Yearly Archive: 2014
DIY Painting, Is It Worth It?
Painting doesn’t seem so hard to do. Some people say “Why not paint our new house ourselves rather than pay the builder and save money?” Well I have done plenty of painting of individual rooms over the years but I wouldn’t attempt…
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Beware of Escalation Clauses
What Are Escalation Clauses These are a way of allowing for inflation. Basically it provides a way for the builder to increase his costs in line with inflation. The Clause will quote an inflation index which can be used to…
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Risks of DIY Remodeling
One of my favourite ‘Waste of Time’ activities is reading the Not Always Right website. Below is a recent post which indicates the problems of DIY house remodeling! Going Totally Off The Wall (I work for a company that builds homes…
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Termites
Did you know Australia has around 15 species of termite which can damage the timbers in your new house. Although some species of timber are resistant to termites none are termite-proof. In practice any structure containing wood can be attacked, unless protective measures are taken. Even…
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Build A Sustainable House & Save Money
When the stricter energy standards came in the big builders all complained that it would make houses more expensive. Well a recent CSIRO report ‘The Evaluation of the 5-Star Energy Efficiency Standard for Residential Buildings‘ has found it can actually be…
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Seaweed House
What do you think of this house? Roof look a little unusual? Well the roof, and the walls, are built using seeweed! The seeweed provides a long lasting external surface, which as well as being a natural renewable resource, has…
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Stormwater – Kerb Discharge
If you are going to build on an existing house block you will probably have a planning permit condition that storm water must discharge to an approved point. If there is no surface water system one option can be to…
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Worlds Most Unusual Door
This picture shows a Klemens Torggler Door If you think it looks odd just click on the youtube video link below to see it open and close . . . . But be careful, I could watch it for hours!…
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What Are Brick Articulation Joints?
When you are looking round your new home build you may think “What’s that gap between the window and the brickwork?” . . . . . . .or even “Why is there a vertical gap between the bricks in the…
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Throw Away The Spirit Level
A spirit level, or a builders square wouldn’t be much use in this house. . . Hardly any of the walls are vertical or the corners square! This is actually a modular building designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind (who incidentally has…
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