s finished its run, I can use more tools na dbe a bit more aggressive using them. This should mean it’ll be much easier than it was three years ago—I hope, perhaps foolishly

I also need to move the Vegepod to its new/old position, something I’m pretty sure I’m going to do myself simply because I want to: I’ve never laid any pavers, and this is my chance—quite possibly my last chance—to give it a go. Those are the things on my plan right now.

Longer term, I may have the lawns removed and re-seeded with actual topsoil underneath. I may also have some sort of terracing done along the bank, mostly to stop that sliding action. I’ll also seek advice on what to do out front—especially the best way make the Damn Raingarden™ look not so damn ugly.

Finally, I have a much bigger issue to deal with: I need to explore solutions for the exterior of the house itself. When the house was painted, the workers didn’t seal or prime the bricks, they just painted them (which suggests to me that the painting was done by labourers, not painting contractors). The colour of the bricks started staining the white paint with blotches sometime in the second year after I moved in, slowly at first, but now it’s pretty much all over the house (the builder’s warranty was one year).

To fix that, I could have the house re-painted, or I could explore plastering over the brick. However, either option would be before any work on the lawns or gardens, and that means that all of that is unlikely to be done for at least a year. This underscores why I’m going to restore the bank to what it was at the beginning: I want it to look nice until I have a permanent and cohesive solution.

The stuff I’m going to do myself will be a lot of work, absolutely, but it’s work I’ve done before (except for the pavers under the Vegepod, of course). The weather will probably interfere with all these plans, but there will be lots of inside work for me to do on the rainy days.

And, maybe I’ll finally get the house and gardens closer to being what I’ve wanted all along. Yep, it’s definitely a process.

So, what happens now?

The various changes to my house continue, though at the moment they’re mostly what I’m having others do. The next phase will be the decorating that I’ll do, but I’m probably at least a week away from the first phase of that. The important thing is that things are still moving forward.

Last week, when I talked about the new air conditioning, I said:

…the company that installed the new [air conditioning] system will return to remove the broken living area air conditioner (which isn’t needed anymore, anyway) and they’ll convert the power shut-off switch for the outdoor unit (which is currently sitting on the patio) into an exterior power point…

That work will be done a week from today, which is awesome. I’ll eventually have the unit in my bedroom removed, too, but I’m leaving it there for now until I’m 100% certain that the new system is working perfectly (which so far it is).

Last week I also accepted the quote for fly screens (aka window screens), though they need to come back and re-measure my bedroom windows, something they’re going to do Thursday morning. I don’t yet know when the actual screens will be installed, but the process, at least, is underway.

The only one of the projects that isn’t yet in process is the patio cover —ironically, perhaps, because that was the first quote I accepted. Still, I knew it probably wouldn’t be installed until January, so if it happens in December, that’ll be a bonus, but if it doesn’t, it wouldn’t be unexpected.

My part of Operation Re-Invent My House is, of course, redecoration. The first step is essentially a massive cleaning job as I rearrange the living space. At the same time, however, I have to keep my eye on finishing the rest of the house, too. Achieving all that by my birthday is a challenging goal, and I’m relaxed about whether everything else is achieved: I can only do what I can do. After all, some of my ideas are still “in formation”.

The reality is that this is a process, not a “perfect” plan. But in that reality lays all the excitement. Follow along to see where this all leads. I don’t actually know everything about what happens now, either.

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 422 is now available

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 422, “Cool heat”, is now available from the podcast website. There, you can listen, download or subscribe to the podcast episode, along with any other episode. The site doesn't currently use “https”, so you may need to tell your browser to let you through, anyway.

The five most recent episodes of the podcast are listed on the sidebar on the right side of this blog.

Cool man

My house is so cool! Literally, not esthetically. I’m still working on the esthetic part, a project all its own that will start soon. But for now, the important thing is that the temperature in my house is pleasant.

Last week, the installer stopped by and dropped off the parts for the system, specifically the outside unit and the unit that would be installed in the attic. We also went over where the various vents should go. As they were about to leave, I asked what time they’d be starting the installation. “We’ll be here at 8am”, he said.

8am?! I don’t do anything at 8am, even though I’m often up by then—yeah, “up”, but still making my way through my coffee. I knew that would be rough.

