As a New Zealander, I might just offer one bit of advice. Insulation. Older NZ houses are notorious for having inadequate (or no!) insulation. If you haven’t done so already, make sure you investigate in your roof space and under the house. Heck , even your walls. Americans are often (justifiably) horrified with how cold it gets inside a NZ house during winter. It can be fixed, but you may need to budget for it, and your home will be much nicer to live in.
We have insulation above and below - don’t think we can budget for in walls yet unless it’s the spray in type. We have someone coming out to look soon!
@@AlexanderAyling double glazing also. Wall insulation plus this will save you heating and health bills for the long run. Plus just feeling healthier and warm is a great thing.
Depending on the type you already have, you can get improved underfloor and ceiling insulation for free through the warmer homes scheme. Worth looking into just in case, and there is no costs to check eligibility
Really need to investigate what type to get, the brush type can hold the leaves in the gutter and rot etc. Should be interesting to see what you come up with.
Welcome to farm life in NZ! As I watch you and Carrie working away with all the rain outside, gunky gutters, wet grass and living in gumboots, I can't wait to see you in Jan-Feb where everything has dried out and the sun is shining on you all. Wairarapa summers can be hot and quite dry and by that time you'll be so much further on with the renovations. Another great video Alex.
This house and homestead deserve all the love and work, the end result is going to be amazing! Kiwi homes are notoriously damp and cold and it's miserable to find out all the crap that needs fixing but you WILL get there, everything is fixable and it will be so worth it. If anyone can do it it's you guys!! ❤️
We moved into our lifestyle block late February and most of our furniture is still in the container. The cold, mud, flooding, and constant rain has made our first winter miserable as hell. However- we finally got to light our first fire in our new wood stove last night even though it was a warm night. We were so excited to finally ditch the hot water bottles; so we cranked up the fire and slept with the doors and windows open. The weather is warm enough now to start painting our off the grid home inside and out. The exterior has never been painted. The gutters and drains are dodgy but that’s going to be a a summer job. We too have a creek that floods during the winter so it has been a daily ritual to check it every morning and clean it out when needed. I am sure l was a bear in my past life, l hate winter, l just want to hibernate. Love, love, love the summers. The new veggie garden is growing and l have finished planting the first 250 native trees. Rural life definitely has its rewards as well as its challenges, I’m excited for you guys, keep up the great work, sometimes you will feel overwhelmed by the growing list of chores to do, but remember to stop and breathe. I keep telling my hubby, it’s like eating an elephant, one bite at a time. You will get there eventually. Besides, it can only get better now spring is here.
Thank you for sharing your journey here Libby. Solidarity for sure. You can’t even imagine what happens in this upcoming video. My goodness! Stay tuned - best of luck with all your projects
Hey Alex, great to catch up with you and the crew on a rainy Sunday morning. Loved the vid and have a couple of tips. Garage. You said it kiwi once in there. Garage as in carriage. Spot on! Chainsaw. a Stihl or a Husqvarna will generally provide you with superior back-up from the supplier than most other brands. Looking at your wood make it a 20" bar. I also have the largest Stihl electric but it only has a 14" bar. A great tool but make the larger one the priority. Spoutings 1. Next time you work on the plastic one, get it more level than seen after your repair. It seems to dip at that spot. A tight string end to end dipping slightly to the outlet will provide the fall you need. Spoutings 2. The old metal one on the house is shot, buggered, totalled. You choose.😆 It's held together by rust and paint. Not worth repairing. It really needs replaced and the fascia board it's attached to may need checked too. Get someone with experience to check it out. Ladder. Ahem! Ha! You're not using it as safely as most likely shown on the instructions on the legs of the thing. You're using it on too much of a lean. Make 100% certain of the footing on the ground each time and it needs to be a little more vertical. With flat steps (vs round rungs) they must be horizontal not dipping. Safety. A good idea to invest in a couple of fire extinguishers if you haven't already. Please take these ideas as simple tips and I'm not looking for mistakes. Love how you're pretty much self taught and open to learning all the way. Manhugs from a boomer.👍🏻
I’ve renovated a few properties over the years and I’m actually just finishing another one now. The thing I’ve learned and continue to learn is to try and treat it like an actual job with regular start and finish times. Time each day to do something not to do with the house, regular meals etc… also apart from doing the urgent outdoor tasks I would focus on getting your life workable inside the house first so you have all the creature comforts in place. Take care of yourselves and each other because overwhelm can erode relationships if you’re not careful too. I bet you are already doing all this, maybe I am just consolidating this for myself by writing this! Hope the weather dries up soon!
