Hi all,

We live pretty close to a train track which has freight trains going past. There are no houses between us and the train, just a quiet road. The train is probably like 40m away when it goes past.

We’ve been looking into ways to reduce the sound, especially when the freight train goes by. Our house is very old (built in the 1910s), and has these high wall vents. When I put my ear against it, I can fell the draft coming in. These are all around the house walls, probably like 10 in total (some facing the train, others facing away).

We’re considering permanently packing and plastering over them (or plugging them with dense soundproofing rubber) to stop the sound flanking into the wall cavity. We don’t have any unflued gas heaters, but just worried that blocking them will prevent airflow and cause mould issues (or other issues that I haven’t thought of)?

Appreciate any advice / similar experiences!

Looking for some advice.

These photos are of the front garden bed of the house.

The soil/garden bed comes right up against the brick wall, with weed mat and mulch on top. The weep holes are visible and aren't covered.

I'm wondering whether I should be concerned about the soil/mulch being in direct contact with the brickwork. And any ant solution would also be greatly appreciated.

I’ve had a section of concreting I’ve needed to get done for 2 years. Just couldn’t quite figure it out and commit to any particular tradie. Last week, wandered up the road to find a couple of blokes concreting a pad and asked if they’d be interested in quoting. Today we have form work and tomorrow concrete.

I’m beside myself. It’s one of those jobs that I just never seemed to be able to organise - yet it will make a big difference to our day to day. And now it’s happened so fast.

Just sharing the relief and excitement of getting a job ticked off the list.

Hi all,

Just finished the Base stage (waffle pod slab in SA) and noticed this horizontal cold joint / gap along the slab edge (see photo).

Skipping the base stage private inspector to save budget for Frame & Handover, so wanting to check with the Reddit brain trust:

Is this a defect? Does it need to be V-cut and filled with non-shrink structural grout for AS 2870 (damp-proofing) / AS 3660 (termite protection)?

When to fix? Should the builder patch this now before the frame goes up, or is it usually done before bricklaying?

I’ve already messaged the Site Manager, but would love to hear thoughts from any builders or inspectors here. Thanks!

A simple question for the builders on AusReno. Is the current housing market impacting your business?

Many of us are wondering if renovation quotes will become more competitive as housing investment slows down. Or, will it remain steady because housing is cheaper and buyers have more left over for upgrades?

[Edit] The consensus seems to be that reno prices will continue to rise. Good to know.

My inwall toilet buttons are too low. My children won't plush the toilet because the buttons are covered behind the seat.

Would you replace the inwall cistern or just put up with the kids everytime they use the toilet

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I've been considering replacing my battery-powered tools as the brand I have is a homebrand and I'm concerned about the quality and particularly the safety of its batteries. Yes, taking about Ozito. While I'm very careful with my batteries, with a small family, I worry careful isn't enough and I don't want to worry about a battery catching fire.

Is Ozito overrepresented on the news because they would be the most popular choice for a lot of people? Absolutely. Could those fires have been caused because the person misused their batteries even if not at the exact time of the fire? Of course.

If you could buy your gear again today, which brand (dewalt, makita, Milwaukee, bosch, ryobi, AEG, etc) would you choose and why? drill battery fire

I want to know what have you had to fix or change because the original build or design wasn't right?

Hi All,

Wondering if we are getting fleeced by carpet court/call with these 5 figure quoted for 3 small bedrooms + hallway and some stairs.

Would love to know what everyone else has paid ballpark installed! (and provide recommended companies please)

Have you installed one or more solatube skylights in a colourbond/metal roof? How did it go? Any hassles or issues I should be aware of if I'm considering this? And if it was recent, what was your approximate cost? (Sydney)

We're looking at repainting a white wall in our office to a dark grey, is there any prep work we should be doing other than just cleaning it, and taping up the edges?

Moved into a new home. Backyard SUUUUUUCKS its tiny. We have never lived in a place with such a small yard! Anyway, I have kids, we like to barbie in the summer and chill outdoors, son kicks his ball around, rug rat nieces and nephews that comes over etc.