I needed to move stuff out of their way, such as, whatever was under the spot the vents would go, but also including moving stuff from in front of the circuit breaker panel. The latter just made it hard to stand close to the panel, which would be necessary for him to install the circuit for the new air conditioner (I could easily reach it when I needed to reset one, but, then, I have long arms…).

I couldn’t move the stuff early because I’d be tripping over it. So, I did the moving this past Tuesday, mostly in the evening. I went to bed, a little later than I wanted, and slept terribly, something that happens to me every time I need to do something earlier than I’d like in the morning (like a doctor appointment, for example). I think it’s partly that I’m afraid I’ll oversleep, even though I set an alarm to wake me up, but then a legitimate reason to panic popped into my head: I’d completely forgotten to clear out the under-the-vent spaces in my office and the guest room. Oops.

So, I got up at 6:30, after maybe five hours of sleep, and moved all the stuff I needed to, becoming quite overheated (due to no air conditioning in either of those rooms—or the living area, after that heat pump blew up). Once they arrived, Leo and I retreated to our bedroom and its functioning air conditioner, and I eventually cooled off.

They completed the installation of the equipment and were ready to start installing the vents, starting in the main bedroom, so Leo and I moved to the (still uncooled) living area. And here the first problem popped up: The back of the house, which includes all the bedrooms, has a lower roof, and so, less attic space, than over the living area. So, they had to move the location of the vent.

They also installed the vent in my office, and opened up the ceiling in the living for one of the two return vents, exactly where we’d talked about going. Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken the size of their ladder into account, and hadn’t cleared enough space in the living area, so they moved some stuff around. I had a look around after they left and saw they’d put the vent in my office in a different place than we’d discussed, and at a point where the roof was higher, and so, easier to install im, which is probably why they did that. I really don’t care where they put it, however, I’d cleared space under the spot we’d originally discussed on the other side of the room—and the spot I moved all the stuff too was directly under where the vent was actually installed. I’d have moved it for them if they’d said something, but, in the end, I think they just worked around it.

That was it for Day 1, and they were back around 8am the following morning for Day 2 (have I mentioned what an ungodly hour that is? I needed my alarm to wake me, which seldom happens). They installed the guest room vent, and the ones in the living area, and finally, the second air return vent—and there was another problem due to the roof structure: It had to be much closer to the other vent than was planned, though it’s still in the hallway, and there’s a door between the living area and the door, so it’s not like they’re right next to each other. The guy also installed the wired controller, and the sensor in the return vent so the system knows what the temperature is.

When they were all done, he showed me how to work the system, and showed me the vents in the living area. Before they began, I told them I didn’t care where they put them—they were the experts in where the best spot is, after all—but the think only I asked was that they be centred in the space and in a direct line, because if they weren’t, I’d notice it every time I looked up from my chair while watching TV. He told me they’d used their laser level to make sure they were aligned (and they definitely are), which I thought was both funny and kind of sweet, for lack of a better word.

That afternoon, after they’d left, I walked through all the rooms, and I noticed that the guest room, my office, and even the hallway felt cool, something that’s never happened in warm weather before. Today was the first full day with the system running, and the entire house felt basically the same temperature, and that’s exactly what I was trying to achieve by installing a whole-house ducted system.

He suggested that I do something I’ve done for years, that is, close the curtains over the stacker doors once the sun hits them in the afternoon. I did that because it keeps the heat out, and that will now help the new system, especially since one of the temperature sensors is on the living area. However, I wanted to test it a bit and left the blinds open in the guest room, and even with the hot afternoon sun streaming through the window, the room still felt cool, though less so near the window, as could be expected.

I think this situation will be helped once the patio cover is installed because the roof will block 99% of UV, which makes the sun feel hot (this does nothing about air temperature, of course). So, it’s possible I won’t need to close the drapes every single sunny day in summer, but I won’t know for sure until the cover is installed.

Finally, the company that installed the new system will return to remove the broken living area air conditioner (which isn’t needed anymore, anyway) and they’ll convert the power shut-off switch for the outdoor unit (which is currently sitting on the patio) into an exterior power point, something that will be handy when I use the patio (there are no outdoor power points anywhere on the house right now), which will be on a RCD circuit, of course. They’ll also take the broken unit away to dispose of properly. I'll have the one in my bedroom removed later on (there's no rush to do that).

Speaking of changes, the window blinds I had installed recently are also working exactly as I wanted, which is good, too. So, so far, everything has gone well, and delivered exactly what I wanted.

