Author Archives: Bill Hutchison

Revisiting our Upstairs Security Screens

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One one of our upstairs windows we installed an Amplimesh Security Screen. There were reasons for installing a security screen on the top floor of our house, but they aren’t relevant any more, so I would get into it now.

Amplimesh Steel Mesh Security Screen

The security screen is extremely secure. The one that we got installed is a stamped metal sheet, which is very strong. The problem that we have with it is that it blocks out pretty much all the breeze coming into that window. It’s almost like we might as well shut the window for the amount of breeze that comes through.

The screen is also very heavy looking and obtrusive. We had it installed on a very nice Stegbar timber window, but the screen really distracts from the beauty of the stained timber window.

I’ve noticed on the Amplimesh web-site they now have a newer product, the Amplimesh Clearguard. This product is stainless steel woven mesh, rather than a stamped sheet of steel. This would probably provide a solution that wouldn’t block out as much of the breeze as the version that we currently have, but still be very secure.

We also got a Amplimesh Security Door for the front door on our front verandah. We have the same problem with it blocking the breeze, but because it’s a much larger surface area it doesn’t feel as obtrusive as it does over the smaller window.

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Cleaning Out our Backyard Gardenbed – Finally

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A skip full of old construction wasteTo clean up all the rubbish that the builders have created while working under the house they ordered a 6 tonne rubbish skip to take all the construction waste away. They filled up about half the skip, leaving the other half free for me to fill with all of our left over construction waste from previous work.

Our backyard garden has been so full of rubbish due to the construction that we haven’t felt safe sending the kids out there alone. The builder who put up the front stairs left all of his rubbish behind after a rather unsatisfactory experience with him. The half empty skip will finally let me dispose of all that leftover waste.

The largest piece that you can see in the photo is the landing from the original set of front stairs. My original plan was to use the old landing as a cubby house / stage for the kids in the backyard. It could have been a lot of fun for them, but with everything else going on I was probably never going to get around to building it for them. Like the deck, it was better to get rid of it than leaving it hanging around causing stress, taking up room and reminding me of one more project that I never managed to finish.

Finally a Clean Backyard Gardenbed

Now with the back garden bed finally cleared out I can move the swing set out of the middle of the yard and back into the garden bed, where it used to reside. That will clear up the middle of the yard for more backyard cricket and football, which Caleb will certainly enjoy.

The pavers that you see on the right of the photo above are destined to be our patio out the back door of the ground floor on the house. That is pretty much the only thing left in our rear garden bed.

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Plastering is Complete

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The plastering of the walls and ceiling under the house is now complete.

It took the plasterer 5-days to plaster the walls and ceiling instead of the usual 2 and a half to get it done because of all the rain that we have been getting. The plaster was taking a lot longer to dry than usual because of the really high humidity, so it really increased the amount of time they had to spend getting it done.

Our builder was planning to get the fitting out done before Easter, but since it’s already Good Friday and he hasn’t started, I can’t really see that happening.

Once the fitting out has been completed I’m planning to take a week off work to paint under the house. It’s not exactly how I would like to be spending one of my only four weeks of holidays this year, but it has to be done.

After the painting is finished we will be able to put the flooring in, finish the bathrooms and eventually put the stairs in. It sucks that the stairs will be the last things put in, as under the house won’t really be usable until that happens.

On a side note I’ve been working on a new web-site for Voice for the Voiceless Australia. Voice for the Voiceless attempts to bring awareness of gender based injustice issues. There is a Voice in the Dark Concert coming up here in Townsville on Saturday night which you can watch live on the site. You can also listen to some of the heart wrenching stories of gender injustice on the new web-site.

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7-Ways to Handle a Door-to-Door Salesman

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There is a great discussion going on right now at Get Rich Slowly about how to handle a door-to-door salesman.

Here are my favourite 7 suggestions of how to handle a door-to-door salesman:

  • Don’t Answer the Door and Definitely Don’t let them Inside
  • No Soliciting and No Trespassing Signs
  • Just tell them “No, not interested” and close the door
  • Tell them you are renting (if it’s a house product)
  • Remember, door-to-door salesmen are not guests, and don’t need to be treated as such
  • Get a kid to yell “What the hell do YOU want?”, while sitting in a tree
  • Get a Big Dog / or at least a Loud Dog

There are currently 80 comments on the original article, so why not pop over and read some of the comments and other suggestions that the author has. Also feel free to add to the conversion over at Get Rich Slowly, it’s great blog about personal finance:

Update:

Here is a link to a great sign to keep salesmen and solicitors away:

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