Construction
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. You should aim to properly drain surface water away…
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Epoxy Coating: The Ideal Treatment for Your Garage’s Concrete Floors
Guest Post by Elisaveta Doncheva More often than not, focusing on finding ways to increase a home’s resale value leads to obvious alterations and upgrades, such as furnishings that freshen up the interior and landscaping that gives the outdoors a nice…
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Contracts – Site Possession
Under the terms of a “Standard’ Building Contract you will be required to grant the builder ‘Exclusive Possession’ of the site once the builder is ready to start. This means that the builder is responsible for, and is able to…
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Insulation Basics – Brick Veneer Walls
This post will help you understand how much heat you lose through walls. A previous post has explained ‘R’ and ‘U’ values When considering insulation a typical Australian brick veneer wall would be: Element R value Outside surface air layer…
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Retaining Wall Fairness
In Western Australia subdivisions are usually completed with retaining walls in place on the boundary so that all blocks are level. For the rest of us if we are faced with a sloping site a retaining wall may be needed…
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Understanding Retaining Walls
Its quite usual when you have a sloping site to need a retaining wall to make the land you build on level. You might need a retaining wall just to have a flat garden. Retaining walls are not simple structures….
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Render or Brick?
Rendering popularity comes and goes……………… However I think “Why pay more for a something that is only going to require painting in the future?” As my old woodworking teacher once told me “There’s nothing wrong with being lazy as long…
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Agricultural Drains
Agricultural drains (often called aggi drains) are used to: Drain waterlogged ground. Avoid soil heave by keeping your foundations dry (see this Link: Protect foundations) Keep the soil behind retaining walls dry. (see this link: Retaining Walls) Existing Drains In…
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Geotextile around Drainage Pipes
Many articles about installing agricultural drains recommend that you place a geotextile in the trench before the initial gravel surround and then wrap the geotextile over the gravel afterwards. You can also buy agi pipe with a geotextile “sock’ around…
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Wall Dimensions Standard Bricks
When you are deciding about building dimensions its better to take into account the size of building materials. With brick veneer being so popular that means the dimensions of the bricks. Make sure that all lengths, are based on either…
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