Progress Report…..
So if you are reading this you will know the church has undergone some pretty big changes! Since buying the property in September 2019 there was a bunch of time waiting for tradies. Anyone looking to renovate take my advice-as much as it might be a pain waiting on good tradies they are SO WORTH the wait! They are busy for a reason-because they are exceptional at what they do.
First things first, I thought I would give you a bit of background into what I thought would need to happen and what shape the old girl was in.
The pivotal moment that spurred me into hounding the church to buy her was when the finial (stick on the top of the roof) which had been leaning more and more from her roof was one day no longer there at all. It had completely fallen off and the building had started to lean significantly to the east.
For me it was a case of if not now then it would be beyond repair soon enough.
I’ll cut to the chase and let you know the bits that I thought needed fixing and then tell you what actually needed fixing (I’m sure you can guess where this is going *insert eye roll here)
I’m almost embarrassed to admit this but I thought we could whack a few new spouts on, replace the weatherboards on the western wall, patch up a window on the back wall, replace the gross yellow stained glass from the bottom half of all the windows and give her a lick of paint and be open by say March 2020….. what the hell was I thinking, haha!!
And this is what has actually happened-
Although the roof itself was in pretty good shape the builder wisely told me it would probably look a bit shit once all the rest was brand new. He gave me a price to paint it and a price to replace it with colourbond. I listened to his advice and I could not be happier.
The fascia also got replaced and then the old tin was removed to reveal all the original shingles. It was so fascinating to see how she would’ve once looked! It also blew my mind how steep the roof is. How they did this 145 years ago I do not know!
The roof needed battening out to get a nice line on it and then came the insulation and the iron (Monument in colourbond) and now she looks swisho! Plus she got new finials- I think they are my favourite part.
Next came the new spouts- amazing compared to the rusted out sieves that were attached there beforehand.
Due to the spouts being pretty much non existent the west wall was in bad shape with weather damage, so the 3 windows on that side were replaced and the joiners at Ludbrooks in Ballarat did an incredible job replicating the old ones! Anyone looking to do custom timber windows check these guys out-the craftsmanship is incredible.
The gross yellow stained glass that was in the bottom 4 pains of each window all got replaced with clear glass in the remaining windows. Now you get the beautiful view outside as well as a fresh look inside.
With the entire west wall now getting 3 brand new windows and a new roof to boot it seemed silly to try and patch these shitty boards you could poke a hole through so new weatherboards it was. BUT remember how I mentioned the whole thing leans Melbourne bound? Well, seeing as the wall was going to be stripped the builders chocked her out to make her square.
The west all stripped back to bare bones
Ready for new boards and windows
The windows had a few coats of paint on them before they were installed and when I drove up to see the entire west side looking brand new I almost cried.
The new boards had 3 coats of paint (Dulux Lexicon for those wondering. She has a slight grey undertone that goes perfectly with the Monument colour bond roof)
The north facing wall had a rude old yellow stained glass window in the middle of it so that was removed and that wall received some love with some new boards to meet up with the west wall now that it was about 30cms wider than it previously was. Some of the old boards were sanded back and now she’s looking very smart.
So far the east wall has had the least amount of attention. Some of the boards behind the side door needed replacing but because these were the original boards (145 years old!) the ‘new’ boards were married in. There’s paint over them now and you would never know they are different! Majority of it stayed as is and just got a bit of love and a lick of paint.
The south wall is the main one you see from the road as you drive through Buangor and it has been the last to get finished. The boards on the main part of the building were replaced, the little entrance foyer on the front got a sand, some putty and a few coats of paint and that is her almost done!
The base boards each got 3 coats of paint before getting put on and the difference they make is incredible! She also got some new downpipes and now everything is nice and streamline. I decided to paint the outside of the windows in Dulux Monument to match the roof. I’ll admit that on the first coat I thought she looked like she had black eyes but now the base boards are on it ties in perfectly.
So what do we have left to do?
On the outside of the building I have the 2 south windows to touch up with the grey as well as a couple of coats of paint on the east side of the south wall. The weather turned a bit crappy but once we get a good day that will be finished.
The inside needs a few bits patching up, the north wall is undergoing a bit of a face lift were we’ve removed a sink and covered where the old window was.
The finishing touches need to happen on all the new windows on the west wall, a hole covered up in the floor and that’s about it. Not much in the whole scheme of things!
From there it will be sand and lacquer the floors and paint the walls and get some light fittings in.
My plan is to have various points to hang whatever lights/pendants our guests decide on seeing as our sister company The Little Black Sheep Hire Co has plenty of different options. After being in the wedding industry for a while I know what I like and that is to have as many options as possible! The idea is that we have a beautiful blank canvas for you to create your wedding or event to work with what you want, not be stuck with something that doesn’t suit, so I’ll let you know how that goes when we come to it.
There has been a lot going on in terms of landscaping but I’ll save that for another day. Essentially though, it is 3 different levels, each with easy access and lovely views across them all. Stay tuned for a post on that!
I did also put in a round about on the west side where the main access is so the main thing I’m going to focus on outside now is filing up the garden bed in the centre with some good dirt and get a garden growing. I’ll keep you posted on things as we move forward and if you are in the midst of a reno just remember it will be so worth it in the end (and make sure you get good tradies!)
So that’s it for the moment! I honestly didn’t think she looked that bad at the start but now she’s really shining. I’ve already been putting the feelers out seeing if some amazing creatives would like to hold a workshop here once we’re open as well as seeing if we can hold a launch party. I can’t wait for you to wander around the grounds and fall in love with this place as I do every time I’m here.
If you would like to know more about hiring the church and grounds shoot us a message via the contacts page at the top and I’ll be in touch soon,
Kate