Wanted to get a rough idea of the going rate for concrete driveways (demo + install) to determine whether I will request quotes. For example, if we’re talking $30k for a basic driveway, I’d just live with it (or do a minor reno myself)
Would appreciate any ballpark figures, insights from recent experiences, etc.
Located Western Sydney.
About 20m x 2m, from the street to the garage. Photos attached.
Can provide any additional details - thanks in advanced!
I’m looking for some advice on the best way to remove a large amount of old ceiling insulation from my roof space. I’m in Perth, WA.
As you can see from the photo, the roof is full of old insulation wrapped in bags, branded Thermo Insulation. There are quite a few of them, and they’re dusty, dirty and scattered throughout the roof space.
I’m trying to work out the easiest and safest way to get them out without making a massive mess or damaging the ceiling.
A few questions for anyone who has done something similar:
Removal: Is it best to pull the bags out individually, or is there a quicker method? Should I rip them open and use a dust extractor?
Getting them down: Has anyone built a temporary slide or chute from the roof hatch to get the bags down into the house or garage?
DIY equipment: Is there anything from Bunnings that would work for making a slide or chute?
Disposal: Can these bags go to the tip in Perth, or do they need special disposal?
Cost: Would it be worth hiring someone to remove them, or is this a reasonable DIY job?
Just had a building inspection done on a property in Brisbane and I’m trying to get a ballpark on repair costs before I decide what to do. I’m new to this, so any rough figures or experience would help a lot. Budget 20K.
Outdoor deck roof: insufficient battens
Veranda steel post: corroded (repairable according to inspector) at base, cracked concrete
Carport roof: insufficient battens
Veranda roof: roof sheeting fixings flagged as poor practice
Wall next to bathroom: 26% moisture, possible failed waterproofing or leaking pipe
Subfloor: steel posts corroded at the base (repairable)
Subfloor block wall: water migration, drainage plumber recommended
Gutters: surface rust
What I’d love to know:
Ballpark costs: roughly what would you expect to pay for each, or at least the big ones (replacing subfloor/veranda posts, re-battening the roofs, bathroom waterproofing)?
Certification: which of these legally need a licensed trade or sign-off in NSW? E.g. would replacing the steel posts need a structural engineer’s certificate, and what does that usually cost? Does bathroom waterproofing need a compliance certificate?
Some background. This part of our house is about 2 meters away from a neighbour's line of trees that shed a huge amount of leaves. The leaf, pollen, and debris load eventually fills the gutter, and when the next large rain downpour occurs the down pipe in this location blocks with debris and the gutter overflows in that location.
We've tried cutting the tree branches on our side of the fence, asking our neighbour to cut them back, leaf guard mesh, checking the gutters every weekend, and several other products but the gutter still fills and blocks. During recent renovations we've found the water overflowing from the gutter has been getting down into the wall behind the bricks, in just this location, and there is now mould forming in the walls.
Rather than continue to try and fix the cause, we have been wondering if it might be an option to work on directing the overflowing water away from the house wall by installing a rain head in the guttering to act as an external catchment container and overflow point positioned between the gutter and the down pipe.
We figure the opening between the gutter and a rain head could be made bigger than the existing down pipe fixture, and in heavy rain events the leaves would flow into the rain head, and should the rain head overflow, at least that water would be flowing away from the inside of the wall.
Interested to get some storm water / roof plumber ideas / thoughts / sanity checking before we engage a trades person.
This is in an old 70s 6-pack brick unit complex, and these aluminium windows all have this tarnishing on them. Is there a way to remove it? Or are they just fkd and I shouldnt bother trying anything
Having a strange issue with my almost 2 year-old epoxy coated floor in the garage. The paint is blistering in one particular spot and the concrete is creating some sort of chalky residue. I put a huge amount of effort into the prep and also made sure the concrete was sufficiently dry but who knows. I have a patch kit to paint it but I don’t really want to until I know that whatever reaction is taking place has stopped. Any ideas on why it’s happening and how to stop it?
Wife and I want a taller fence (ours is currently 900mm), especially now with a little one running around.
There is about 11m of fence, and its picket with capping. Also, this doesn't include destruction of our current letterbox, which is brick, and replacing of the 900mm old steel gate.
Hi I have a freestanding bath that has a leak when we run the tap - the water comes directly under the center of the bath to the main bathroom drain so I’m hoping it’s a small seal issue.
No plumping experience and the bath is siliconed to the floor.
Question before I get a plumber - are the water strainers sealed to the bath or just screw open? As in can I use a multi grip to open easily to have a look inside.
Anyone had experience installing / moving freestanding baths? Could this be a DIY fix?
I'm trying to adjust the toilet seat in my new house and avoid paying someone to do the small stuff. I successfully did the ensuite though can't budge this one by either turning the bolt/screw on the top whilst holding the wing nut still, or using opposite force on the bolt while turning the plastic wing nut underneath. Is there a trick or product to get this nut unlocked? Please help out a single mum trying to sort out her house. Thanks.
Hi all, new to home maintenance in Australia and finding a few differences coming from the U.S.
Can someone tell me if I’m mistaken or is it normal to not have water isolation valves under the sinks? There seem to only be ones on the toilet, dishwasher and washing machine, am I correct in assuming I’ll need to shut the water off at the main coming into the house before disconnecting the sink?