This means that my next step will be working on the interior of the house, and that’s all on me. However, the house is now cool and that’ll make the work so much easier—or even possible, to be honest.

Onward.

Still more project news

Last week, I gave an update on the various projects I’m having others do for me. There are now some updates to the updates

The only one related to a big project is about the ducted air conditioning—and I should reiterate that in New Zealand, “air conditioning” refers to heating and cooling, usually heat pump units of some kind. In my case, it’s more analogous to what Americans call an HVAC system, though it’s still a heat pump system.

The update is that the company is sending someone next week to check out the air conditioner in the living area to see if it can be repaired (and, if so, how much…). He’s also going to quote on removing the existing heat pumps (usually called “high wall” systems because the inside unit is mounted high on the wall). It seems silly to leave them in place when they’re no longer needed, but I’ve heard that it’s expensive to recharge a used system with refrigerant. So, they may be no more than formerly expensive scrap metal. Stay tuned.

The same guy will answer my questions about the installation of the ducted system, like where the vents will go, and also what I need to clear so that their job will be as easy as possible. The ducted system will be installed November 19 and 20—the week after next. The temperatures are already rising, and it gets quite uncomfortable in the living area in the afternoon (my bedroom’s heat pump unit works perfectly), so I'm very glad this is happening soon!

Yesterday, the blinds were installed in the toilet (room, not throne), bathroom, and en suite, and I really like them. They look a lot like the blinds in the bedrooms and living area, so much so that I think that the average would probably never notice they’re different. When I have the slats completely open, the light is a less bright, but I think it makes it subdued rather than dimmed. I like being able to close them, too, especially at night.

That still leaves the screens, but today I got a follow-up email from the company, and so, I asked if they could quote on the (much less expensive) magnetic screens for my bedroom. My reason for that isn’t cost—or, at least, not exclusively—but, instead, that I think it makes more sense for all the screens in the house (should I choose to install them…) to operate the same way throughout the house. However, the main reason for my hesitation is still what I said when I first talked about the possible project: “If I can’t have what I want, should I then pivot and want something just because it’s what I can have?” I still don’t know the answer to that question, but I re-read the original quote today and it doesn’t expire until December—I kinda think having more time makes the situation a bit worse.

So, the two biggest projects are underway, and the one remaining quote is a tiny bit closer to conclusion. That’s not the end of the story, though.

I’ve started removing the weeds around the patio, something I gave up on last year, mainly because it was a lot of work (in the heat…) for an area that I never used. However, in a month or two I’ll be using that space (and I’m so excited about that!), so it’s time to start getting the patio area ready—and I have a month or two to do it. This also means I have to move the Vegepod off the patio because it won’t do well under a roof, even one that lets light through.

So, I plan to move it back to where it was until I moved it onto the patio three years ago—something that I can go ahead with now that I know what’s happening with the air conditioning (at one point I considered adding heat pumps for the two other bedrooms, and their outdoor would’ve been in that spot).

However, I want to avoid the problem that caused me to move the Vegepod onto the patio in 2022: The fact it sank into the ground. So, I want to lay pavers on that spot, four to six of them, as needed, to cover a bit more than one square metre (the horizontal dimensions of the Vegepod and its stand). I feel that I could do that project, but I’m debating whether I should. I’d like to try it, since I’ve never done it, but it needs to be done, so, maybe hire someone? Yet more indecision—though I definitely have a preference.

None of this deals with the decorating changes that started this whole journey, but all of that is still on the agenda. so far, my progress has been about concentrating on the cleaning I need to do—the main thing I need to do, actually. It turns out that my couple years of being unsettled meant I didn’t clean very well. I’m now fixing that, too.

The house projects are moving forward

Progress continues for “Operation Re-invent My House”, with all but one quote now dealt with, and one project about to be completed. This means that my part in all this will soon switch from planning and finding people to do the work I can’t do, to me doing the decorating things that I’ll do myself. Exciting times? Well, yeah, but it’s been pretty exhausting getting to this point.

A couple weeks ago, I talked about the patio cover I’m having installed. I received an update from the company that the production is scheduled, and they’ll have it installed by mid-January (which would be in time for my birthday…), but, if possible, they’ll try to get it installed in December. I’m actually fine with either, but it would be nice to have it finished earlier so I can use it for more of this summer.

