Yearly Archive: 2014
Protect Your Block From Dumping
A regular problem with vacant new house blocks is they are used as a convenient dumping ground for other builders. It’s much cheaper to dump on a nearby site than haul the material to a tip and pay tip fees. If…
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Meringue House
This is certainly a strange looking building! It’s actually an art gallery in France. The designers started out with a fairly conventional building and then added polystyrene The polysyrene was then sculptured into these fantastic shapes. It was then plastered and…
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Skylights
Thinking about putting some skylights in the roof? Planning one of those rooms with a glazed roof panel? You really need to think very carefully before you go ahead! Summer In summer the heat gain and glare can be enormous causing major…
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Retaining Walls – Besser Blocks
If you want a rendered surface on your retaining wall one of the best ways of achieving this is by using ‘Besser Blocks’. These are hollow concrete blocks which are designed to incorporate steel reinforcement within the block. A few issues…
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Pet Lovers House
Wondering what those strange empty shelves are for in this picture? Well it becomes clearer with this second picture. . . . . It for the cats! Not only their own adventure playground around the walls but their own doorways…
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Daylight Tubes
If you have a gloomy smaller room (for example bathroom, WIR, or hallway) consider a daylight tube. They are a more energy efficient alternative to conventional skylights or having to keep putting the lights on. Daylight tubes have three parts: Roof mounted clear,…
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Bushfire – Building in the Flame Zone
Do you want to build close to, or right next to native bush? In that case be prepared to for a lot of extra effort and cost. Both in the house design, material cost and bushfire extras. Dealing with Regulations…
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Rocking Cabin
I came across the weird picture the other day. Is it to make sailors feel at home? Perhaps its supposed to be a protection from earthquakes? What do you think? From the I New Idea web page. For more Unusual…
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Lenders Mortgage Insurance
One financial cost that some people don’t factor into their calculations when buying a new home is Lenders Mortgage Insurance. What is Mortgage Lenders Insurance? This is a cost you will have to pay if you haven’t got a 20%…
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Cash Jobs
Whether Owner Building, or just having some work done on your new house after handover, you may need to engage tradies to do work. One question that frequently comes up is “Do you want the Cash Price? or do you…
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