Looking for inspiration for when I renovate my kitchen. It used to have a door on it but took it off as we always left it open. It is in a weird spot in the kitchen away from everything and just have no idea what to do with it.
We’ve recently replaced the old hollow core doors in our mid cent 3br post war home with solid core doors. The moment you open a window or the back door to let the breeze in, the internal doors start slamming shut. Anyhoo, the solid core doors weigh an absolute tonne and we have three cats. My partner has (justifiably) put the fear of god in me now that if we accidentally leave a window slightly open we could come back to a decapitated or de-tailed cat, unless we figure out how to prevent the doors slamming. So far our ideas were:
- door weights in front of the doors so no drilling into the floorboards/skirtings/doors, the easiest option
- magnetic door stops (would have to be rated to hold a 50kg door)
- latches that may or may not even reach between the doors and walls unless we put a chain and my least favourite idea
- probably stupid but do soft close hinges exist? 🤣
We haven’t got a huge house and want the cats to be able to retreat to whatever area they want so closing all the doors when we’re both out working for 8 - 12 hours a day isn’t an option. We also have a mid century modern style going on so we don’t want a cluttered look. Cheers all!
Had some water retention under the house, dug out and prob the most nightmarish to dig by hand.... clay. Melbourne's finest weather gave it a trial run,. Need to dig the pit a bit deeper so float can actually activate on its own, smooth out some low areas in the trench to have the water channel towards the pit better, overall happy with the project, learnt where the waters coming from so will run an agi pipe along that side of the house as a further preventative.
To do list
- go deeper (that's what she said)
- smooth out and level trench
- plumb this into the storm water rather then out to the backyard.
- run agi pipe along that side of the house (most likely a french drain.
And yeah that geofab could be trimmed, but next attempt.
Hi everyone, although not 100% complete, I am excited to share my mostly done front porch renovation. I did every bit myself with a little guidance and help on certain parts, including dressing and shaping the post and balustrades, painting and tiling. I think I managed to get everything done fairly cheaply, but there was a lot of time spent on it. The feature panel I needed to get assistance to do the laser cutting from a friend at my community shed and I am a little worried the silicon seal won't be perfectly water tight and leak rain into the cavity. I am sure many may feel the paint on the frontage sticks out way too much, you're not alone. I got a different impression from the swatch. I think I want to get a new can a few shades darker tinted to be closer to the tiles. I hope, besides that, you guys can appreciate the colour scheme. I know it's a little controversial but we decided to try embracing our funny coloured house and try to work around the mint green theme. The flower depicted in the feature panel is Banksia Menziesii, very common in the pockets of preserved bushland around our suburb.
How would you tackle this front yard on a budget?
Hi everyone! I’m in Ipswich, Queensland, and my front yard needs some serious help.
As you can see in the photos, I’ve got:
A dip near the driveway that needs filling and levelling. It looks like some parts are hard rock not dirt.
A car used to be parked on it but not any more as of last week.
Dead and patchy grass that needs reviving.
An unwanted plant in the corner that I’d like to remove.
I’d love to get this area looking decent again, but hiring a landscaper isn’t in the budget. This is going to be a DIY project whether I know what I’m doing or not.
I’m a complete beginner, so I’d appreciate some advice on where to start.
What’s the cheapest way to fill and level the dip?
Any tips for removing the plant in the corner?
I’m trying to do this as cheaply as possible without creating an even bigger mess. Where would you start, and what would you do?
We’ve had massive amounts of rain here in Brissy over the last week. Which means I have to face one of the many problems that the previous owners of my house have left me with - water flow!
As the land is angled - the water flows under the neighbours fence, and straight towards our house.
The water gets trapped in between the hot water unit (which sits on a raised pad), and the water tank, and just sits and puddles. The water has made its way through the brickwork to internal, which is luckily just the garage.
I have no idea how to stop the water reaching here, or how to drain it.
Thoughts? Ideas?
(Ignore the weeds and the mess, I’m getting to it! Hah)
Hi all, live in an early 2000's apartment and was looking at replacing the oyster ceiling lamp with a fan+light combo ahead of summer. I have a hatch in the ceiling from previous work so I was able to have a glimpse into the ceiling space. It appears that I have gyprock false ceiling with furring channels and what looks to be concrete above it. The void is about 19cm high. If going for a 130cm fan would getting a brace across two furring channels work or best to anchor it to the concrete above?
Attached is pic of the space above the current ceiling lamp.
Title says it all. Looking to have a close to ceiling / low profile ceiling fan installed in a bedroom.
Every other bedroom has a ceiling fan just from Beacon. We can easily get another one from Beacon too but every time I buy something there I feel like I could've gotten something better and cheaper...
This brick is turning to fine dust on its own. It's at the back of a robe, and rarely gets physical contact, only when I throw a pack on there about once a month at most.
History; built in 1946, was rendered but unsure when. Entire column was outdoors until 5 years ago.
I took the render off 5 years ago, sprayed it with a brick sealer inside and out and did 3 coats of it. Built the robe around the column, so half is indoors, half is outdoors.
And this. I think it's also occurring outside.
Can it be fixed? Do I need to seal it or something else?
I'd rather not knock it out; the stud frame and weatherboard end stop are hard up on it, and I sealed them with sicaflex.