This week I got a call from the company that’s installing the blinds in the toilet (room, not throne), bathroom, and en suite. They’re ready and will be installed on Tuesday, so tonight I made the final payment (they require it two days before installation, they have to be receive it by tomorrow).

Finally, tonight I finally accepted a quote for ducted air conditioning and paid the deposit. Both companies quoted on the same system, but the first company I met with also quoted on two others. In the end, I accepted the lowest quote from the first company because that system had the best warranty (six years), and it also had excellent reviews—though all the proposed systems had good reviews. The warranty decided matters for me mainly because the current split unit for the living area failed in its sixth year—after its warranty expired. There wasn’t a huge price difference between the system I chose and the mid-priced option, but the better warranty gives me a bit of reassurance for what is nevertheless an expensive thing. The most expensive system was considerably more expensive and also had the lowest heating capacity of the three systems, so I ruled that option out early on.

That leaves only one quote I haven’t accepted or rejected: The window screens. I’m still torn about whether I want to do it or not. The pull is that I could open the windows in nice weather and not let the flies in, but the push is that they’re not common in New Zealand, and so, it’d just be something for me. Do I really want to spend the money? I still have a couple weeks to decide before the quote expires.

Closer to the cool

The first step in my “Operation Re-invent My House” is now underway. On Friday, I formally accepted the quote for the pergola over my patio and paid the initial deposit. The installation will probably be in January, but it’s nevertheless under way.

I chose a New Zealand company called Sunvue, and their premium model, “Galaxy” (their website’s page for the model has photos of several installations of the model, and it gives an idea of what my pergola will look like, along with a video with more information about it).

What I liked about the “Galaxy” model was its clean, visually uncluttered look, and also its monopitch roof (meaning it’s not arched and doesn;t have a peak, neither of which would look right with my house). The framing is aluminium and cast right here in Hamilton from raw metal smelted in the South Island. The powder coating paint will be done in Tauranga, and will match the house’s existing aluminium joinery (windows, stacker doors, and the framing the manufacturer mounted them in).

The company is NZ-owned and uses their own staff to install the finished pergola. That means that I’ll be contributing to the New Zealand economy.

When I did my due diligence, the only common negative reaction I saw was that their pergolas are expensive, and they are, however, they’re around half what I was budgeting—though that was mainly because I originally wanted a pergola with motorised louvres, probably the most expensive option. I changed direction because I realised I wanted a fixed roof (not openable) because I want to be able to have my patio furniture uncovered so I’ll actually use it. I also realised I wanted a roof that lets light through because the stacker doors are the main source of daylight in the living area (louvres would’ve made the space really dark whenever they were closed).

The roof will be 6mm thick glass-like acrylic, and it’s strong enough for a person to walk on using the cross beams, making it stronger than the commonly-used polycarbonate roofing. In fact, the roof is so strong that it doesn’t need as much support underneath as polycarbonate does.

They offer the acrylic panels in clear (which, understandably, few people want…), an opaque white, and a light gray colour. The second two block 99% of UV rays, which is very important in NZ. I was told that the retirement villages they supply pergolas to require the opaque version, but the gray is by far the most popular overall, and it’s what I want because it creates a small amount of shade, but just enough to make it comfortable while still being able to see the sky—and we all know how much I loves me some sky!

When the guy came to do the quote, he said it’d probably be January before they could do the installation due to demand. The next step is that they’ll schedule a time to come round to do precise measurement, though I know it will cover 30 square metres, the maximum coverage one can have without gaining permission from the city, and the perfect size for the space. They’ll also do colour matching of the joinery so that the pergola is as close as possible to what’s already there.

There is one further aspect to this story: I got only the one quote, and I was instantly taken with what they could do, for all the reasons I mentioned above. However, I felt I “should” ask for more quotes, but in researching other prominent companies in anticipation of asking for quotes, there were things I didn’t like about them. For example, one uses powder-coated galvanised steel, but all steel eventually rusts, unlike aluminium. Some companies didn’t say where their materials come from (New Zealand or overseas), who does the installation (the company or contractors), or in some cases I just didn’t like the designs, or, at least, not as much as the Galaxy range.

