the parkes project

Haha just showed my wife your project and told her you are doing DIY. Her response "suckers".

 

Still warm here tonight. Apparently in the high thirties at 8:35 pm. I am now sitting in the beautiful evaporative air conditioning after a much-needed shower.

The picture shows what I was doing 1 hour ago. Hired a hammer-drill (or whatever it's called) from Coates. I like it but it's hard work and I had to stop after an hour because it's so hot (and noisy). Hopefully I can get a lot more done tomorrow morning. First thing I need to do is tidy up a bit!
Tried to upload a video of the place - just one big mess right now. But must be too big a file.
The front room I started on is coming along and just about ready for painting. Picture rails are off because there was so much dirt and dust coming from them. I love the colour of the pink sealer or render or whatever. With the dark cypress and the coloured windows it all makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately a number of cracks need filling and so it must be painted.I wonder if I'll be able to get the picture rails back in?
I have ceiling paint in Taubmans and Dulux colour Natural White. Am spending way too much time looking at photos trying to decide what colour to paint the walls. I love that strong pink to be honest but wonder if I would be the only one. Most of the other walls are plaster in butter yellow.
, m

 

What colours are you going to put on? You removed the picture rail? Why? Carpet or floating floor?

 

Hi ll. Colours -possibly all natural white or some other warm neutral. Or .... I don't know yet.
Picture rails will go back on if I can manage it. Will clean and lightly sand them first. When I was washing above them, a waterfall of filth came from them as they became wet. Will have to do the same with all rooms. Clean is the name of the game at this stage.
Floors will be cypress floorboards. Can't wait to see them.

 

dont forget..................

 

OK @jim1964 have been trying to find a way of showing exterior without giving away too much info. But anyway ....

 

Nice. Did you buy this to renovate and live in or rent or flip? Are you going to paint away the sentimental pink?

 

The bricks are kinda weird. Seem to be a Parkes 'thing'. Not sure whether to worry about a render or not - might be a very involved process.
The verandah has been closed in. If and when I live in it myself I'll take down that front closed in part but if I rent it out I'll leave it there - it can be a walk in robe or even another bedroom - it was before. But I don't want too many people in there anyway.

 

Definitely to renovate, maybe to live in, not too flip.
The sentmental pink will likely beome white duck or some other modern greige in matt!

 

What a great house - the outside looks a lot tidier than I expected. Someone should be shot for what looks like a brown aluminium window in the closed in area on the porch! Someone loved their pink

 

Ok you need a new mailbox...

 

Now we're cooking with gas. Hammer drill returned. Time for a trip to the tip. Who's making lunch? Must be your turn dogs?

 

This was from the last place we were renting. Kept in good condition for its age

 

Wow, would love to find something like that underneath all the rubbish but I suspect not.
Thanks - feeling motivated to go and have a look now.

 

OK. The only similarity the main fireplace has with @bob shovel 's is some green tiles. Very difficult to see under inches of soot and dust which must've been falling from the chimney for several decades. Refer photo.

All this time I've been thinking that the fireplace mantle/surround (not sure what it's called) was a cheap 70's or 80's Victorian imitation. Now I see that it was affixed at the time of the house's construction in the same way the picture rails were put in - nails in concrete.
Behind the mirror I found some small strips of newspaper and was hoping to find a date. But I couldn't. I read these interesting ads and articles though, which indicate that the 'mantle' might have been 2nd hand from th early WWI period.... or else the house is actually that old.
Here's what I found:



There's a focus on the new Militaire dress style! There's an ad for medals for any battalion, an ad for buggies, sulkies and harnesses, and an article on how ladies can stop getting 'knees'in their skirts and 'elbows' in their blouses and how wise it is to brush your hats, shoes and bags when you get home.
The paper was The Sydney Mail which was printed 1860 - 1938. If any one can give me any other clues about the time please do. Maybe that dress style is more mid-30's than early WWI? Or from the twenties? In any case, Australia was a small place then and Sydney the only cbd in NSW. Qld and Melbourne are also mentioned in ads.

What about these tiles? I don't like them much and thought they were from 70's or 80's but now think they're original. What do you think?

Edit: After some quick google searching, it seems this mantlepiece is in fact Edwardian. It must've been sent from Sydney - maybe England - it has Parkes written on the back.