This so reminds me of the journey my husband and I undertook 15 years ago to restore and bring love back into our newly brought little homestead in Feilding. Similar aged home and unloved and under maintained condition. For 5 years as we could afford it we put alot of blood, sweat and tears into transforming it into our family home, before we then welcomed our son, and brought him home to a nice, clean and dry home! So great that you are imbracing the Kiwi attitude of "Do it yourself"! Can't wait to follow your journey!
Thank you to you (and Carrie!) for taking us along this journey with you. I am absolutely loving your updates - your videography remains such a a high standard as always! Cannot wait for the next update already 🇦🇺☀️🎥
You could look into installing a gutter Guard to avoid all the gunk build up in the future :) definitely, a summer job when the rain chills out a little. Also at about the 16:30 minute mark, I saw you have a lovely Hydrangea bush :) I recommend cutting back all the dead brown flowers, to allow for new growth for the coming summer. They also dry out super well to make a dried flower bouquet when summer is over :) I went through and trimmed all of mine a couple of weeks back and they're already starting to sprout new leaves :) I'm absolutely loving these vlogs so far! I admire your love towards your new property, and i can't wait to keep following along to see your journey :)
I am enjoying watching you two handle the issue's that keep cropping up and that you handle it with a good sense of humour, especially the water and washing machine! Lesson learned, but it was the same for me when I got an electric shock when I didn't realize that the power to the water cylinder is different from the rest of the house! I got one big shock and a lesson for me that I had some things to learn about having a house of my own. I came from the Uk in 74 from Scotland where I was living at the time. Good luck and will keep watching.
We live in Carterton too. When we arrived we quickly put in an "HRV" and eliminated condensation overnight. Shower domes are great too. We learnt their benefits on our previous home in Wellington. Good luck with the renovation.
You guys are awesome. Seen you both in America before the big move to NZ and here you both are, with a little lamb, two ducks a pond and fire wood. The transition must feel amazing, especially for your wife😊.
Wow, you have the perfect scenery around your beautiful home and with a beautiful wife and adorable animals you have certainly been blessed. Looking forward to your progress in renovating your home. Loving the updates on all your furry friends.
Hey Alex- further to a previous comment about rainwater collection....just looking at those clips up on the garage / shed roof....it looks like small bits of paint are peeling off the roof sheets up there. I'd check to make sure that isn't lead based paint on the roof sheets (they look quite old) for obvious reasons if you are going to be using rainwater collection for drinking water. Even using it in the garden could mean veg plants absorb the metals. Coming from the UK and now living in NZ, I know Kiwi's have this attitude of "she'll be right" but that sometimes that means they overlook basic safety protocols that other more risk-aware countries take as standard. I'd also highly suggest getting both the two large water tanks emptied and cleaned out- both because it probably hasn't been done in a while and also because there's probably a lot of crap thats accumulated flowing off the roof. Also reccomend a small settling tank (100L) to allow bits of crap from the gutters to settle first before going into the main (larger) water tanks.
Thanks Colin - check the full playlist for the whole story :) DIY Renovating Our Homestead (2.5 Acres) ru-vid.com/group/PLmhbBmUiJiZmdUqaJjafZ2h8svSCwVNbS
Hi Alex, I thought I'd add my 2 cents on double glazing and insulation. Double glazing for timber-framed windows like the ones you have is very expensive and given that there isn't a lot of glazing in your house it would not give you a lot of bang for your buck insulation-wise. Single glazed timber-frame windows have a higher R-value or should I say better insulation properties than double glazed aluminium frame windows. There are modern aluminium frames that have thermal barriers and very good insulation performance however these are top-of-the-range products. The windows you have are part of the character of your house and It would be a real shame if you were to replace your beautiful timber-frame windows with aluminium ones. With regard to insulation, the best improvements you can make to an old kiwi house is to insulate the ceiling and under the floor because these are cheap and easy to do and the ceiling especially will have a huge effect on heat loss. However, from what I've read these improvements have already been made. Insulating the external walls will also have a great effect on heat loss because they make up such a large part of the building envelope. However, the cost of doing this is prohibitive for many, and the pay-off period ($$ spent/$$ saved annually from your power bill ) is usually a matter of decades. This decision will really come down to cost and comfort. It can be just as effective to simply spend more on heating your home than keeping the heat in, you do not have a heat pump so for you that would mean burning more wood. I suggest spending a winter in your house and seeing how well your woodburner heats your house, and if it is not sufficient then think about adding a heat pump or insulating the walls. Also, draught-stopping gaps in windows and doors can be very helpful to stop convection losses, you can buy foam tape for this from most hardware stores. Sorry for the lengthy post but I hope this helps. Keep up the hard work!
