Author: chris_bj

So, we can add one (and later another) septic tank pump to the list of new equipment we’ve had to buy for the house. On Saturday we suddenly had a power failure affecting all the power outlets, crucially, especially the water pump and the fridge. Without water, we couldn’t continue finishing up the cleaning or anything else, so we packed up in a hurry and drove back to Brisbane (which I didn’t enjoy in the dark or while very tired.) Fortunately the lovely Jenepher at the Bunya Mountains Accommodation Centre was able to hook me up with Peter Elliot, who had a look at it on Tuesday. He reported that one pump had failed, the other is close to failing, and was able to replace the first, and get us our power and water back so we could finish up and clear out.

Even now we are still waiting for Kingaroy Joinery to replace the lock in the new laundry screen door for the second time!

Two things are good about all this though. One, that these problems occurred while we were still up there, and not while we had our first guests after renovation, and two, that they are fixable. We’ve ended up with quite a few unexpected expenses with the house – all of them pretty major, like the water tanks needing replacing, the driveway needing to be concreted, the front balustrade needing to be completely replaced and so on – adding at least $30,000 to what we’d budgeted. It’s not what we wanted, but in the end we have a house we are proud to let out to people, one which we believe is comfortable and safe, and hopefully there won’t be any more enormous expenses while we own the place (for many years, we’d like!).

Anyway, now we’re home and taking a well-earned break from being in our holiday home (oh the irony :)!)

Almost. Just a teeny tiny problemette with our electricity (which fortunately occurred after we had the photos taken by the lovely Helen for the Bunya Mountains Accommodation listing) so we’ve had to come home briefly, before returning one last time to collect the rest of our stuff and clear up. We’re running late thanks to builders and Cyclone Debbie, but we will be open for bookings as of Thursday morning, 6th April!

These photos are not done by Helen, so don’t blame her for my amateur efforts Click to see the entire gallery.

In the home stretch now! The last ten days or so have been exhausting, but productive. New driveway. New kitchen. New bathroom. New water tanks. New deck screens. New window screens.

Newly emptied bank account

Doug has worked his butt off, but we also have to thank Hansen Kitchens, Paul Reeves Carpentry and his team (hi Mark and Jason!), John Paynter and team (the concreting), Bradley and team at Nanango Tank Makers, Brian Stoker and his team at Sunset Canvas (Toowoomba), and Kingaroy Joinery (Alu-gard window screens). Still a little to finish off in the bathroom, and a lot of painting to do inside and out, but we’re getting there.

Have some photos!