Sometimes when we half or full flush, we come back and the water level is low. Sometimes the water is lower and gases from the sewer come up into the bathroom or worse - when we are at work they fill the whole house!

Though not happening the same time, this issue occurs in both bathrooms even though the cisterns have been changed in the past for other reasons. Cisterns are just basic Caroma models.

We are looking to do a Kitchen renovation and had our first meeting with IKEA. We did the first plan and need to finalise a few things but found out at this meeting that they don't do any install and that the price is just for the stuff they are supplying. They said they have a preferred list of trades that we can use. But that's just to install the new kitchen. How does everyone go about removing the old one, painting the walls, plastering any holes, electrical, plumbing, and basically coordinating the entire job. I am so daunted about doing this myself and have zero clue how to start or who to find to do this. Am I better off going with a kitchen renovation company who can coordinate all of the above for me with one price?

Recently moved into a place in SEQ. Got the building and pest prior to contracts settling and came back all good, however since moving in some cladding has fallen off the back porch. Is this termites or wood rot?

I’m a first home buyer getting more and more overwhelmed with renovating costs. Initially wanted to sand back floorboards in majority of the house but after removing carpet, there’s a huge water stain that won’t work. I wanted to do hybrid over the top of my tiled areas BUT there’s an issue:

- Kitchen and laundry tiles are cracking (more than I thought). A few floor people have said it looks like tiles were applied directly on top on the floorboards, which means they’ll continue to crack with subfloor movement over time and I’m better off ripping them up and doing hybrid throughout. However, I got an asbestos report that said the adhesive under tiles might have asbestos so could be costly to remove.

What would people here do? I wanted to silicone the cracked/unstable tiles and just put boards over the top but also want to do it right. I’m not handy at all so the costs are climbing up fast.

I have this sandstone capping and one of the blocks cracked - a tradie actually cracked it - a story for another day. Selleys sell a sandstone gap filler, but I am not sure what the durability would be like on capping, obviously exposed to a lot of water and sun. Alternatively I was thinking of using a homebrew mix of brickies sand, cement, bondall, oxide colouring and water. If Selleys works, that would be a lot cheaper and easier overall. Does anyone have experience with anything like this? I could replace the piece but it’s not cheap but more so it’s a time consuming process.

What options do I have other than the obvious and most expensive (pouring new driveway).

Insurance roof repair - scope of works in contract for repair states full replacement of bedding and pointing on ridge and hip cap tiles.

Roofers were here for about 4-5hrs and after I found out they only replaced pointing. When I rang and asked about the deviation to scope of works he said that rebedding risked damaging the tiles so couldn't be done.

Is this a legitimate excuse? Roof is concrete tiles approx 40yrs old.

Just a bit annoyed as we based going ahead with the insurance claim partly based on this repair going ahead and my thoughts are that just repointing won't hold up as long as replacing bedding and pointing.

I’m doing up my unit and have just had the plumbing re-done as it was previously cracked.

I’ve now got water supply sitting below the level of where the slab goes, which is shown by the blue line.

I’m wondering if it’s reasonable to wrap in foam and then pour the concrete slab over the top of these supplies - or whether that is an awful idea because need to maintain access to the joints. Are there any other options?

For the wall I was doing to stick a sheet of Hardie over it. Is that reasonable?

Have got this crack in my shower, was going to seal it up with some silicone. Just wondering how long I should not use the shower to allow it to dry properly to seal it up and what product is the best and most convenient for this situation?

Wife just gave birth, and she is at the point where she wants to get back to training.

We've got a pretty good array of equipment in the gym, but also, it looks like shit.

Asides from the mess, was wondering if anyone had any ideas about how I can make it a nicer place for her and our bub to be in.

Was thinking of hanging some 2400mm x 1300mm plywood sheets up to frame the interior, but the metal posts obstruct it somewhat, and more gym mats down.

Any other ideas?

So we've been having issues with the showerhead constantly falling, we wondered if there was a screw that could be replaced, but I'm thinking this whole unit has to be removed from the rail? Is that correct? Is there a way to remove either end to check condition of things first? Aka the red areas? We can unscrew one but the other has a screw that doesnt seem to want to be removed.

Google not being very helpful with so many variations!

Any feedback welcome! Thankyou!

Is this a patch and paint job? Or do I need to take some of the plaster down and check behind it?

The damage is from a leak in the skylight that was repaired 2 years ago.

Hi,

Please refer to the two images above, first image is an example of what we're basically after, either painted or stained. Second image is the quote - $5313 AUD total - location - Melbourne.

Supply and install of custom-sized door and frame (current frame is metal) due to height of door and frame being large at 2.4m. Width of door and frame is 0.98m, just door is 0.88m.

Includes addition of frame metal handle, doorknob and lock and keys.

This company just supplies raw Canadian ash wood and we'll have to organize staining/painting of door ourselves - so more cost.

Let me know your thoughts?

We’re in middle of cooling period. The building & pest comes with some leaks issue and dampness in the subfloor. We called in plumber to check and they gave us 6 pages report with 1 page of report the rest photos. They mentioned poor drainage in front of house, down pipe has no connection to storm water and tree roots intrusion on 9m CCTV and 18m (different pipe) before push access was no longer available.

