Expats in Oz Feeling The Christmas Pressure!

Hi there from....erm...the roof!

I'm not sure this post will make the grade as it's about as boring as watching paint dry, but you're a captive audience, kind of, and if I have to go through renovating hell, you can at least commiserate by reading my posts! They won't all be about pressure washing I promise! Whilst other people have 'wrap presents' on their Christmas to do list, I had 'pressure wash roof'. The curse of being a home renovator.

Strangely enough there's something addictively satisfying about pressure washing things, if you haven't tried it, you should! I get a bit carried away with it once I start...the cat knows to keep out of my way.

The task I set myself was to finish the front slope of one of our roofs. Unfortunately last season, before the winter stopped play I got as far as this...

Which the neighbours probably weren't too impressed with as they're a bit posh around here and have had to look at this all winter. I get to look at their immaculately maintained homes and rarely notice my roof so it was a win win for me. But realising it was on my 'Things I haven't got around to doing and might never tackle' list, I thought it was time to go up on the roof and finish this. Well this side at least. So up I went, armed and ready for action.

The view to the front road and one of our neighbour's immaculate homes!

The roof on this side of the house is only one storey up, so reasonably safe to clamber around on. The other side of the house is a different story, two storeys in fact as we're built into the hillside, so slightly more chance of critical injury, or even death. For that reason alone I think I should tag this post under adventure and photography, as I felt quite adventurous going up there and when I wasn't contemplating my own demise, it was a really nice view!

The roof on the left is the one I tackled last season, where we also installed skylights above our previously very dark kitchen, now beautifully flooded with light, so well worth the investment. The dark patch is where I had to give up my quest for completion when I fused all the electricity, twice in two days, from a leak somewhere. The roof to the right (and photo below) is on my procrastination list, and also on my 'jobs that may cause certain death' list. Hence the former list.

The former owners must have also had procrastination lists and 'make do with a few bricks to hold things down on the roof, until we sell this place to some suckers' list.

The chimney flue is a new addition however as we had a log burner installed to get us through the chilly WA winters, when the temperatures can drop as low as 20 degrees. Actually at night it can get pretty cold, not arctic cold, although I did wear a beanie in bed before we got the two log burners (one in the bedroom too).

Just over the halfway mark...

I remembered to move the car just in time before it got covered in red tile dust, the boat wasn't so lucky. My husband wasn't too impressed as he'd just finished cleaning it for the summer season. I can't be expected to think of everything though, not when I'm in work mode, which isn't often.

The final corner!

I have to say the weather wasn't kind to me in the time I was up there.

I battled through 36 degree heat the first day, followed by being bitten by mosquitoes at dusk, then almost got blown off the roof the next day when the wind whipped up and there was a sudden thunderstorm and rain! I made the executive (stupid) decision to carry on regardless, as I figured the pressure washer itself was mostly waterproof. Just the extension lead and plug to worry about which I covered up, with a nearby bush. I'm not that stupid!

For some reason my husband sent me a text saying "You're not still on the roof are you?". He looks out for me. He took this photo from his carefully positioned deckchair with a beer in hand. He has his own projects on the go, so this was just a spectator sport for him.

My husband wasn't the only spectator. I'm sure I've seen a film about this!

We even got to spectate the Christmas fireworks from the roof the other night!

And tonight's sunset didn't disappoint either!

I went up to get a couple of photos especially to finish my post! Don't say I never do anything for you. I know how popular sunsets are!

It was pretty breezy up there!

I got a good view of my neighbour's Christmas lights though!

To sum up...pressure washing is a serious business, not for complete amateurs, you need years of experience to be as good as me, so please don't try this at home, at least not without a safety net.

Until next time...

Daisy xx

P.S. I promise to post an interesting travel blog next time!