Sound advice. This house is in a cold and damp part of NZ and being old and not designed for thermal comfort just adds to any upgrade costs that would probably overcapitalize on the property when sold. These issues may be a reason why this property has had so many owners over a relatively short period. Given heating would probably be the cheaper option over insulating maybe look at an off grid solar system to reduce energy bills/ provide hot water. I'd also look at buying a portable dehumidifier (or heat pump that acts as one) as dry rooms are cheaper and faster to heat and reduces damp and potential mold growth.
Oh Alex, you may need to replace these gutters soon! All your hard work and energy will pay off and when it’s all done you will feel so rewarded! Also gutter guards might be the answer to stop the gunk filling the gutters too! Good luck !
aww, sweet Lankie is a lover and a pacifist the way he interacts with the sheep. You are doing so great, your kiwi paradise is beautiful. cant waith for summer, it will be a visual treat for sure. you should plant grapes and make wine. mmm. a great grape growing area.
Thank you! He’s a sweetheart for sure. We actually have two mature grape vines on the pergola. Stay tuned for more about the trees and plants on the property
Thank you for being such authentic. Whereas many people try to hide their hardships and only portray the pleasant aspects of their lives, you do not, which is what I like the most. Between better wifi and a refrigerator, I would choose the better wifi, but I will also try to get the better refrigerator. That one is also essential for life. The Spider, Lamb Cam View, and other animal video spinets were very enjoyable.
Loving the longer form videos from both you and Carrie! Such an exciting adventure! Great job with all of the homestead renovations, it’s inspiring us to start looking at farm houses! 🦋
Great video, Alex. Los of work. Lots of progress. Best parts for me: Woolson licking Lanka's back and Lanka and sheep giving Hongi greeting! As fellow Californians, you'll understand my envy of all that rain!! ~Cass
You have a ryobi drill driver which is part of the one plus kit which means you can get just the skin for the sander and a small chainsaw and HEAPS of other tools to go with the one battery. Makes it much cheaper and they’re great tools for the home handyman. If you had the 36v there’s heaps of gardening tools too but the 18v are still good
Try a hanging light fixture in the second room you painted. They can provide softer light on the ceiling so the cracks/ lines aren't so easily noticed. Thanks for the content 👍👍👍
It is going to be so rewarding once you finish all your renovations. I am excited for you both. I watch every single vlog from both you and Carrie. You videos make me miss home so much, I currently reside in Australia and will one day move back. Keep the videos coming, love watching the progress
Great episode again Alex. Get a manual sander on a pole, it makes the higher work easier without needing standing on ladders, can also do ceilings etc. Would suggest with the lower weatherboards where the gutter was leaking, suggest you remove the moss with a relatively inexpensive treatment, as it is the moss that does the damage, all the hardware shops sell the stuff, however you will need a day without a few hours of rain. Take care.
There were a few laugh out loud moments in here but what impresses me most in the huge amount of energy you and Carrie bring to this. It will be worth dealing with all the frustrating and at time gross moments when you have the home you have dreamt of. I am so impressed with how you are adapting to such a different life while dealing with the unexpected - hello orphan lamb and power cuts! Thanks so much for sharing. Here in NZ we are wishing for Spring to arrive. Your land will burst into life. 🙂
This video really cheered me up here in level 4 Auckland.Kudos to you for all the hard work. Leaf traps inserted in the down pipes are a good idea.Also the battery tools have been a game changer for us. I see you already have some. The chainsaw on a pole is good for tree pruning etc.
When you sort out your firewood shed, build a low frame against the walls and put some heavy duty wire netting or similar on top. By letting the air in underneath and keeping the wood off the ground, it kept it all much drier and allowed the new wood to dry quicker. You might also want to investigate a gutter witch attachment for your hose to help cleaning the gutters.
Thanks for making time during your adventures to keep us up to date. Alex you look a little exhausted. I couldn't believe it took 2 days to upload the last vlog - that is serious commitment. Here's hoping the Starlink is easy to install. Hats off to you both.
All the hard work behind the painting makes me appreciate the final project! Loved loved the aerial views of where you live, seeing the pond and the drainage and all that goes with that, your little lamb growing big so fast! One of my best moments was just watching you pour that cup of hot toddy and looking out the beautiful window what a sweet moment!
Your videos are amazing whether travel content or homesteading. Inspiring to see you and Carrie forge this new path in life.Lanka and Woolson so adorable!
