I started off reading decks and pergola's book by allan Staines. It's a great book to get some ideas and to get started. I based everything from the book in my plannings and YouTube and friends. And so far everything seems to be running pretty good so far. The only thing I'm concerned about is my pergola it seems very sturdy. I'm using 115mm merbau gl17 post they are on stirrups with 600 mm x 450mm concrete footings. My beams are 240*42 merbau gl17 at 6 m long and spanning between the post at 4.5m apart with about 700 over hang on both sides. The rafters are 140x45 mgpt. Do you think it's sturdy enough? I don't know if I should put knee braces on the post and beams. My wife doesn't want them but it would help me sleep at night. As I've never built a deck before. And this would be the largest timber project I've ever done. I can walk on the roof very comfortably. It does vibrate. I guess I'm just used to walking on houses more than pergola's. It's also on 4 extender brackets on the roof. And the full length is about 6 m from the house is about 6 and about 6 m across. Does it look sturdy to you based on your experiences? I'm just worried it might fall over. I'm based in shoalhaven NSW. I'm not close to the beach. But we do get some high winds occasionally. Apparently we're not in a high wind area though. Maybe I'm over thinking it. Is this what everyone experiences when they build something for the first time?

We recently purchased our home at auction. We ended up paying more than the expected house price because the location perfectly suited our family's needs and requirements. The house is around 50 years old.

Before purchasing, we arranged a building inspection. Fortunately, no major issues were identified, which gave us confidence that the property was in good condition overall.

The house is built higher than the surrounding ground level. In fact, from outside, we cannot even reach the window by hand because of the height. However, yesterday we noticed a large crack on the external wall. The crack starts just below the window and extends almost all the way down to the bottom of the wall.

Naturally, this has made me quite worried. We are hoping it is not a major structural defect. At the moment, we do not have the financial capacity to undertake significant structural repairs if they are required.

One thing worth mentioning is that all the doors and windows appear to be properly aligned and operate normally. We have not noticed any sticking doors, difficulty opening windows, or obvious signs of movement inside the house.

Based on your experience, could you please help me understand how serious this issue might be and whether it should be treated as a high priority? If it does require attention, how urgently should it be addressed? Is it something that can safely wait for a period of time? Also, if anyone has dealt with a similar issue, I would appreciate any indication of the possible repair costs.

I have seen how supportive and knowledgeable this community is, and I would be very grateful for any advice or guidance. Please let me know what you think I should do next. I am feeling quite anxious about it and would really appreciate your help.

Thank you in advance.

Our Bosch heat pump dryer is terrible, takes 6 hours for a load of towels. My mum has a new Series 8 and is finding the same.

I don’t care so much about energy efficiency but I don’t want to shrink everything.

Recommendations for a decent replacement please; family of four and doing a lot of towel loads each week with 12+ laundry loads each week

Im currently making this panel for a queenslander door... what is your opinion on the design... is it too lovey?

Had a concreter lay “most” of our 170m2 perimeters with premix titanium exposed ag. Firstly, it was laid over three consecutive days/months so the inconsistencies are real bad. The dead side of the house is so terribly over exposed you can’t even walk on it barefoot, and he’s left slurry all over our fences. First lay was Feb, the last July. Now claiming he’s not sealing as it was never part of the quote (which our conversations were it was to be sealed). 5k quote from another concreter to do it. But to rub salt into the wounds, the truck ran out of concrete, so my second drive is only half done. Now the concreter isn’t coming back saying the jobs gone past the quoted price and it’s not justifiable. We changed colour from ghost to titanium which we didn’t know, or wasn’t told it was more expensive. I stupidly paid him the full amount too, which is a massive lesson learnt. Any advice on how I could proceed with this?

Hi all,
I’ve just purchased an apartment (1965-ish build) and noticing an increase of flies as the weather gets a bit warmer, I have one of these in every corner of my place and some of them are not covered with fly screen…
Before I look into getting someone out to redo the fly screen from the inside, is it worth me patching them up instead? Is there any purpose for them? I have seen one other post stating they are for gas heaters etc but I don’t have anything like that anyway..

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I accidentally left a burn mark on the table and was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to fix it or at least make it less noticeable.

We’re moving out at the end of this month, so I’d really appreciate any advice or recommendations!

Thanks so much in advance!

I’d love to ask a local tiler but responses from trades are hard to come by in my area, remains to be seen when/if I can get a tiler so I am trying to progress what I can. What do you guys think?

Hi all,

Maybe this isn't the right forum but I'm interested in perspectives and maybe just writing this will help me work things out.

We had some electrical work done at our house from a good looking company with lots of high (5*) Google reviews etc.

