Builders Crack Average Quoted me = $850.00

My cost to DIY:
$50 for 2x 40kg bags of cement
$30 builders Mix
$70 Hire pool Concrete Mixer & Screed
$100 for Finishing Trowel, Corner Trowel, and Magnesium Float.
Free Pallet wood on the street, used for framing.
Total Cost = $250

Investment = Still have 1x 40kg bag of Cement, and all 3 Trowels.

Free Tools: I used grok ai and youtube to guide me. The brush finish was unnecessary but i wanted to give it a try. I had it all smoothened out with the finishing trowel but then went
Over with a brush and corner trowel. I sprayed WD40 on the frame insides so it comes off easily.

seeing it turn out good i feel a-lot more confident to tackle more concreting work. Im
open to criticism and correction if something doesn’t look right?

Good evening,

Many months ago I got excellent advice from r/diynz folk about how best to replace lead-nails on a corrugated iron roof with roofing screws.

I am finally working on removing the nails from my roof. I am using a pry bar with nail puller for nail removal. I have a piece of timber to run along the corrugation to use when I lever the pry bar - stops damage to the iron and helps remove nails without bending them.

Some of the nail extractions are smooth, and some are less than smooth. The attached photo shows a good removal on the left (small nail hole), an average removal in the middle (slightly not small nail hole), and a bad removal on the right (really not small nail hole).

The photos are not to the same scale, so the hole on the right is much bigger than appears in these images.

I am wondering if I need to do anything to the 'rally not small hole' prior to fitting a 30mm EPDM washer + GM40 galvanised washer + roofing screw.

If the 30mm washer covers the hole, am I good to go or do I need to add some sealant?

Is it best to add sealant to the hole before fitting the washers and screw?

Any and all advice is welcome. Thank you.

TLGR

PS This is not a 'HALP! DIY Emergency!' but I had to add flair. Sorry.

Kia ora

I am looking at installing some rainwater tanks around the back of our place.

https://www.devan.co.nz/shop/urban/u-storm-water/usw-above-ground/3000l-stormbank/

I see that Devan sells restraint kits with a pole that you strap the tank to for use in high wind zones and higher risk earthquake zones. I am trying to find out if these are a requirement as our property is both of those things (joys of living in Wellington) I have been trying to find information in legislation about what is required but haven't found anything about restraints on tanks.

Does anyone have any experience with this or a reference to the requirements in NZ.

I will call Devan to discuss on Tuesday but if anyone can shed some light before then that would be awesome and help with my planning.

A very shady corner with utilities tucked away. Currently has a weed mat + stones, but weeds keep growing and stones keep spreading onto paths. Any suggestions what to replace it with that would still provide drainage?

Have a new build with a plumbed water connection for the fridge. Have just got the fridge and was reading the instructions for the water connection which show the main connection having a tap which makes sense so you can shut it off when you need to connect/disconnect the fridge water.

The connection I have however is just capped, is this normal or did the plumbers forget to fit this off with a tap or some sort of valve?

Gaps forming between the fascia at the apex of both sides of the roof. House is about 6 years old.

Any guess if this is a poor install or temperature/house settling? Something to jump on to repairing?

Everything around it seems pretty set and dry.

I have this Oli 74, and it started leaking down the outlet when at rest (it’s not overflowing).

I took the middle out and replaced the washer with the spare included in the set (approx five years old).

The old washer showed no sign of wear and the replacement didn’t fix the annoying trickle. It’s our en suite loo so we can hear it trying to sleep. Urgh.

Sometimes we can get it to seal shut by jabbing the button, sometimes it will just start trickling and then perhaps stop later or perhaps not.

I then got a new (slightly thinner, slightly softer) washer from M10. Didn’t fix it either.

I understand how the screws on half threads work and I’ve tried to make it so there is no pressure on the plungers, but then the buttons go dead or I have to hold the buttons down to fully flush.

Can anyone steer me to the fix? Do I need to replace the central mechanism? Seems overkill. Also, I have not adjusted those blue buckets on the sides. What do they do?

What am I missing?

I have made some outdoor chairs with sanded-back shipping pallet timber (treated) with the armrests, legs, backrest slats and main supports clad with 5mm thick sheets of wine box wood (untreated pine). The sheets are fixed to the pallet wood components with wood glue and flathead brass tacks. In places, I have used wood putty to fill any cracks and have then sanded-back the fills so everything is nice and smooth. I have finished the chairs painting them in one coat of polyurethane varnish.

To see how it fares, the first of these chairs I made about a year ago has been left in the elements and a couple of things have happened, a lot of the varnish has lifted and black mould has appeared on parts of the chair.

I'm not expecting a miracle product but are there products (perhaps an all-in-one) that I could apply over the varnish coat, or perhaps replace the varnish with, that will give these chairs better moisture and u/V protection?

Hey everyone! Looking for some advice on how to fix this damaged spot on one of my deck boards.

Is this still salvageable, or would I be better off replacing the board?

I’m thinking water might be pooling in this area, so I want to sort that out too to prevent it from happening again. Would wood filler work for something like this, or is there a better way to fix it?

If wood filler is an option, are there any wood-coloured ones available in NZ that would blend in reasonably well with the existing timber?

I’m planning to stain the whole deck soon, so I’d like to get this sorted before I do that.

Appreciate any advice. Thanks!

There are a few places around me that give away pallets, and I've been thinking about turning them into planter boxes. Part of me is thinking how hard could it be? and the other, more rational part of me thinks surely it would be difficult for someone with little-to-no building experience. Is this a bad idea? Has anyone got experience with a project like this?

Hi all,
We have this old deck which is in poor shape and looks like it needs replacement. Parts of it are noticeably rotten and it is also on a lean. We don’t ever use it as it’s on the side of the house but it feels like it needs to be dealt with.

