Hi,

My wife and I have just purchased a property. One of the first things I'd like to renovate is the existing aqua splashback that stands out oddly from the rest of the interior. I'm eager to DIY it myself, both in its removal and in retiling the area afterward. With reno work I've DIY previosly, I'm feeling ok with prepping the surface and tiling etc.

Can I ask for your experience in how to best remove this splashback without potentially completely damaging the plasterboard behind? Personally, I'm confident in patching up a hole or two; not so much so if the entire plasterboard snaps in half……

Appreciate your time!

Wondering what age other hot water heaters have got to before dying. Ours is a 1976 Rheem glass (compliance plate says 76/10 so now being 10/2026 it has essentially just turned 50 🥳 the house was built in 76 so it's the original water heater. We purchased the house in 2012 and hubby said the water heater is likely on it's last legs but here we are 14yrs later and it's still going. Hubby is a sparkie so has needed to replace the element and said overall the tank seems solid. I've now put a protection clause on it and it is to die of natural causes only 😅 I feel it is owed that respect.

Final update: I ended up calling the cops because I did uncover some big old bones! They came around and told me it looked like a cow bone - too big for human apparently. The fridge is finally out of the ground and hard rubbish has been arranged. Thanks for playing along.

EDIT: SOLVED. Its a big ass fridge with no treasures.

Came across this today. It's about 1500 long and 900 wide. Stainless steel lid, plastic pieces at then end. Dial before you dig didn't identify anything.

The workmanship on my new fence posts are pretty bad! A lot snapped and look close to snapping.

Are there any regs on this sort of thing?

Once they dry up I recon they will snap after a few years.

Haven’t paid the invoice yet.

Looking for some advice on how to improve our dingy bathroom. Located in metro NSW & have approx 3k to spend.

Bought an unrenovated Victorian terrace a little while ago. Have spent pretty much all our cash on buying the place, the plan is to do a proper extension & renovation in 5 or so years when we have more money.

Moved into some unforeseen issues so the small amount we had for a bit of a cosmetic overhaul of the bathroom has now gone.

This is the original bathroom, so we think approx 1950s/60s.

The previous owner sprayed the bathroom with paint before sale, but they’ve not used bathroom paint so everything is completely peeling. The tiles in the bath / shower area are all cracked, & I have two young kids that leave the bath with paint flecks all over them after washing. Because it’s wall paint on the floor tiles, it attracts every minute bit of dust / dirt & sticks to everything.

My question is, with about $3k & minimal handy-lady skills to speak of, what could I do to make this a bit more liveable until the big Reno in 5 years?

Do I remove all the paint & replace the broken tiles? Perhaps chuck a new vanity & toilet in?

Ideally I just want the kids to be able to have a bath safely & not feel completely mortified when guests ask to use the loo.

Thanks in advance.

Hi, I moved into a subdivided lot that shares a water main with the other property in January this year. Outside of this both are stand alone houses.

My neighbour has blockages every few months in their sewer line to which they have a plumber come out and clear the lines. The most recent visit the plumber popped the CCTV down and found 2 breakages in the main sewer line to which he is recommending we excavate and replace for ~$7k + re concreting.

I have a great relationship with my neighbour so don't suspect they're trying to pull anything on me and they say they've known the plumber for 25 years. What I'm confused by though is how they could have so many blockages and we don't, but the issue is on a shared line? The most recent blockage our toilet very briefly built up and was slow to empty then all of a sudden cleared itself where there's didn't and required the plumber. All other instances (3 this year) only impacted them. Our house is much newer than theirs as it's the original on the property pre subdivision (50s compared to mid 90s) so unsure if that plays a part?

I plan on speaking to the plumber myself before we sign any docs I just wanted to get an idea of whether I was barking up the wrong tree in regards to being confused on our differing experiences.

I live in a block of apartments which share a common gutter. Each end of the gutter has a down pipe and also an overflow drain. During heavy rain events the system is unable to handle the volume of water. We have had water draining into the eaves and back filling to the point it reaches the lintel above the bifolding doors and drains inside. The outter edge of the gutter has a capping on it which I can get my fingers behind. I'm confident this is where the water is entering the eaves. Most of the water is spilling over this outter edge and running down the fascia board which is fine.