In thinking more about this, I realised that the choice is more like buying a house than buying something like an appliance or a car. A house has to have the right feel, and since the pergola will effectively be an exterior room, it, too, has to have the right feel. The various companies don’t do precisely the same thing in precisely the same way, so it’s not like shopping around for the exact same thing at the best price. Because I knew my choice felt right, and I wasn’t second-guessing myself about that (only about how I “should” get other quotes), I realised I should just follow my gut instinct. And I did.

Air conditioning is the other big project, but I’m not yet ready to move forward on that one because I have second quote still to come. My sense is that either of the two companies I talked to would be fine, and the dollar amounts will likely be comparable. But this one isn’t about style or living space or whatever, it’s basically about hidden infrastructure that visitors will probably never even know is there, much less think about it.

So, the first of the two big projects is now underway, and since I’M not doing it, it’ll actually get done (well, it’s true…). More updates to come—at some point.

Screening an idea

The process of obtaining quotes for my “Operation Re-invent My House” continued today, making it fly screen (aka window screen) day. Tomorrow I have a consultation with a company that provides battery banks for solar electricity systems, and that’s the last visit for quote for this week. However, on Thursday a company that specialises in cleaning solar panels is coming round to clean mine and to remove the lichen that’s started growing on my solar panels. So, the week continues to be busy.

I originally wanted fly screens that are hinged at the top because they work well with the style of windows in my house. I knew about the screens because the house Nigel had when I arrived in New Zealand had them, and it turns out they were put in by the couple he bought the house from: A Kiwi guy and his partner, an American guy who wanted the screens. No wonder that house felt so comfortable from the beginning…

Today, however, the guy pointed out that the bedroom windows have thick blinds (which, you may recall, I had installed in my house back in 2020, shortly after I shifted into my house), and the blinds don’t leave enough clearance. So, I’m getting quotes for less expensive magnetic screens on most windows, which has its own sub-story: All the joinery in my house is aluminium (“joinery” means windows and the frames they're in, though framing around the whole window is wood, like the framing around doors or at the floor level). This is true for most Kiwi houses, especially ones built over the past 40-50 years. So, they install magnetic tape onto the window frame, and then attach tape with the other magnetic pole to the screens themselves. I'm familiar with this because Nigel and I did something similar with plexiglass to add faux double pane layers to windows at our house on Auckland's North Shore. Because this method secures the entire circumference of the screen, it has an excellent seal—however, it’s not what I originally wanted.

In the main bedroom (mine), I’m also getting a quote for the most-expensive option, where rigid screens slide along a track, but I’m just not sure. I know that whatever I chose, the total cost would be lower than I originally expected, and that’s something, however, I need to think about this whole idea some more.

As I’ve said, window screens are rare in New Zealand, so this whole thing is mostly about me and what I want, but: Would it really make that much difference to me for the, what, four or five months that the temps are pleasant enough to leave the windows open? And, if I can’t have what I want, should I then pivot and want something just because it’s what I can have?

Still a lot to think about, and it’s utterly exhausting. I was thinking late this afternoon that at first, all the planning and considering various changes to my house was kind of invigorating and even exciting. But as this process has gone on, the gloss has worn off. I’m tired of having to decide every single thing by myself, not because there aren’t folks to consult, because the family is more than willing. Rather, it’s because for 24 years Nigel and I decided everything together, and now I have to decide every damn thing on my own. Advice and feedback is great—absolutely!—but it pales in comparison to weighing options with one’s life partner who has a stake in the outcome.

Put another way, as I said last July, when I quoted myself saying in 2019 “This isn’t fun any more.” Still, once this evaluation and research stage is over and the changes actually begin, I know it’ll get exciting again—at least, for awhile.

And related to that future me, there are developments to what’s happened so far. Last week I had visits from two companies, and there are updates. First, I got an email telling me that the order for the blinds I ordered for the toilet (room, not throne), bathroom, and en suite has been sent to their factory in Christchurch for fabrication. They’ll let me know when they’re ready to be installed.

Also, I got the quote for the patio pergola and it was substantially lower than I was expecting—almost 50% less, actually, and more than 50% less than I’d budgeted (because I originally wanted a louvred roof, which is much more expensive). I know I “should” get quotes from other suppliers, but I admit I’m torn about that: I really like what they offer, I know the company well, a long-established company with a good reputation, I like that they use cast aluminium rather than steel (because steel inevitably rusts), and I like that the parts are manufactured in New Zealand. And, their price is good. I’ve researched other providers online only, and wasn’t persuaded to ask for a quote, but I’ll manage to force myself to do that.

