- 11 minutes ago
We’re racing to get our abandoned house in rural Japan ready for winter, and the bathroom renovation is finally moving forward. After months of work, we install a new window, pour the concrete shower floor, prepare the walls for waterproofing, and get everything lined up for tiling in our Japanese farmhouse renovation.
The day is not just about building, though. We also clear out old furniture and construction waste, deal with a massive stink bug invasion, and keep finding more little surprises that come with renovating an abandoned house in the Japanese Alps. Mandy works on bedroom storage while Lloyd and Joel take a break from the build to visit Togakushi Shrine in Nagano and walk among its ancient cedar trees.
It’s a mix of renovation progress, family life, rural Japan travel, and real-life DIY challenges as we try to make the house comfortable before the cold sets in.
Perfect for viewers searching for abandoned house renovation in Japan, rural farmhouse restoration, Japanese Alps winter prep, bathroom remodel progress, DIY home renovation, and travel vlog content from Nagano and Togakushi Shrine. This episode also suits fans of renovation vlogs, countryside living, and real-world property restoration journeys.
The day is not just about building, though. We also clear out old furniture and construction waste, deal with a massive stink bug invasion, and keep finding more little surprises that come with renovating an abandoned house in the Japanese Alps. Mandy works on bedroom storage while Lloyd and Joel take a break from the build to visit Togakushi Shrine in Nagano and walk among its ancient cedar trees.
It’s a mix of renovation progress, family life, rural Japan travel, and real-life DIY challenges as we try to make the house comfortable before the cold sets in.
Perfect for viewers searching for abandoned house renovation in Japan, rural farmhouse restoration, Japanese Alps winter prep, bathroom remodel progress, DIY home renovation, and travel vlog content from Nagano and Togakushi Shrine. This episode also suits fans of renovation vlogs, countryside living, and real-world property restoration journeys.
Category
🏖
TravelTranscript
00:00Earlier this year, we bought an abandoned house in the Japanese Alps for just $22,000 US dollars.
00:06And now, we're racing against the clock to get it ready before winter.
00:11After over a month working on the bathroom, we're finally making progress with a new window,
00:16a concrete shower floor, and walls ready for tiling.
00:20In this video, we're clearing out the previous owner's belongings,
00:24hauled away construction waste, and dealt with a bug infestation.
00:28We have these stink bugs all over.
00:34Insane!
00:35I feel my head in.
00:37Oh no!
00:43Wow!
00:45We also explore one of Nagano's most famous temples and try some delicious local Japanese food.
00:51That's all coming up right now on Lloyd and Mandy.
00:56It's definitely a bear, but it could be Lloyd too, because you were about to shit your pants before.
01:00And you were eating a sesame bar last night.
01:03Sesame bar?
01:05You think it's a sesame seed today? That's yours!
01:07The bear's been eating dope. It's a healthy bear.
01:10I think we found some bear poo in the backyard.
01:14Mandy found it.
01:17What's your assessment?
01:18It's either a bear or a human, and I'm really hoping it's not human.
01:23I'm hoping it's a raccoon dog.
01:24I want a raccoon dog.
01:25I want a raccoon dog.
01:26I want a raccoon dog, buddy.
01:28I think it's too big to be a raccoon dog, but it's human or bear.
01:34I'm really hoping it's bear.
01:35There's like four different ones here, and one of them looks fresh.
01:38So it might just be sneaking in to go to the toilet overnight or something.
01:45It's kind of scary.
01:53Okay. Now that we have some flooring down, I'm really curious what this wood on the walls is going to
01:59look like once it's sanded.
02:01Obviously the floor is going to get sanded as well.
02:03We may be putting some flooring over top of it.
02:06We probably are, but not straight away.
02:08So we're just going to make it look as best as it can for this winter, and then we will
02:13maybe add to it.
02:14But I'm just going to give this a quick sand now, just so we can get an idea of what
02:18it's going to look like and what we're working with for staying.