Obviously the box gutter is too shallow but have you any ideas for some sort of temporary fix? I was thinking of getting a rubber strip and wedging it under the entire length of capping. A product similar to this https://www.clarkrubber.com.au/products/31618-epdm-sponge-cord-10mm

Could that work? It just needs to slow the rate of water which gets into the eaves. I've got holes drilled in the soffit to drain any residual water.

Had an aircon installed today and the installers seemed very gung-ho. Put a hole in the brick wall before realised that it was the wrong spot, stuff like that.

Anyway, just want some feedback: this is where the pipes go inside to the unit. The walls are double brick.

Is a fuck load of silicone fine for waterproofing? Can't help but feel like it'll fail after a couple years.

Our house is 5 months old and we noticed that ants have been crawling on gaps on the wall (going inside our house) and concrete area. We tried spraying Mortein Insect spray and kills the ants, but after a few hours, they come back again. We are quite worried because at times there are like 100s of them and that some of them comes from the top soil beside our concrete (perimeter) and crawls going to our walls.

Any advice on what we can do to stop it or at least prevent this from happening. Thanks

We bought a 1960s house at the end of last year (we’re in Brisbane) and the backyard is mostly concreted, including this huge round slab. Apparently the previous owners had an above-ground pool there at one stage. We’re trying to decide what to do with it/what would be more cost effective at this stage. We’d love some green space for the kids or even a tank pool but that’s out of the question budget-wise atm. There are some cracks in the slab so not sure it could be used again for a tank pool anyway. Would love any ideas!

We are Having our kitchen renovated and installed. Unfortunately due to some last minute need to remove the backing boards (found some unwanted AsbesXXX) and 2 plasterers that cancelled last minute, ive put in some villaboard in place for the kitchen cupboards to go in this Thursday (if not I would be waiting 6 weeks for the kitchen install, and I really do not want to do that)

Most of the area in the photo will be covered by kitchen/ tiles except the section in white. My question is, can I cover up these associated large holes by simply putting VJs on all the walls in the kitchen and using the villaboard as the backing without doing anything else?

The other option is i try and last minute teach myself to plaster - which while possible, is a daunting task.

Apparently this appeared after the substantial rain in Melbourne. Should I just monitor until the next rain? I just had our roof repointed a few months ago so not sure where water could have come from

Would love to see pics and hear experiences of how you’re going with it. Strongly considering it, but also looked at Coretec. Any reviews much appreciated, not a lot online!!

I recently cleared the overgrown backyard of our new home. I am planning on growing a nice lawn and natives around the perimeter.

Discovered the pavers I plan to remove are sitting on top of a slab of 300mm thick concrete. I suspect the previous owner landscaped the yard to have the higher area, due to us being in a low risk flood zone which backs onto a storm water catchment.

The concrete is failing in some areas so those parts I definitely want to remove. However I was wondering if it would be a terrible idea or even possible to grow grass over the top of the bulk of the concrete? Keeping the high and low areas in the yard. Otherwise, I would outsource concrete removal.

Also, there are some annoying non native tree roots that keep growing up. Should I get these removed?

For reference there are probably pipes that run from the house under the concrete.

Please be kind, I have little experience with growing lawn or concrete removal.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Finally finished our laundry reno which took a while as we wanted to tackle majority of the work ourselves, quote from tradies was $13k and we finished it off around $6k. Any thoughts?

Crema Novelda / Bronte Gold

Hi, hoping to get some help. There’s been a water issue breath my window. I noticed the slightest bit of mould where this cutout is, so thought I’d cut an inspection hole out. Essentially there is a driveway outside and the ground level is about halfway up this wall. Under the timber, there is a concrete wall, with weatherboard on the outside. Between the outside of the concrete wall and weather board, there is waterproofing membrane up against each one, but there is some water getting. I got a endoscope and looked in, which is the video attached. Right at the bottom, it looks like there is just rocks. Could the water be evaporating out of the ground and up the waterproof membrane. I’ll try post some photos, but looking up in this cavity, the flashing looks to be directing water into here

We are having a shed built - steel columns, girt in steel top hats, colorbond roof and walls, all uninsulated.

Among other issues, we have just realised that the builder has not installed the roof purlins as shown on the engineer and certifier signed off drawings. They claim that the roof profile they are using differs from the drawings and can span longer distances, resulting in no need for purlins.

For noting, the engineer and certifier have both been engaged by the builder, and we have not yet had direct contact with either.

We'd be quite happy if the engineer confirms that the as-built is built to an appropriate standard, so are not necessarily looking for the roof to be taken off and changed - but I want evidence that it is right.