I asked for a rep to come out as it was reasonably complicated in my mind and wanted a scope on what was possible and what was not. It's about 6 power points. Three are replacements three are new ones. The other work is swapping out LED downlights for new ones and swapping out batton fixtures for LED oyster lights.

The rep arrive, nice guy, good communicator, in is early 20's. We work stuff out and he takes pictures, takes notes etc.

He writes back a quote by email and I go through it. Most of is its not what we discussed. I correct the PDF, send it back. He resends it to me. Still not right. I send corrected back.

Job goes to the next section and they send out the job. It's wrong and resend what we wanted with no adjustments from what we first asked for.

On install day the guys show up. One guy in his mid 20's in in charge and the other two are apprentices.

Lead guy starts asking what we want installed and where. I say 'haven't you got that already?' Apparently he needs to check with us first. The power is off and I can't access my past emails on my phone. A lot of the power points are installed with the wrong modules. When the lead guy is installing the first down light, the hole saw skips and it tears the ceiling around it. He's clearly frustrated by it and trying to play it down as well. He ends up patching, sanding and painting and it looks shit in the right light. To me, the LED downlights are way overpowered. We had 45W there before and these are something a lot brighter and glary.

Where they placed the large LED oysters in the bathrooms each they have somehow damaged the ceiling and had to paint wide swaths around it. I don't fathom how that could have happened. The paints are different as types and stand out when you walk into the bathroom and look up in any direction.

Further to that, the next day I see the laminate bathroom counter is badly scratched with about 8 zig-zags 30cm wide. They seem to have placed a toolbox on it and twisted and twisted or something. I have no idea how much force that would have been needed to do such a thing.

What should I do for recourse?

My wife is feeling like she wants to play this down and let it go. We have two power points that are not the right ones we wanted and (superficial?) damage to the house.

Hey all, my old cooktop decided to keep the largest circle permanently on (while we were away...) so I want to replace it.

The problem is all of the brands of similarly sized cooktops have slightly bigger depth (front to back), width is fine (in fact slightly more that required).

I got a Bosch cooktop and it needs extra 3-4mm in depth to go fully in to sit flush to the surface.

What are the options to shaving 3-4mm from the front edge of the cut-out in engineered stone?

I read there is a ban in NSW around engineered stone since 2024.

If anyone can suggest options for filling in the 2 notches on the right, it would also be great.

I would appreciate any recommendations of the companies that deal with engineered stone for adequate price.

Thanks!

Sunshine coast, Qld. Seeking ideas for making this area safer with young kids. The deck drops about 2.5ft down to the next, which is dangerous enough with young kids. Catch is, need to be able to access the crawl space under the deck on one side at least and comply with pool fencing laws. Also the kids like to access the backyard to the left in the photo so we wanted to avoid a fence/gate at the top. Would love some ideas please.

Hi all, we are finally in a position to start renovating our 3 bed 2 bath home in SEQ. But it now seems like a daunting task, and trying to figure out the process and steps.

I’m pretty handy on the tools and have knocked out plenty of small projects around the house, so would ideally like to DIY as much as possible, within reason. Budget is approx $100k, but understand that is unlikely to get the whole house done

The sorts of things I’m seeking clarity on are, do we go room by room or all at once, what jobs get done first and what get done last, owner builder vs engaging a builder, who can assist with design ideas.

What resources have people used to get across what they’re in for and help make decisions?

Looking to replace the current shutter blinds with blackouts in this space 2370mm x 660mm. Would it be cheapest to get the blinds custom made at Bunnings/ Spotlight and then paying someone to install? Never installed myself and the wall is concrete.

How to go about fixing and painting this wall?

The paint is peeling off also, does it need an oil based primer to seal it all in?

Appreciate any tips etc

We had the windows replaced, removed the old wood panelling and textured wallpaper, and had the walls smoothed out over a year ago. Recently, we’ve started noticing cracks around quite a few windows and doors, some diagonal and others horizontal.
They showed up over the Summer.
Please help!

How hard is it if we do this ourselves? If too hard, how expensive could it be?

Everyone was really helpful on my last post, so I’m back again haha.

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to remove the six bricks that were used as support columns for the old bathtub?

I’ve tried using an SDS hammer with a chisel bit and a multi-tool to loosen it up but haven’t had much luck getting them to budge. Might have to try an angle grinder with a diamond blade, but any suggestions before I go down that route?

Regarding the mortar on the toilet waste and vent pipes am I right in thinking I’ll just have to carefully chip it away by hand to avoid damaging the pipes?

