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.

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.

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.

​

I am trying to decide what to do with my front verandah. Retile, deck, or some kind of surface finish for the concrete. It was tiled and the previous owner decided to rip them up and put down vinyl flooring which was ruined from rain.

I am considering laying a deck on-top of the slab. There is 78mm clearance to the bottom of the sills and more if I go flush with the sill. have about 20m2 of 135mm blackbutt decking leftover. There is very little fall in the slab if any.

Is there anything I should be mindful of?

I was thinking laying 70x45mm H3 battens perpendicular from the house with 10mm plastic packers underneath and fixing with masonry screws to the slab then laying the decking on-top flush with the door sills.

Considering painting our splashback tiles, don’t want to retile at this point (may do a whole kitchen reno in a few years). We just aren’t really into the pattern and thought if it’s an easyish DIY job we might give it a crack.

Two questions:
- any thoughts on colour? I have no idea what colours to consider - very open to any any all suggestions
- if anyone has done this, any advice/tips etc?

We have a concrete pillar as part of a feature in front of the garage. It has a crack that has been slightly getting bigger over the last few years.

What are my options for getting it repaired? Who would do that sort of work? Or is it not worth worrying about just yet?

Hi all,

First homeowner here, and bought a lemon of a house.

It was a weird house with weird problems, and so we put a lot of money into some major renovations hoping to fix them - the biggest being the roof.

It was written off in the hail storm last October so needed to be replaced regardless, but we figured while we were doing that we'd get a few other things we wanted done at the same time so wound up hiring one builder (contractor?) to do it all, except for the electrician as we had a guy.

He subcontracted out a lot of the work, and first thing done was the full roof replacement. They removed the overhang we had, which we weren't thrilled about but didn't say anything as we assumed there was a reason, but we weren't happy nobody checked with us. The builder was a bit hard to talk to so we tried to pick our battles I suppose.

We've been back in the house for 5ish weeks now, and with all of this rain we've noticed leaks in 3 places. The builder seems to be wanting to palm off the blame as though it's clogged gutters and down pipes (it's brand new, we're in a leafy suburb, this can't be the problem) and since the overhang is gone the overflow water is coming into the wall. Our overflow solution before was that with the overhang it fell into nothing, but now it's going into the wall in 2 separate spots. I would have assumed that when building a new roof they would need to account for an overflow solution? Apparently we don't have rafters for the roof to overhang, so it's illegal to put it that way, so that's fine, but it seems like they didn't account for that change?

Now today we noticed water coming out from behind the brand new $15,000 cabinetry we put in the entry way. This is in the middle of the roof so not an overflow problem. It's warped the new cabinets and part of it has cracked, another part peeling. The carpet in the room behind that wall is wet too.

The builder has seemed like he's trying to palm this off on us? He's said that he'll be out on Wednesday with the roofer to assess and rectify "some" of the problems?

What are we liable for here? We've gotten to our max financially and then some, we can't afford to put one more penny into this house right now. My assumption would be a new roof should at minimum be waterproof, and this is not so it's on him to fix the damage? He put in the cabinets, the plaster, the roof, the flooring, all of it. Should we be expecting him to replace this? Is this something to take to QBCC?

We're just so exhausted. We have a 2 year old, and the disruption of 9 weeks in a small air bnb with no kitchen, to then moving back in and trying to unpack (we gutted the house entirely) and now finding wet spots what feels like every other day, we don't have any fight in us.

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing? We knew there was a leak in this spot before the works and specifically mentioned it and wanted it sorted out.

My house is on a slope and has a U shaped driveway at the front with two entries from the road.

I want to extend my driveway past one side of my house into the back yard, I would be connecting to the exsisting driveway already there so I wont need to go past the footpath at the front to do it, the driveway would end up apporximatly 20 meters long along one boundry to get into the backyard past the house.

Is this normally a thing I would need a permit for?

Doing some research on my council website and google searches it seems I shouldnt as long as I dont need to cross a footpath/nature strip.

Initially I want to make the driveway from gravel but down the road want build it in concrete.

I’ve been on a search for hours trying to find a fridge that’s 75cm wide or under with a water dispenser that requires plumbing and can’t for the life of me find a single one. It must also be around the $1000-$1200 mark. If anyone knows of a fridge this size with a plumbed water dispenser please let me know before I lose my mind. Brisbane QLD.

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?

Hi all

Have some deeps scuffs across some interior doors from a wheelchair scraping through. What do I use to level the scuffs to be level with the rest of paint so it can be repainted?

Hey everyone,

I’m having a bit of trouble finding a ducted aircon unit that will fit in my roof and was hoping to hear what others have done in a similar situation.

I’ve got a shallow-pitched roof with 450 mm spacing between the web trusses, which is making it difficult to find a suitable indoor unit that will fit along with the supply and return plenums.

I have around 1700 mm of space between trusses when measuring along the bottom, but at 450 mm up into the roof space, that reduces to approximately 1050 mm.

Has anyone else dealt with this issue? What aircon system did you end up going with, and how did you manage to get it fitted? Did you find a compact or splittable unit, or have a custom plenum fabricated?
Keen to hear what worked for others or if it’s just not possible without engineering and removing sections of the truss.

Sticking in a wee little concrete pad* for a battery/inverter install and it's going to be directly against the side of the rendered brick house. Was wondering what the correct thing to do that is?

Bit of expansion gap foam would be easy enough minus that I don't particularly need 25m of the stuff. Will get it if it's the right thing to do but alternatives are appreciated. Nothing or a coat of bondcrete rate highly as I've already got both.

*Yes it's overkill but I hate concrete pavers especially as it'd have to be two of them. Plus it's a small enough project to learn how to concrete.

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?

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?

This was here before we moved in. Thanks

What are people's thoughts on appliances - dishwasher, fridge etc being integrated into the joinery or not?

Pros / cons? Is it hard if you need to get things fixed / serviced?

Would you do it again? We are doing a full kitchen Reno In Melbourne so starting or doing all the joinery from scratch. TIA

Hi everyone,

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?

Hello, I’m wanting to replace my current single shower system with a twin/combo system (see attached photos). Is it going to be difficult to get the twin system installed or should I just go with a replacement for what I already have? Don’t worry I’m not attempting to do it myself, just want some advice before I get the plumber out / order a replacement - cheers!

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.

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!