There is a McClinton's Shaving Soap ad there which quotes,
The late Field Marshall Lord Roberts who wrote: "I have used ? soap for a long time, and I particularly like the Shaving Cream, which is quite excellent."
and
Admiral Lord Beresford who wrote: "McClinton's Soap is the best I have ever used. I shall always use it."
These ads appeared in the papers between 1916 and 1919 (and beyond?) from what I could see.
My guess is that the paper is from Easter of 1916 or 1917 partly because of this ad:
FOR EASTER
At
PITT-STREET HORDERS
"LA MILITAIRE" has caught on in the Fashion World. Very noticeable in the fore-front today is the Coat Frock bearing its military appearance, made of Gaberdine, fastened at the side, and finished with touches of coloured embroidery, and a new shaped skirt, slightly drawn in at the front.
Shades of Gaberdine: Grey, Saxe, Navy, and Black.
Price to Order, £6/19/6.

I am able to read the first paragraph of the article titled,
THE CARE OF CLOTHES
No matter how much you pay for clothes,and no matter how often you renew them,their freshness will depart early if you wear your outdoor garments in the house. In quite a short time skirts will develop "knees", blouses will become frayed at the elbows, spotted and shabby-looking. Therefore, directly you enter the house outdoor things should be changed for something suitable for indoor wear, and every article should be carefully put away in readiness for the next time of requirement. Of course it may be a little trouble to use the clothes brush every day, to look over shoes, hats, ribbons, and veils, but it is wonderful how a little care will lengthen the ? life of everything, and how you can maintain a well-dressed appearance without any extra outlay. ...

It goes on about not keeping hats on chairs or keeping your dress on the bed and to hang up your coat but the paper is torn so I can't read that much.

The ad with the Merry-Thought Brooch (ie Australia surrounded by a wishbone) would've been something to send to the soldiers. Posted free.

The BATTALION BROOCHES for Every Australian Battalion was apparently THE MOST ARTISTIC BATTALION JEWELLERY IN AUSTRALIA. Brisbane, Rockhampton and Lismore.

From this I get the impression that war weariness had not yet set in. And that clothes were not washed often. And that Pitt Street was Sydney's only cbd.

Roberts died in November, 1914 aged 82.
Beresford died in September, 1919 aged 72.

So the soap ad in the paper is somewhere between December 1914 and September 1919. Therefore Easter 1916 is my best guess.
Everything in my house seems to be original - amazingly, never really renovated - just the wallpaper and the extra rooms at the back. So the house was probably built around 1916/17 too. I'm actually quite thrilled by that.

 

Hard to see the mantle but based on the outline it looks Edwardian to me, though the tiles are later, I'd suggest 1950s-1960s. They do not look original to me, Edwardian style fireplaces do not have tiles like that on the hearth. As a guess I think that sometime in the 50s-60s the original fireplace was removed (they were very out of fashion at the time) or covered up and the tiles laid on the hearth. If the original tiles are not underneath then they likely removed them and replaced them with the tiles you have now.

The newspaper articles to me look like somewhere from 1910-1920.

You will find some more clues for sure when you pull up some flooring. Guaranteed there will be some little gems there that will help you age the property. You may also be able to find some information about the house in the local council archives.

 

Christmas Eve. Time to update on my very slow progress.
Here is the pink room painted in double Natural White. Looks OK in the photos but too grey for me so will be repainting in very light clotted cream. You can see the picture rails just hanging around - not properly secured yet.


Have started on the hallway. Quite a few cracks needed filling. Is now spak-filled within an inch of its life:


Despite psychological and physical resistance now emerging, I just had to get some paint on the ceiling today. Just the front part of the hallway - a nice, manageable size. Will do another coat but what a difference a lick of paint makes!



Probably shouldn't have stripped all the timber back. I seem to have made more work for myself than necessary. Anyone else do this when they're painting? I don't really like painting over all the lumps and bumps and find it gets a good finish but it's probably over-kill, I suppose.
Is anyone able to tell me what kind of timber it is? At first I thought cedar but doesn't seem to be hard enough. Maybe cypress? This is a bad photo 'cause it's not sanded back properly yet but anyway,

 

Love it..............

 

It's going to look great when your done painting!

The trick I've found with prep is don't spend too long looking,the more you look the more you'll find!! Your place has its age against you. set a time or a way that you don't keep going back touching every single scratch and chip. Walk into the room and look for a few minutes at each wall and touch up what you see. If it didn't catch your eye, there's no way the tenants will pick it! Plus the paint fills and smooths too

 

Get hold of some Cabots Black Japan for the timberwork. Apply with a rag.

Do that before the walls & wear gloves.