Lastly, I want to remove the old built-in vanity but wanted to get some opinions on whether it could potentially be structural, particularly whether it might be supporting the window above it?

I requested the original building plans from the council, and there’s nothing indicating that it is. My gut says it’s fine to remove, but I’m still a little sceptical and would rather double-check before ripping it out.

On a side note, it amazes me that these old buildings are still structurally sound, considering how much of the “load-bearing” walls were cut into for plumbing etc. Feels like half the walls are missing at this point lol.

Any advice would be appreciated :)

Thank you!!!

I’m looking for vinyl wrap formy kitchen cupboard doors. I’ve found a fewplaces online, but I’d love to see the colours andfinishes in person before buying.
Does anyone know of any shops or suppliers in Brisbaneor the Gold Coast that have samples or displays?
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated

I wrapped 2 doors with cheap Amazon vinyl but it isn’t wide enough to do the bigger doors and very cheap quality.

Just want to really give a shout out to Builders Discount Warehouse at Brendale in Brisbane

Currently redoing my bathroom / laundry/ toilet

After ordering a laundry sink and toilet online, to which the wrong model toilet was delivered

Ordered an extended height one , extra 20cm at bowl, have a medical condition

And a normal height turned up, quick phone call and everything was sorted in that one call

Thank you Ashlee and her team

I've got a sub floor ledger bolted to a brick wall. It's h3 T3 plus, never gets wet with plenty of airflow. No moisture barrier was installed so I thought I'd flood the seam with boracol as insurance. Any better ideas?

I'm looking at building a small (3x2m-ish) uncovered floating deck over a sloped bit of concrete out the side of my house as a place to put an outdoor bathtub (hopefully an enamelled cast iron job if I can find one second hand).

Considering that a cast iron tub full of water and flabby human probably weighs something close to 350kg, and that the nature of an outdoor bath will result in water spilling on the deck a lot, and also that it will be sitting uncovered and getting rained on anyway, I was thinking that perhaps it would be worth using hardwood not just for the decking and posts but also the joists for extra structural strength and water+pest resistance. Was looking at something like this for the joists maybe? https://narangbatimbers.com.au/shop/structural/structural-hardwood/gos-hardwood-f14-h3/

Obviously this would be more expensive than treated pine, and harder to work with given the extra weight and density. I'm reasonably handy, but this would be my first attempt at building a deck, so I don't want to discount the extra difficulty of working with hardwood for the framing.

If I used the wood from the link for joists I think it would work out roughly twice the price per meter over treated pine, but it seems possible to me I'd need to use more pine to get the extra structural strength I want, so the gap may not be as big as that in the final tally. I'm also assuming the pine has a higher chance of failing from rot or pests than the hardwood does, so might save me needing to rebuild it in 10 years if the wood is more resilient.

So what do you lot reckon? Is it just a load of extra expense and hassle for not that much benefit, or would it be worth it?

Hi all,

as per the title, we have one burner on this cook-top that wont stop clicking once the knob is pressed.

Taking the knob off, i can see the button which engages the clicker does not spring back up once pressed (like the others) - i can manually pull it up, then it stops clicking.

my impression is that a spring or some other mechanism is likely broken

I have tried
- some WD40 - incase there was grease/grime clogging something up - seemed to make no difference.
- removing the two screws to see what else i can get too - but one of them just wont budge

Does anyone here have any sugestions ? seems overkill (an expensive) to get a tech out for something so small.

the westinghouse site doesnt have a manual that i can find... only a "facts sheet"

I had a fence replaced back in August 25 after I purchased the property due to the old one waving in the wind and being in poor condition.

I waited from memory over 6 months to stain the fence at the time I noticed some small splits in the middle of a few palings, i wasn’t happy with it but thought maybe it’s just normal and wasn’t worth chasing up. Fast forward to now and the splits seem to be getting worse. Seems kinda pointless paying over 1.5k for a small fence and half of the palings are splitting in the middle when the one from the 80’s had no issues like this.

i’ve googled it and seems like it could it could of been overdriving the nails? I really cannot deal with a defensive business right now so wanting to see if others think it’s valid to follow up for them to replace the 5 palings.

Have this wood which gets blasted by the western sun in summer, how can I fix it and protect it from future damage

I have a 90's brick veneer house in the Hunter Valley with colorbond roof. There's no sarking or blanket under the colourbond and only have thermal batts in the attic. I live under the flight path so looking at retrofitting noise insulation. Most sites I read recommend removing the colorbond, laying the blankets and then reinstalling the colorbond. The other options are acoustic batts, a second layer of ceiling gyprock or double glazed windows.

I'm wondering if there are other cheapish options?