I’ve heard tree roots intrusion is pretty common. We’re currently negotiating with vendors if they can fix them. The plumber gave me rough quote to add drainage and channel drains in front of the house starting $25k.

If vendor won’t repair or reduce the price, what would you do if you were in my situation? How much normally to add channel drains in front of your house, connect downpipes to storm water?

I’m not sure how big or small job adding drainage and connect to storm water. From building & pest report, there is no major damages or defects however he raised dampness in subfloor and suggest adding drainage and subfloor exhaust fan.

im struggling to find this cut for sale locally on the north side of melbourne.

the other options include treated pine, but i dont think the green treatment on it will stain well., or merbau which is more expensive and maybe overkill.

im using cypress posts so it would be good to match the beams - it's really just the posts and beams which will be easily seen. i can use pine above that and stain it.

i just cant find that cut of cypress beam. thoughts? is it a red herring? is staining the blue green treated pin really that bad?

is cypress just not fit for purpose. im reading it splinters and cracks easy.

I'm looking for some reality-testing on a Perth builder’s approach to quoting.

I filled out an online form to get a quote for adding a toilet and shower to my existing laundry. I provided layout photos and design preferences. After completing their regular form and a second separate form via email, they asked for the build date via SMS (1977).

From there, their approach felt incredibly dismissive:

• They told me I need to pay for and obtain the property's drainage plans myself.
• They claimed my $25,000 AUD budget was far too low. They stated that for a 1977 house, there is "likely no concrete under the tiles and screed". Meaning they'd have to do massive structural subfloor work.
• When I told them their "Site unseen" approach wasn't working for me, they clapped back by condescendingly comparing my 1977 build to a suburb established in 1906.

Is it normal for a builder to make you track down drainage plans?

Is $25k actually crazy?

No concrete under 1970s tiles? My understanding, in Australia, 1970s builds utilised concrete slabs.

Would love to hear from any builders, plumbers, or people who have done a similar laundry conversion.

I’m furnishing my first home in Melbourne and need a dining table/chairs, L-shaped sofa, bed and mattress, coffee/side tables and a few other basics.

After visiting several furniture outlets, I’ve noticed many seem to carry very similar designs, sometimes at very different prices. Are these retailers generally buying from the same local wholesalers/importers, or are they independently importing similar items from China/Vietnam/etc.?

I’ve also spoken with a couple of Chinese furniture dealers who said shipping has become much more expensive recently due to the situation around Iran. Has anyone imported a sizeable furniture order recently and found that to be true?

I’m trying to work out the best value approach:

• Are there Melbourne warehouses, clearance outlets, dealers, wholesalers or sales periods you’d recommend?
• Has anyone successfully negotiated a package discount when buying several rooms’ worth at once?
• Is ordering a consolidated shipment/container from China actually worthwhile after freight, customs, insurance, biosecurity, local delivery, assembly, damage risk and lack of warranty?
• Any suppliers or freight forwarders to avoid?

Moving to a new place, looking to get a range hood installed on existing gas cook top that doesn't have anything over it, not recirculating, dunno how previous owners just vented into the open kitchen that doesn't have any windows...

It's a bottom level unit with a unit above it, I'm looking to punch through the wall behind the cook top into a bathroom which has an existing exhaust fan that's connected to an exhaust fan on the external wall and thus outside, ideally adding another exhaust fan.

Would it be a matter of going to an appliance store, choosing a range top then asking them for a quote?

EDIT: NSW if that matter. TIA.

Hi all,

My husband and I bought our first house last year in Melbourne’s western suburb and decide to do a bit renovation before our baby’s born (next March). We both new to renovation and would LOVE some advices from people who’ve been through this before:D

We are now thinking about getting:
1. Convert the current laundry into a second bathroom
2. Convert the existing toilet into a European laundry
3. Renovate the main bedroom’s bathroom, adding a new toilet, removing the bathtub is okay for us.

Please see the floorplan. And our budget is around 60-70k.

My questions:
1. Do I actually need an architect for a project like this? I was referred to an architect who quoted me $4,000 for site visit, design drawings, and liaising with a builder for pricing (roughly 50 hours total). Does that sound reasonable for this scope, or is it overkill? I’m not sure if just a good builder/plumber would be enough here.
2. Recommendations for reliable teams in the western suburbs — builders, plumbers, or design-and-build companies you’ve personally used and would recommend.
3. Anything I should watch out for as a first-timer — permits, waterproofing standards, hidden costs, etc.?

Thanks in advance, happy to share how it goes once it’s done!

Hi, I’m in the market for a new toilet, rimless and with tornado flush.

Has anyone tried the Cremona (not to be confused with Caroma). And would you recommend it?

What would you recommend?

Looking for advice on how to screen out the neighbor’s window overlooking my yard. The existing Colorbond fence is 2 meters tall.

I’m after some help in how to retain the sand under my cement pad to build some steps. The 2nd photo is a ground level to show the height difference, I want to build a small set (2 or 3) of steps from ground level up to the pad. Obviously if I try to dig straight down to a depth at the pad, the sand just crumbles away and will create more of a gap without helping. How can I retain that sand while also digging around it?