January Build Update

A January build update

We get glass in window frames.

What we’ve done

In December last year Lys’ parents gently highlighted that they want their garage back. So, with a deadline of September 30th and some wonderful sunshine we decided to nail these windows down. Honestly, we try write these blogs once a month but sometimes its difficult to encapsulate every trial and tribulation when you cannot even begin to remember them all. Over December and January we worked on the windows over the Christmas break and over 4 weekends, with each day throwing up a new challenge.

A big moment though was nailing the glass into the finished frames. Erny hired an air compressor and a brad nail gun from our local tool library (more on this later) and we spent a good hour practicing how to effectively piece a nail into blackbutt, which consistently reminded us that it is a heavy wood that is tough to pierce through. You get a small jump scare whenever the nail goes into the wood and it is incredibly loud.

Once Erny got the hang of it all we raced through attaching the beading and were (surprisingly) finished in no time. Nailing the beading in felt like this project is gaining a little bit of momentum, that it is actually doable, and that if we can build these we have a higher likelihood of tackling the rest of the house.

Back to the tool library - think of this as a place where people can share tools that they may only need on a once off (or very infrequent basis). Lys discovered this community a year ago when she was determining how we were going to source our tools. Having no need or space for an air compressor and nail gun on a daily basis, we thought it would be a great option to hire these larger tools out. They even provided a bunch of spare brad nails, so we didn’t have to buy any ourselves! Our local one is the Inner West Tool Library but you can also find others up and down the east coast.

Another huge moment was screwing in the hinges to attach the inner and outer frame of our awning windows. These hinges have been the most finicky and needed quite a bit of coaxing. With the way the hinges open, the top edge of the inner window frame needs to be routed so that the edge doesn’t catch on the inner frame. With great care we screwed the them in and tadaaaaa - they look amazing! We now just need to attach the latches to ensure that the internal window can remain snuggle-y closed and locked and then these are ready to be installed into some walls. The stain does not look too bad too! Finally having a full awning indow that we can open and close is unbelievably satisfying - huge kudos to Erny and his unwavering attention to detail.

Highlights

Lys worked up the courage to use the table saw by herself for the first time! Maybe Erny now has the confidence to let her use it unsupervised? We’ll find out soon enough…

There is something oddly satisfying when you apply weather proofing foam to seal window frames. This foam goes in between the opening glass and the frame - it is squishy and has great bounce back and sticks to almost anything and is great to apply. Lys had a lot of fun applying this during her lunch breaks.

Another great memory was us deciding to “risk it for the biscuit” and take our huge picture window outside to fit the glass, weather seal and bead with a Summer storm on the horizon. Even though we did get a few drops on our precious window we managed to finish the job before the light ran out and the storm came in!

Other than that….the window frames have glass in them!

Challenges

There seems to be a big storm on the way across out state so timeline looks to be a little impacted.

What’s next?

looking forward to some doors and floors (but realistically more window work - Erny’s a perfectionist) 🚪

Catch ya later, Lys & Erny