Monthly Archive: July 2012
Retaining Wall Drainage

I’ve previously posted about the importance of Drainage Behind a Retaining Wall to minimise the forces acting on the wall…. here is some advice on how to make sure it works. The first thing to consider is this is drainage…
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Perforated House

Have you seen anything like this before? It called the perforated house and its located in a suburban street in Melbourne. The idea is the pattern on the facade is based on the other houses on the street. Its a…
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Your New House Contract
The most important document you sign is the ‘New Home Contract’. This document describes the house to be constructed and provides remedies to deal with any defaults by the builder or the house owner. The more you understand the contents…
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Battleaxe Block

Have you seen a Battleaxe Block advertised and wondered what it is?………….Well it is a block that only has a 3-4m frontage on the street. Often these blocks are as a result of subdividing a long block with the rear…
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Container Hotel

Wondered about building a house from shipping containers?…… or just living in a container while your house is built. In China they have built a 5 star hotel out of containers. The hotel is located at a rural village outside of…
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Building On Clay Soils

Clay is a fairly common soil type. Although it is quite suitable for building one issue is that it can shrink or swell depending on the level of moisture. This can lead to the following problems: Subsidence Subsidence or settlement…
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Roof Space – Access

One of the things that frequently gets forgotten is the hatch that gives access to the roof space. Location The usual location is in the corridor to the secondary bedrooms. It doesn’t seem that important but when you need the…
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Street Numbering – Win!

You would think that some houses were owned by secret agents as there are no traces of a street number. You couldn’t accuse either of the properties featured in this post of being shy about letting people know the house…
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Do You Want A Phone Line?

A few years ago having a land line phone was a must have have………….. but is this still the case? We have always had a land line phone but both of us also have mobile phones. Really the mobile is the…
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Garage Doors

Originally garages doors were hinged doors, then tilt and lift doors came in. More recently the main choice for garage doors is between roller doors or sectional panels. Roller Doors Fairly common as its the most used door in commercial…
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