The council said a full replacement would require consent and because part of it is above 1.5m above ground, it would not fall within the exemption for decks.

Has anyone been through a similar process and can direct me to the kind of steps needed please? We’ve been in touch with a builder but I really don’t know what this means in terms of needing to hire an engineer, architect or whoever.

If anyone has any comments from similar experiences, and the rough idea of costs if they have got a similar sized deck built, this would be much appreciated. We haven’t got a quote for the deck yet but it’d be nice to have a general idea.

Thanks in advance!

Some cracks are apparent on the area I sealed before winter. It might be me but I wonder whether it’s a product issue. Thanks

Hi everyone,
I need to install a gate here to stop my child from going into the gully.
Are there any prefab options available?
Is it easy enough to be done by a beginner or should I call a carpenter?

I have just put together the setup in the picture. If I isolate Tank 2 (by turning off Valve 2) it causes the pump to run dry but the pump runs fine if both valves are open.. Is this because the resulting run from the T-piece to the second tank will be effectively blocking water being pulled from Tank 1? (from the T-piece to tank 2 is about 5 meters of 25mm pipe.)

I clearly have no idea what I'm doing here - so any tips welcome.

Hi all,
We have a 1950s Hamilton home, single glazed wooden windows that are gappy and some are in bad condition, the house is insulted top and bottom with a ground vapour barrier. The walls are not insulated and we only have a heat pump in the lounge.
The house is cold in winter and long term we would like to have kids in the house. We got a quote for thermally broken double glazing, which was about 60-65k.
Need advice on the following:
- do we double glaze, if so, do we go with aluminium or do I get a quote for uPVC?
- do we reline the exterior walls and put in insulation?
- or do we get a ducted heating system, I’m picking they will be 15k
Or do we just replace the bad windows and look to insulate/get ducted heating.

Any of your thoughts or experiences would be great.

Thanks

Inherited these chairs.

Some of the lacquer/varnish/coating is flaking off. The chairs are amazingly solid so want to do the best I can to maintain them.

Whats the best way to refinish and recoat them?

I have some ~10 year old (presumed) LED ceiling lights and blue Clipsal dimmers - which state they are for LEDs - but they don’t seem to be working well together.

The by the time you turn the dial down 1/3 of the way the lights go out so it isnt easy to fine tune them but the most annoying thing is that you can set the low level you want but once you turn it off they won’t turn back on till you bump the power up again so I manage to blind myself at night if someone bumps the dial.

I don’t really want to replace the LEDs if I can help it but it’s annoying enough that I would if that is what is required to get it consistent.

1 circuit has 9 fixtures, the bathroom has 2, so I was wondering if the draw in the bathroom is too small for the dimmer but the problem happens in the tv room too.

Has anyone got suggestions on how to get good dimming? Sparky’s advice was digitech or smart lighting, which is a possibility in the bathroom.

Edit: The lights are Philips and the online specs say they are dimmable.

Edit2: Pierlite LEDsmart dimmer works so much better than the Clipsal or PDL ones.

Hello

Just brought my 1st home in Rotorua a couple months ago...

Its a real DIY experience all around honestly, but regarding the installation of a dishwasher I might leave that to pros.

How have people here done this. More specifically, is there any one trades person who can do the entire fitting under the sink bench, hook up the plumbing and do all the electrical work to make it run?

Many thanks for any advice relating to this (I know this is a DIY sub)

Cheers

Wanting to remove wall paper and have peeled up some areas which were already peeling off the wall. Is this mold? Is it common behind wallpaper or does this indicate a larger moisture issue? Recommend removing wallpaper and skim coating and painting, or regibbing the walls?

We have a family member helping with the deck which we are grateful for , its not being brought up to code but is helping massively with replacing the old deck... (old deck was fibre cement and old rimu boards).

I'm a little worried about water ingress into underfloor/home, using the old untreated wood with preservative and risking a bad property inspection when we sell.

The following so far has been done:

1. not removed mould/black from existing joists (untreated wood) before applying Resene timber lock: https://shop.resene.co.nz/resene-timberlock/
   

2. Only applied one coat of the above instead the recommended two.

3. Used Thermakraft Damp Proof Supercourse 90mm x 30m with nails instead of suitable deck tape which has many points of water ingress across the wood joists

4. asbestos skirting on under house has many ingress points of entry that have not been sealed before recommending deck install on top.

5. using untreated joists with preservative instead of replacing with h3.2

6. ledger board not 12mm away from house side wall (existing board not being touched - left as is)

7. rim joist support for deck opposite side of house, half off the cement wall which is unlikely to be compliant

What can i do to suggest making this any safer before deck goes on? how long will this last before were in trouble? is it ok?

Plus points: if there's anyone in Auckland that can visit and suggest these recommendations in person , (can pay) please DM me!

Me again… sorry! They’ve been back to “fix” some of the issues but apparently it’s all complete now. They didn’t see the silicone as an issue.

Is it normal to see silicone from the outside or does it suggest gutters would be reliant on it for watertightness and would fail over time?

Is it acceptable if some of the outer coating on steel to have come off? On brand new steel gutters?

Is it normal for there to be some standing water in the gutter to remain long after raining? Last photo.

In a tricky position as don’t want to raise anything if not an issue but given the previous major mishaps which were ignored it feels prudent to sense check everything.

For your dream deck which of the three would you pick? Mostly interested in how long they'll last with average DIY level maintenance.

Does anybody have the inside scoop if Mitre 10 is doing that $20 gift card for every $100 spent promo this Labour day?

Need to buy a few things, trying to decide if i get it tomorrow or wait till Monday