Silver linings, sunshine and a lucky find- Reno Day 38

Can you believe it has only been six weeks and already Betsy is showing off her long blonde tresses, I mean trusses? Finally late last week the sun shone down and some serious roof action could happen. All the rafters are up for the new deck roof and if the sunshine holds this week the old roof will be peeled away and the new gable will be joined into the old roof.

Of course to take these photos meant getting over my significant issue with heights  to climb some very wobbly scaffolding and then balance precariously at the top. Not so much enjoying the  looking down part. Or the idea of climbing back up there to paint the fascia board later this week.

The other exciting change was seeing the oversized hole for the kitchen window splashback. The window will be about 3/4 the size of this hole in both height and length, and the light it lets it is fantastic.

Meanwhile there was a silver  lining to the laundry window issue from a few weeks back. After realizing there was no way to fit the louvres above the back door, it also became apparent that placing  windows above the door would have given us a first rate view of the angled ceiling of the landing and also limited air flow.

So, some minor changes were made and the laundry window adjacent to the back door was changed from a fixed panel to louvres. And then I realized that there was no good reason not to add a new high window on the external wall of the laundry that would let in a lot more light. ( I am slightly obsessed with sunlight, the more the better). So, with my first ( and hopefully, only) variation, we added a new window.

Now, what about those uninspired front doors? Not quite so ugly from the inside but with only louvres and  security screens on the upper panels they were also fantastic for either  blocking the light or letting in cold drafts. 

Well, I have been scouring the demolition yards for the last two years looking for leadlight double entrance doors from around Betsy's vintage in the thirties art deco style. As bungalow style queenslanders are a relative rarity in Brisbane I wasn't really holding much hope of finding as set of doors in the size we needed here  in our own backyard. 

And then we were down at our local demolition yard discussing selling some of our old doors when I noticed that they had opened up a new annexe off the side of the usual shed. With a neon "OPEN" sign beckoning me over. And sure enough, tucked away in the back corner were these beauties, in the exact size of our front doors.

Apparently they came from another Queenslander house that was undergoing a renovation but originally may have come from an old furniture store owned by the Marrs family in Fortitude Valley. Now if we can just salvage the original wind up door bell and transfer it over I will be a very happy girl. Sunshine predicted all week, so fingers and toes crossed for a new roof.