Selection
Solar is Winning
Electricity demand has dropped so much that Australia currently has at least 3 major coal fired power stations more than it needs! (This year the surplus capacity at peak demand is estimated to be around 8,000 megawatts) In early July this year…
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Window Abbreviations
When you are looking at builders plans it can be hard to understand what all the abbreviations mean! Here are some common window Abbreviations /Acronyms: AL – Aluminium (also Alum) AW – Awning Window CG – Clear Glass CLR.OPG –…
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Specification
Control of costs is really important if you don’t want to run over budget on your new home. One of the key areas in controlling costs is understanding the specification of the house. One of the traps that many people…
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Roof Slope
This house has one of the steepest roofs that I have seen around Melbourne. I certainly think doing any work would be a bit scary, and very expensive. So what are the considerations when thinking about Roof Slope (or Roof Pitch) Roofing…
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Avoiding Splitting Responsibility
I often come across people who want to exclude certain items of the work from a house building contract to save money. They may want to do the work themselves, use their own tradie (relative or friend) or use a different…
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Pressure Reducing Valves (PRV)
I have previously talked about Noises in Pipes and Dealing with Water Hammer, but neglected to mention PRV’s. Frequently people think high water pressure to be a good. In fact it can be a big problem. Too much water pressure in a…
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Quirky Rome Apartment 2
Earlier this week I posted about the quirky apartment we have rented in Rome. Here are a couple more photographs. The first shows the wall that separates the entrance hall from the Bathroom / Laundry. The wall is a translucent…
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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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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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Missed The Bath – Fail
But when was this stuffed up? When the bath was selected When the tapware was selected? When the bath was installed? When the tapware was installed? It does show how carefully you need to thick about things at Selection/Pre-Start. Thanks…
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