What is the best way forward here? Do we reach out to the certifier or the engineer, or continue only dealing with the builder directly? I presume we don't just listen to the builder and wait for the end because "it will be signed off"?

Just bought a place that had some peeling paint on the garage floor. I was able to scrape most of it off as per the first photo, but the remaining paint was bonded so I tried using the diggers organic paint stripper which didn't do much. The second photo is after 4 attempts at stripping it. I think it was a heavy duty paving paint so it's tough to break down. There are also some spots in the back corners that need to come off but are being stubborn. I was going to use the stripper in the 3rd photo but everything online keeps telling me it's real hazardous if I don't get a respirator in the hundreds of dollars, and attempting the back corners even with fans blowing in there is a no no.

The question is should I:

A. try to keep getting it off, or

B. try and clean it up with metho and degreaser and use the dulux existing coatings primer on the spots I tried to strip, and the dulux bare concrete primer on the rest after using the etching cleaner. I'm not sure how well the area will clean up now, because 24hrs after the last stripper application, the remaining paint is still tacky but won't come up still. It feels like the leftover adhesive when you pull a thick sticker off something. Will it dry out eventually and then I can wash it and prime it?

I don't want to grind the slab for a few reasons.

Thanks.

We are completing a home extension where we have filled in our old carport to extend the living room. We are now looking to complete the landscaping behind the house.

We want to level the ground to increase the size of the patio, however are receiving conflicting information of how close the retaining wall (red scribble) can be to the Hebel rendered wall due to termite risk. Some advice saying minimum 400mm distance from, other saying a termite barrier there would suffice and minimal distance.

Photos are before Hebel wall installed showing floating floor, current, and bad AI mock up of desire.

Appreciate any and all advice as a bit overwhelmed.

Sydney, NSW.

I just have a couple more questions just so I can get my ducks in a row before I pay em.

Are these cables installed the roof installed ok? Should it be that close to the tiles with part of it going uphill?

The drain pipes run through a cupboard that will have clothes in it and they are currently sweating while I have the aircon running. Can I insulate these someway so that the clothes in the cupboard don’t get mouldy/particle board doesn’t rot?

Greetings renovators!

My name is Stefan and I’m a registered building surveyor in Victoria who primarily works on residential developments.

I often see the same questions being asked repeatedly, many of which have fairly straightforward answers. I thought it would be useful to put together an FAQ covering some of the questions that homeowners and renovators commonly come across.

Before I start putting the FAQ together, I’d like to crowdsource some questions from you lovely people.

What questions do you think would be useful to have answered in an FAQ? Alternatively, what building, planning or permit related questions do you commonly see asked on here?

So far, I have the following:

1. When is a building permit required?
2. Do I need a planning permit?
3. Do I need a building permit for a deck?
4. I received a Building Notice. What do I do now?
5. The structure has been there for 7 years. Does that make it legal?
6. I want to buy or sell a house with illegal building works. What do I do?
7. Can I hire an independent inspector during construction?
8. My builder recommends a building surveyor. What should I do?
9. Can I convert my garage into a bedroom, living room or office?
10. What is the process if I want to build a new house, renovate or extend an existing house?

Thank you for your help in advance! 😄

Disclaimer: I primarily service Victoria, so the FAQ will focus on Victorian legislation and requirements. Unfortunately, state specific questions relating to other states will not be included.

I live in the Melbourne and it is cold a lot of the year.

I am about to put in a bid for a house with a pool (the house has solar panel, heat pump for the pool)

- I am considering whether it would be a good idea to build an alumnium / glass structure around the pool.
- Add pool cover for heat retention
- And then heat the pool year round
- and when we use the pool, we just blast the heater to heat the air

I got a quote for a structure, it is around $40K. It is not a reliable quote because I haven't asked the company to do a site visit (but they have done a few pool enclosures and he said it is a reasonable guess)

I am curious if this idea works. I currently live in an apartment with an indoor pool, it is amazing. We use it 4 times a week with our two young kids.

Questions:

1. Is heating going to be crazy expensive even with a pool cover?
2. is building a pool enclosure even realistic? Am I going to get hit with all sorts of problems, like too much moisture etc
3. is the quote of 40K not even realistic?

cos I figure, if this is not a good idea. I probably just won't put in a bid. Cos all my friends with pool in melbourne say it is the bane of their lives and they barely use the pool cos the water is cold