Before and After

Not much new stuff to report, other than we have finished putting up the plasterboard. We are in the process of organising a plasterer to complete the finishing. It has been highly recommended by many people that we should leave this job up to the professionals. DIY almost certainly will result in a bumpy, seam showing, uneven, ugly finish (which naturally we don't want).



The cords are for our new light and pulley switch that will be installed after plastering and painting.

Goodnight Vermiculite

On Saturday we tackled the ceiling in the bedroom. The hoist worked a treat. We wouldn't have been able to do the job without it. The plasterboard is HEAVY and big and really awkward to maneuver but the hoist, though seeming to be a cheep, rusty hunk of metal worked perfectly, even without the spring that fell off and went missing half way through the job...

Pete drilling up the first plasterboard sheet with our faithful hoist. The (temporary) pendant light behind him has a wooden block to give strength to the light fitting yet to be installed (drilling into the wood will be stronger than just drilling into vermiculite).



It was so nice to wake up on Sunday morning to the sight of a smooth ceiling. It was quite a dramatic effect from one days work.









We have opted for a shadow-line rather than a cornice. Much more modern and clean. This nifty metal edging form Greyking makes the job easy and neat. We ordered them in 3 meter strips and have enough to finish the rest of the ceiling.

Plasterboard Gets a Hoist

Two deliveries last week. The first to arrive was a purchase from eBay for a plasterboard hoist. We need this to carry the weight of the plasterboard to the ceiling. Even with two of us lifting the boards, they are so big and bendy that it is almost impossible to do without this machine. You can find them at many hire places. We looked at Kennards in Alexandria. It costs about $80 for a half day, around $100 for a full day. Because it is going to take us a long time to get the job done (we usually work on the renos one day a week because of work), we decided to splash out and buy one for $189 (inc. delivery). We figure we can sell it at the end of the job and make most of our money back anyway.



The plasterboard arrived on Friday morning. This was part of the bulk purchase from Grayking. They supplied us with 13 Boral panels that are 1200mm x 3000mm and 10mm thick (two panels slightly shorter for the wardrobe wall.) The delivery guy showed up at about 9am. Rain was approaching and we had to move quickly. There was no way they were going to fit up the stairs, we were going to have to hoist them into our apartment through the balcony. There wasn't time for that on Friday so we had to stand them up next to the bins at the side of the building. They needed to be covered by a tarp, (which was too sort) to stop them getting damaged from the fast approaching rain. There was nowhere else to put these gigantic panels. The other option was to cut them down to take them up the stairs, but cutting panels means more joints, which isn't good when it comes to plastering later on.

The delivery guy and Pete unloaded all the panels. Pete and I decided to at least TRY and fit them up the stairs. We maneuvered the boards, sliding it up the central spiral of the staircase, and flipping them over by the first floor to get them over the rail. It was really tight, some boards were scraped on the sides from the stair rail, others bumped the corner from scraping on the vermiculite ceiling. The marks are really minor though, hardly noticeable and wont be seen once on the ceiling. About 15 minutes after we got the last panel up, there was a downpour. Pete made it to work for the rest of the day and I started at 12. It was a busy, but successful morning.


These panels are MASSIVE and take up so much room in our apartment. It is starting to get uncomfortable in here!

Rondo Covers Vermiculite (Popcorn ceiling) - Part 1

OK. So this is the first major job that we have been tackling in the unit. (When I say we, I mean Pete mainly, he's been working on this stuff while I am at work on the weekends.)
When first inspecting the unit the thing that screamed YUK was the popcorn ceiling. We all know what this stuff is right? Its called vermiculite, and it was really popular in the 60's/ 70's. Popular because it was used as a fire retardant, insulator and ceiling leveler. I guess it was the cheapest, easiest way of covering a ceiling.
When researching how to get rid of it from online forums, it was apparent that this stuff had to stay. Removing it was not an option and Strata probably wouldn't want it removed anyway because of the fire safety and noise issues. There were two options. The inferior and cheaper way was to just paint it white, as often they are left as concrete grey, or faded to off yellow. Painting it requires a spray gun and heaps of paint. It soaks it up. I think the previous owner may have done this in the past because the ceiling is actually fairly white, so you can see from the before pictures, it wouldn't improve much by painting it. The only option then really was to cover it.
We discovered two ways. There is a company out there in Sydney that covers it with a thin film of stretchy material, attaching to the sides with cornices. Kind of like clingfilm. Its a cheaper option and quick but not as durable as plasterboard and with a slight sag in the middle of the room. Possibilities of it being punctured too.

Insert Rondo. I discovered this from an online forum as it seemed many people had the same problem and didn't know how to DIY. Its a big expense getting someone else to do this job, and I must admit, it IS a big job and understandable why they would charge so much.
Rondo products are like Meccano for adults. They are used in a lot of commercial buildings to add a lower suspension ceiling.

Main factors:

1. You will lose about 100mm height on your ceiling. Luckily ours were 2600, (as are a lot of ceilings built in the 60's).
2. You need a pretty powerful drill to drill the hooks into the ceiling. Pete had to buy a second one as the first one he bought wasn't powerful enough, you need one that has a "jackhammer" movement.
3. There are many components and it seems confusing but that's only because the parts are used for many applications and there is something suitable for every job. In our case, we only needed 4 parts.
4. If you live in Sydney, Grayking is where you can purchase Rondo products. Talk to Phil, he was really helpful and explained everything to us.

We had to bring in the furring channels though the balcony, they were so long we couldn't fit them up the stairs! (That's the metal rods you can see in the picture below)

The wood isn't part of Rondo, but was purchased from Bunnings to frame the built-in wardrobe. Pete has been working on this at the same time, as the frame will be really sturdy because its attached to the concrete ceiling and not the plasterboard.