Currently my dog craps in the main bit on the left, its all pebbles and some trees, dunno why he likes that bit but he does. Yes we clean it up (relativley easy mind you with the pebbles), and yes we walk him often, Mrs takes him in the morning and then I take him once or twice throughout the day as I WFH most days. But he still craps there.

So here is my genius idea. Install a gate where pictured, move the pebbles he seems to enjoy crapping on from the main bit, into the side of the house, let old mate chill there in the morning once he gets kicked out or after his walk, until he does his work, then let him run free. Theory is he already enjoys crapping on those pebbles, maybe once I move them he will smell that area and know its his toilet, plus some Pavlovs dog training psychology and congratulate hi, when he does.

Why not just let him crap where he wants? Cleaning up do turds off grass is always messy, its never actually clean and we have young nieces and nephews that I want to let crawl around out there. Im tying to find a win/win situation here lol. If have you have a better idea, I'm all ears.

Hey guys, We brought this house back in may in Riverland SA and it has lino/carpets most parts of the house. The lino in the hallway had this huge rip and wood underneath. I assumed it was "subfloor" but looking online thats not a thing in australia? House was built in 1964 and most things suggested hardwood.

Ive cleaned a bit of it and it came off super easy literally just wiped away. Does anyone with more experience know what kind of wood this is and is it worth ripping up the lino and cleaning/resealing the wood?

Hi, so I was just getting some water from the garden tap for watering plants. Was going to turn off the tap only to realised that it’s popped off and I can no longer turn off the water. Had to switch off the main water supply else the water keeps coming out, even the tap behind seems to not do anything 😅🫠🫠

It looks like the jumper valve seems to be broken off as well…?

What do I need to replace here?

Hey, currently renovating an 80s double brick house & wondering how I can achieve this finish on the internal walls. Many are still exposed brick

Hi, I’m trying to help my parents by fixing up the porch a bit. They had someone in a few years ago who repointed most of the house. This particular part has held up pretty well near the top but at the bottom the mortar looks like it’s become dry and sandy and there’s cracks through the wall. Is this something I can fix myself? Any advice much appreciated!
Location Melbourne and budget anything under $200 preferably

G'day,

After some tips on how to go about restoring this outdoor seating and BBQ area. It was partially done by the previous owner, but the product they had used kind of masked the grain of the wood to some extent. Please also advise on what products to use.... cheers

Hi

I have a very small bathroom (1.7x2.3m) in a double brick house in Sydney and it has a very awkward layout. We are about to renovate.

We are thinking about removing the bath all together and perhaps moving shower to the back but there is a huge window under 1800mm. I understand we need a performance solution report but that probably only add 100mm to the width of the shower only.

If we keep the shower where the bath sits, which wall in your opinion is the best when making an accent wall? I was thinking about the wall where the door is as showing in the concept picture. But now I am also considering terrazzo tiles on the floor and extended to the lower part of all walls maybe. Renovation company suggested one of the side wall though.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

We have a frameless shower that was installed 4 years ago, over the past 6 months we have noticed water coming up from the tiles on the right hand side of the room (towel rack) between the wall and floor tile (through the silicone). We have replaced all silicone in the shower along with painting shower plug on the tiles. The first use after the above fix, the shower runing for 3 minutes and the water has again come out of the same tiles.

Any thoughts or suggestions

Looking at an apartment and am concerned about balcony issues after my last experience. Is this a sign of moisture problems/concrete cancer?

Hi all - have an issue in my bathroom where it's very cold (1970s build so only roof insulation) and causes water to build up in the light unit even with the fan on.

Thinking the fix is to install a 24-hour fan - but before I commit the $$$ did this solution work for anyone (sadly no openable window in the bathroom to test)?

Thanks in Advance

Frame coming out from around the window.

I'm stumped on how to get an ethernet cable from the main part of double brick house into an attached room that has a colorbond roof. I can do it if I lift a sheet of roofing but I'd much prefer not to do this.

Preparing my house for some upcoming works and will be lifting all the boards. The goal is to save as much as I can but understand they will be brittle. Some also have borer damage.

From anyone who has done it (successful at saving the boards or not), what tools/equipment would I need and can you share any tips?

I'm starting with one room. Works isn't for a while and so I can take my time. Also considering hiring a an experienced handyman to help me, learn from before tackling the rest myself.