Oct Build Update

An October build update

We got solar! ☀️ ☀️ ☀️

What we’ve done

One of our neighbours decided to demolish their house without removing their 10 year old solar system (it was not cost effective for them to re-install). Luckily for us they said that if we could take it down we could have it! Erny clambered onto the roof on a balmy Sunday day to bring the panels down.

On the shopping front we spent hours online trawling for a dealer that would sell us heavy-duty fiction awning hinges for our loft and kitchen windows. For context, we will have three awning windows in the house that open outwards from the window sill¹.

A friction hinge allows the opening part of the window to stay open or ajar for long periods of time². This is handy if you want to open the window for airflow or escape from a fire (priorities aye?). Frictionless hinges would have the opening portion of the window fall back into its closed position quickly.

But because awning windows are currently not in fashion it was really hard to find the a vendor, and worse still - because our double glass is heavy it was virtually impossible to find options that could take the weight of the glass. We ended up going with a commercial style which is a little less than aesthetic but very sturdy.

We also spend way too long deciding what sort of latches we were going to use to close the windows shut and most importantly - what colour they should be. It turns out that with awning windows one can only use one type of latch. These are called wedge fasteners and Lys couldn’t - for the life of her - find a good example of how they should be installed. Luckily the lovely team at Restoration Online were so helpful and stepped Lys through all things fasteners. We opted for polished brass across all fixtures, because it looks pretty and is quite popular meaning we may be able to snag some second hand deals if some unfortunate renovator accidentally purchases the incorrect size/amount.

As a side note - if you ever are in the market for fixtures (think door handles, window fixings, locks or gate hooks) there seems to be only one player in the Australian market and that is TradCo (unless you go with something particularly boutique). We only say this because all online offerings look the same. Heck - some even call the TradCo products fancy names but use the same stock photos as the TradCo online PDF pamphlet³. It’s not a bad thing but it is difficult as a consumer to compare and contrast if everything is exactly the same.

We also played around with the second-hand router that Lys found off facebook marketplace for a steal.

Highlights

Getting the solar panels was such a huge highlight. Erny says that compared to the current market these solar panels would be about 60% as efficient but a new suite of panels (+ installation) would be approximately $4000 so it seems unfair to compare. We also did not expect to get solar so soon - if at all - so it was a nice win. ☀️ Side note: made a short vid (with gentle encouragement from a friendly social media savvy human - looking at you Lydia! 😄)

Challenges

We snapped a few more drill bits and need to purchase an 18v drill. Currently we have a 12v and a 9v but drilling pilot holes through the blackbutt is proving difficult. We’re also filling up a lot of our mistakes so another order of wood filler may be required.

What’s next?

Lys is desperate to finish a window. Just one would be nice…

Catch ya later, Lys & Erny