02:26Oh my gosh, the window is finally going in.
02:30It's happening.
02:42Our showerhead arrived, and oh my goodness, it is the biggest thing I have ever seen.
02:47I have to show you guys this.
02:48I'm like worried that it's too big, but it's going to feel so luxurious, I think.
02:55And it's going to be quite high up too, so we kind of need it to be quite large.
02:59Look at this.
03:03Oh my gosh.
03:06It's awesome, isn't it?
03:15Okay.
03:17I'm going up.
03:24Okay.
03:26I'm sorry.
03:34Okay.
03:36Okay, so we got up.
03:59I don't think there's many tradies that get a fresh stir fry cooked for them on site.
04:06These guys are lucky.
04:57We have a window.
05:18We've had a busy couple of months actually but especially the last couple of weeks renovating
05:25our house.
05:26So today me and Joel have carved out a little bit of time to go and do some sightseeing
05:31around Nagano.
05:32We started today at the Togakushi Shrine which is just north of Nagano.
05:39It's famous for its 400 year old cedar avenue where you can see ancient ancient giant trees.
05:46So we're going to take a trek up there and go to the shrine and then we're going to do
05:50a
05:50bit of sightseeing.
05:52Maybe stop off at some cafes, some local shops.
05:56Just see what we can find around Nagano and really take a break from renovating today because
06:01we've been going hard.
06:03And so is Mandy.
06:04She's back at the house with Lila taking a much needed day off.
06:08Bit of R&R today for everybody.
06:12Alright we're heading to Cedar Avenue.
06:13This is a massive stairway to get started and it's about one and a half to two hour walk,
06:22round trip.
06:23So let's get started.
06:47Trying to figure out where we are on the map.
06:49I have no idea.
06:51Looks good.
07:32Well that was a huge walk.
07:33Now we're just waiting for the Soba shop to open so we can get some nice Soba noodles
07:38for lunch.
07:39Looks like a really good cafe and they've got Soba, tempura and maybe even a beer.
07:45We'll see.
07:47We'll see.
07:59We'll see.
08:07We'll see.
08:12We'll see.
08:16We'll see.
08:25We'll see.
08:34Back in the hardware store, what's this, trip number 20 maybe?
08:41The music in here is really loud and repetitive, I don't know how you could handle it if you
08:47worked here all day listening to this.
08:54Waterproofing agent for mortar.
09:15Just trying to get this exhaust fan on.
09:20Gotta put this piece on, that duct there.
09:25And then once we have a shower we'll actually have an exhaust fan work.
09:29They didn't have one in here when we moved in for whatever reason.
09:33Also I cut myself on my car door this morning, don't know why, just opened the door and leaned straight
09:37into it.
09:39I don't think I need stitches.
09:42How are we looking Jolly?
09:44Looking pretty good.
09:46Looking real good actually.
09:49Hopefully the materials we've got is going to work.
09:52Beer it seems alright.
09:54Doing pretty good on the beers.
09:56What do you reckon the concrete got a promotion?
10:00Because he always rose to the occasion.
10:04That would make better sense as a baker.
10:07No it's not concrete because we're going higher.
10:11We're rising the floor, raising the floor.
10:13That doesn't make sense.
10:14That doesn't make sense.
10:41Not only does it make sense but nobody's not really sure.
10:42I'll go ahead and clean it up and clean it up.
10:42I'm ready to be wrapped up.
10:42You'll want to be wrapped up.
10:43You will need to wash the floor.
10:45Come in there.
10:53Come on Billy, come on, there's a baby one, hey Billy, hello, there you go, just a little
11:04head scratch for the morning.
11:08Just showed Joel our local goats, we've been driving past them every morning, he wanted
11:12to stop and pack them as well, didn't want to miss out.
11:16Alright, today we have the enormous task of trying to empty this garage of all of the
11:24scraps, building material, furniture, just stuff that we had to tear out of this house.