I watch you guys because I’m so proud of you both for making Aotearoa your home. You’re obviously lovely people and I wish to you guys all the very best for the future. Stay well, stay safe. Ka kite ano ( see you again)
Love the lamb cam! Hopefully the fast internet connection is working but good to see you working away on your property. I know it will be hard, no doubt rewarding work. Good on you for having your kiwi gumboots on when opening that wooden slide to help with water overflow. Look forward to seeing you guys progress with the house repairs!
I am so proud of you guys. You definitely are hard working people that are not afraid to do what a lot of couples would not ever try to fix on your own. I am in love with your property and can’t wait to see your ideas and other projects that you will do. I am going to wait for next video like other people waiting for next reality show . Of course your projects are more interesting for me because they are real. Thank you for sharing your life with all of us.
Absolutely love seeing watching your journey and renos! Also, I love the extra touches you put on your videos like the lamb cam and aesthetic coffee pour in front of the window (honestly would watch a compilation of coffee pours as the seasons change outside!). Thanks for sharing your hard work with the world!
Lived with both versions at various times. Large fridge is a must. Many country areas have no Internet at all here in NZ, let alone slow. So slow is better than none.
Love this series, I know you guys probably aren't having too much of a fun time right now but it'll be worth it in the end!! For a chainsaw recommendation, really the best is sthil. Mine is pretty much the smallest they have the MS 170, and while I like it I do recommend going a bit bigger. Now for the gutters, I got fairly cheap gutter guards that all I had to do was cut to correct size, and pop into place. They also sell a mesh metal ball like thing, a universal leaf strainer, that fits into the hole that you were cleaning out of the downspout, so if something gets past the gutter guard it should be caught in that leaf strainer. I don't know if it would work, but for the gutter with the hole you can try stuffing the hole from the inside with ether silicone or some kind of metal filler like bondo... just till you can replace that piece or find a better solution! Good luck and I can't wait for the next one!
As so many people have already said, your homestead is worth all the love, time and effort you are putting in. Homes are such a huge investment, particularly with the crazy housing market in NZ at the moment but so glad you found this amazing spot. Gutter guards will help once you've scraped out all the leaf litter, and it may be years to come it may be worth looking at roof replacements/gutter replacements. Many of my family members have farm style houses like this and although a large cost, they saved up for a few years and it made all the difference. You've done a great job at mending them! Spray in insulation is good, however you will have to do even more patching of the holes they use to inject it in! Loving yours and Carrie's content, keep it comin :)
Gday guys, been enjoying this renovation series so far so thanks. I'll be following along with the build as my family and I ultimately have aspirations of doing something similar eventually. Atm we're in Auckland and guys like you inspire us to dream because if you can do it then so can we! Thanks again 🤙
Hi Alex. With all the plastering you have to do look into GIB plus 4 tubs of ready made up plaster think it comes in 5 kg and 20 kg tubs . Also grab a large flat trowel and a corner trowel to skim over those wall, Enjoying the videos
being a young couple and buying a property that size .....its excitng, and as your finding out.....its a learning experience, but the effort you put in is well worth it knowing your home improvements with the guttering for example...is essential for those reasons you mentioned......and looking at the views you have surrounding you, its well worth it....and yes a chainsaw is essential living rural...another nice vlog
Great job. You are ticking those jobs off one by one. The joy of home ownership is the never ending upkeep but man it's a wonderful thing owning your own plot of land and home. You wont know what to do with yourself once the whole house is done and the guttering is fixed and the water tanks are full and the sleep out is done and the ........... Well I guess it never really end lol. I cant wait to see you all swimming in that river the drone flew over once summer is in full flight. Enjoy this time.
Lol! It seems to be a universal principal that all homeowners renovating a property ask, “What were they thinking?” At least we did many times. Great progress in a week! Thanks for sharing it with us. Stay warm and dry!
I don't know how experienced you are with a chainsaw, but my first recommendation would be to not get one that's too small. For instance, one around 50cc, give or take, with a chain pitch no smaller than .325. It's perhaps easy to feel intimidated by them and think a smaller one will be safer but hanging off one while it takes an age to get through its work gets old really quickly. Maybe ask your neighbour with the Stihl for tips on how to use one, also how to sharpen one, though RU-vid will help there. Buy a good sharpening kit with a guide, etc and keep the chain sharp and the guides at the right height. A stump vice for the bar is probably one of the best value for money things you can have to make chain maintenance easier. A touch up at every tank of gas isn't stupid. Pay attention to the safety instructions, especially always having the thumb of your left hand wrapped around the handle, not sitting on top. For the amount of work you're going to do, you could probably get away with a Chinese one from a reputable NZ dealer, whom you can find on the net, but by all means buy a Stihl or Husqvarna if you think it worth while.