And that’s where this story is as for today. More to come—I guess…

Operation Re-invent My House is finally beginning

There’s finally some progress on my changes to my house—small prpgress, but progress nevertheless. Today I had the first two folks come to my house to give me quotes I asked for at the Home Show last Saturday. Next week, I have two more scheduled, one on Monday, and the second on Wednesday.

The first quote today was originally going to be for a motorised awning for the patio, but I’d already decided that option wasn’t going to work for me because I want the patio covered so I don’t have to keep my table and chairs under a cover all the time. The past 5+ years living here have taught me that I know I won’t use the table if it’s too hard to access, and taking the cover off the table and chairs is a huge hassle. So, I decided I need a fixed roof over the patio.

So, I told the booking person I’d changed my mind, but added that instead I was interested in getting a quote for blinds for three windows—the toilet (room, not throne), bathroom, and en suite. One issue for all three is that in winter those three rooms get very cold at night (they don’t have heating), so I close the doors in the evening. I think the blinds (wood-look thick white PVC slats) could be just enough insulation that I don’t have to do that, or, at least, not for the en suite. I’m certain, though, that it’ll keep the hot afternoon summer sun out of the en suite. I went with them because Nigel and I had the same company install blinds on nearly all our windows at our house on Auckland’s North Shore, and they were excellent. I accepted the quote, and paid a deposit, so that’s underway.

The second quote today was for a fixed roof system for the patio using aluminium framing and clear or tinted roof panels (acrylic or polycarbonate). I’ve known about the company for years, and one of the things that’s always appealed to me about them is that they use New Zealand-made components, rather than imported (much of it is made right here in Hamilton, actually). However, the solid acrylic panels are made by a company that manufactures them in New Zealand and also South Africa, and they export back and forth depending on their business’s needs. The solid acrylic panels are substantially stronger than polycarbonate, and can supposedly can be walked on. The polycarbonate option, while cheaper, requires more support underneath, which means a more cluttered look. I don’t have the actual quote yet, but I do know the earliest installation would be January, if I do accept the quote.

At the show, I talked to a company that installs a louvred patio cover system (apparently also made in NZ) which can be opened, however, as I said, I want a fixed roof system so I can use patio furniture without uncovering it first, which would mean leaving the louvres closed. However, when the louvres are closed, it doesn’t let light through, which isn’t ideal, especially when the two sets of stacker doors are the main source of daylight for the living area. The company sent me an email saying they had a huge backlog of quote requests, which I don’t doubt. I think I may not proceed with a quote for that, though, because I don’t think it meets my needs.

However, those were the only two patio cover companies I talked to at the Show, so I need to research and get quotes from other companies, too, because it’s too expensive to just get one quote.

The quote on Monday is for ducted air conditioning, the first of those—I hope? I haven’t yet been contacted by the other company I spoke to at the show, and the company that installed my ducted ventilation-only system (whichI talked to at the Show) didn’t note I wanted a quote to upgrade their system to full HVAC (a term seldom used in NZ, actually…), and they haven’t yet contacted me again about a quote for the upgrade.

Today I received a call from the company I spoke with about adding a battery bank to my solar electricity system. I need to dig up power bills so they can work out whether the ROI (return on investment) would justify the big cost, however, one factor I thought of recently is that having a complete solar power system would probably be more attractive to potential buyers of my house. So, this is still in progress, though I’ll know more one Wednesday next week when the guy comes to talk to me about it. If I do go with them, though, the battery bank will not be from Tesla.

Also, and not related to the show, I contacted a specialist company that cleans solar panels to get a quote. I know better than to climb up on a roof at my advanced age, so I can’t clean them myself. However, the main reason I need specialists is because lichen is growing on some panels, and they’d know how to clean the panels without damaging them. The comapny sent through the quote late this afternoon, and I accepted it this evening.

Earlier this week I ordered some storage solutions for my pantry, and they arrived yesterday. I last organised my pantry two years ago, and while that was a huge improvement, I knew it wasn’t quite right. My new solutions should help, but I also have more (and much bigger) solutions that I’m still planning. As always, I’ll document all those changes.

In summary, then, Operation Re-invent My House is definitely underway! Now, I just have to focus more on the various projects I’ll work on myself. Sometimes focusing is a job in itself.