Monthly Archive: April 2013
Sound Insulation Batts
Imagine the standard internal stud wall in your new house. A sheet of fairly thin material (plasterboard). An air space retained by timber walls. Another thin sheet of material. Sounds a bit like a Drum doesn’t it?……………It’s no wonder sound…
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Facade Fail 2
Think some of the builders facades are a bit plain?…..How about this? This is another of those crazy Japanese houses. For more photos of this and to find out more visit Blank White Box on the dornob.com web site. For more…
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Lighting
Post inspired by comments from ‘Johnson’ on the Homeone forum website. Light is one of the most important thing in a house. During the day its nice to get as much natural light into the house as possible while avoiding glare. When…
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Gates for Sloping Driveways
If you have a sloping drive it can be difficult to install a gate. One option is to install a sliding gate which rolls to one side. These although expensive can work quite well if the whole of the front…
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Garden Statue – Win
I have occasionally put a statue in the garden, Normally one of those slightly abstract figures, or a Budda, from Bunnings……..but nothing like this: Life sized statues of; an Aboriginal man , a Kangaroo, and an Emu together with a…
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Using Your Own Tradies
When you look at some of the prices that builders charge for things it makes you wonder if you can get things cheaper by employing your own tradies during the build. Examples are things like: Refrigerated air conditioning. Extra lighting….
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The Best House Shape
When you are looking at builders web sites the main things you can look at besides Facades are Floor Plans………But what is the best shape for the overall house? Making good use of Winter Sun If you have a Well…
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Cubby House – Fail
What do you think of this Cubby House that someone built in their garden, soon after moving in? Well it looks pretty good…………………………. Solidly constructed building, nice colourful paint job, and securely bolted down to a convenient concrete slab. So why…
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Can You Subdivide?
I would advise calling into the Council Planning Department and discussing your block as early as possible. I have always found them very helpful. To be better informed here are 4 things to think about before talking to the planner: State…
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Restricted Site, Costs
People are astonished at how the builders costs soar when building on a restricted site! A restricted site is generally when a the building takes up most of the block. Generally this means that there is little room to store…
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