11:31We've pretty much filled up the garage here, we have the bathtub, some doors, a dresser,
11:39a fridge, carpet, tatami mats, a bed, a lot of stuff, our old window.
11:44We've rented this truck for the next 24 hours and we're going to try and get rid of as much
11:49of this stuff as we can.
11:51The problem is finding where to take it.
11:53So, we did find a recycle centre about 30 minutes from us and we're hoping we can take most of
12:02this stuff there, but from what I can tell, some of it we won't be able to drop off and
12:07we do need to cut up pretty much all of it to be small enough to be accepted.
12:12So, that's the task today, hopefully we can get rid of most of it.
12:16We'll see how we go.
12:25Found a few keys while going through all the garbage.
12:28We're just going to see if any of them work on our door.
12:37No good.
12:58All right.
13:00We.
13:08So.
14:20We have these stink bugs all over.
14:32Oh no.
14:42Wow.
14:49Okay, we're getting close to having our bathroom finished.
14:52We sheeted all the walls yesterday and our waterproofing finally showed up.
14:58We've been waiting about three weeks for the waterproofing to show up.
15:01As I've mentioned earlier, super hard to get here in Japan for whatever reason.
15:06And we think we found a tiler.
15:09So the goal today is to finish the bathroom sheeting and waterproof it.
15:14We ran out of sheets, so we had to go for a drive down to Nagano.
15:17We went to three different hardware stores just to find more sheets for the floor.
15:21And we're still one short.
15:23So we might have to go back to the hardware today.
15:26But we're going to get it all sheeted, taped up, and waterproofed, ready for the tiler to come.
15:31The problem is we don't think he can come for another couple of weeks.
15:35So we're probably going to be without tiles.
15:39But that's okay, because the shower will work.
15:41We've got like a nozzle we can use, so we're not getting water everywhere.
15:44The ground will be waterproofed.
15:46The walls will be waterproofed.
15:48So we should be okay.
15:49As long as we have running hot water.
15:51We did go to the gas company two days ago and asked them to come and hook up a line
15:57to our new water heater that we got.
15:59So everything hopefully is coming together.
16:01And in the next week or so, we should have running water in the shower.
16:05Okay, I had some exciting packages arrive while I wasn't here yesterday.
16:09So I've got some storage stuff that I can start putting into our closet.
16:13So we'll actually be able to put our clothes away soon, which will be amazing.
16:16I'm hoping I'm going to be able to paint these little cubes to be able to match the paint that
16:21I've already done in our closet.
16:22But we'll see.
16:23I'm not sure if I have the right paint or if it needs a primer or not.
16:27But we'll have a look.
16:28Oh yeah, I'm going to be able to paint that.
16:30That's going to look great.
16:32It's like raw timber.
16:33I forgot what I had ordered if I had ordered like a white one or maybe not, actually.
16:41It actually looks a bit white.
16:47Yeah, I don't have to be able to paint that straight away.
16:51I'll have to get some primer.
16:56Just trying to decipher these instructions at the moment.
17:00They are pretty simple, I guess.
17:03We had a bit of a night last night.
17:05Lila decided at like 2.30 in the morning to sort of like get up and start partying.
17:11She woke up the whole house and so everyone's like a little slow and tired today.
17:16So we're all struggling a little bit and then trying to read these.
17:21I figured that's okay.
17:23Let's try to figure it out.
17:25It's actually kind of funny.
17:47I just have to build this show, honey, and then I'll come play with you, okay?
17:54One second.
17:57Well, I guess I have to paint this now.
18:02If I don't laugh, I'll cry.
18:05Oh my goodness.
18:23So my idea is that we have two tension rods on either side.
18:27One for me, one for Lloyd.
18:28And then drawers down here.
18:30I don't know if that's going to be thick enough.
18:32I might need to reinforce the sides in order to do that.
18:37But the height's good.
18:39I'm going to put baskets in there.
18:41And paint it, I guess, now that I have to.
18:44Okay, I've changed my plan a little bit.
18:46I'm not going to do two tension rods up the top.
18:48The shelf is just a little bit too wide and it made the, like, hanging area a lot smaller.
18:54So I'm just going to put it off to the side here.
18:57I'm going to, like, build out a little bit on the side.
18:59And then it'll be more reinforced for the tension rod up the top.
19:04And then I'm going to do smaller drawers down here and another rod down the bottom for, like, pants and
19:09put shoes and stuff.
19:12I'm so excited to be organized.
19:14That's all I want to be is organized after living, like, so messy and everything being out of order.
19:20It's just going to be such a treat.
19:30We're just going through all the doors that we have.
19:34Lloyd's checking which ones fit in the closet.
19:36So I'm going to do my best to try and fix them up.
19:39Thank you, honey.
19:40Some of them aren't in too bad of condition.
19:42Some of them are kind of chipped and not looking at the greatest.
19:47But I'll do my best.
19:49I might put handles on them.
19:50We'll see what I can do.
19:51I'm not sure if paint will stay on this or if I mean, you can see that some of them
19:56are, like, yeah, this, like, material is sort of peeling off.
20:02I did see that you can get someone to replace that and they do, like, the paintings and stuff down
20:09the bottom that you can see.
20:12But I want them to match the rest of the room.
20:14I might do my own design or something like that.
20:17We'll see.
20:17I'm just going to see what I can salvage from these doors.
20:31We'll see you next time.
20:31I'm just going to see what the room's in here.
20:32We'll see you next time.
20:32We'll see you next time.
21:24Round two.
21:25We already got rid of this one, and it's come back.
21:32Is there anything in it?
21:34I don't think so.
21:36I hope not.
21:38It's not.
21:43Okay, we are doing a huge cleanup today at the house.
21:47Trying to do a bit of a reset after all the renovations that we've done.
21:52We're going to be going on a little bit of a family holiday and taking a little break,
21:56so we want this to be as clean as possible when we come back.
21:59We have a lot to clean.
22:03Feels like we're here non-stop for three months.
22:05We have.
22:06Still nowhere near finished.
22:08I need to buy some more ply to put on the floor that we ripped up.
22:12Got a big chunk missing here.
22:18Lie down.
22:19And the bathroom is still not done, but the plumbing's done.
22:27We've sheeted everything.
22:28Today I'm going to waterproof and tape everything.
22:31We put concrete on the floor.
22:33We've got a drain.
22:34We've got a new window.
22:35They're coming to hook up the gas in a couple of weeks, and the electrician's coming to finish everything.
22:42So technically, when we get back, if everything goes to plan and we organize a couple of trades,
22:48we'll be able to have a hot shower, which is good because it's going to be cold.
22:51Yeah.
22:53It's already started to get quite cold here, so we're trying to prepare ourselves for this winter
23:00in the best way we can, but for now, just scrubbing and cleaning.
23:05These stink bugs that are in here are actually just insane.
23:10They're everywhere, and we want to get as many of them out of here
23:14so there's not like a heap of dead bugs when we get back,
23:17but wow, they just keep coming in waves.
23:21There's so many of them, and they...
23:23Check it.
23:23Yeah, like in the bathroom.
23:26Oh, they're disgusting.
23:27Look at that.
23:28Oh, my gosh.
23:29And they have such short lifespans as well.
23:32Like, they die really quickly, and I don't...
23:35Look at them all.
23:36Oh, my gosh.
23:37We went to so much trouble framing and making this shower,
23:43and it just feels like an outdoor shower because there's bugs.
23:46Feels dirty.
23:48Oh, well, we'll get rid of them.
23:50And then hopefully, there won't be any bugs when we come back
23:54because, well, it's cold in winter, so that'll be nice.
23:57Oh, well, that's sick.
23:57Oh, my gosh.
24:08Oh, it's cold in...
24:08Oh.
24:11Oh, my gosh.
24:14Oh, my gosh.
24:15You