r/AusRenovation

We have just bought a house that is very much a “fixer upper” and downstairs is a classic Mancave complete with this bar and mirror (Jim Beam sticker obviously). For financial reasons we cannot be renovating the entire house in one go, and this area is not a priority at all compared to upstairs. That being said, I’m still wracking my brains with what to do with this space. Do I rip the brick bar out? My husband thinks it’s tacky but I kind of think it’s cool in a retro way.

Hello, me again.. 😅
Nervously waiting to be feedback-ed to shreds again. 😆
Refresher- 6 kids, rural vic, sloping odd shaped build parcel.
Current thoughts are - no notes on the front half.
Bed 2 aka guest suite. Think long term grandparents move in. The eldest child is 5 years older then 2nd born so that’s the kid that will be in there until they move out.

Back half- add powder room (but do we want to have 5 loos to clean? 😒🥴) and double sinks to bathrooms.
Other half is querying walk in robe vs built in robes practicality in the beds. The requirement is: usable space- not space where things go to be forgotten about. (Current home has wall length BIRs and they’re a disaster, because they just chuck any and all things in and shut the doors. The one room with a smaller built in robe doesn’t attract the same level of crap, I think because it’s only one door vs four which results in more visibility!?)
Ready and waiting for the all the feedback again please! (We’re actually really happy with where this plan is headed and the way it will step up on our land. 😍)

I’ve just had our roof converted from tile to Colorbond. We’re yet to make the final payment, but before doing so I wanted to get up on the roof and check that everything had been completed to a good standard.

I’ve noticed quite a few gaps around the roof where it looks like water could potentially get in.

Is this something I should be asking the roofer to rectify, and if so, is it generally a significant amount of work to fix?

I’d appreciate any advice on what I should be looking for before making the final payment.

Found these two Laminex ads in a 1975 home beautiful magazine. I get its not everyones thing but gee there was some personality!

What type of paint / stain is best to use on stairs? Exterior but with little UV exposure. Hardwood planks. Happy to sand back to bare if required.

Priorities:

1. durability (won't come off when people kick the stairs coming up)

2. grip

3. many colour options

I've looked at Dulux weathershield with mixed in non slip grip additive or Cabot's timbercolor but difficult to know what will actually perform well.

If you've had good experience with a product please share :)

Had some roof repairs done by a local roofer a couple weeks ago.

I've had some water ingress over the last couple of days with rain & finally got to go up & look at the work.

To me this seems like it is poor quality work but I know from experience that many trades will tell me that its standard & fine. Photos are just some examples. The roof looks like someone threw up pop rivets & silicone.

I have an invoice for $6k for this work.

Just hoping for some feedback on if its reasonable to ask them to come remedy this work. Thanks

(I know my roof is dirty. I wasn't going to pressure wash it when I knew I had roof repairs that needed doing!)

When we bought our 1960s home we wanted to restore and improve it into a place full of character that we and future residents would want to live in instead of knock down. One of the biggest projects has been the porch and entry. First, stripping and repainting the trim, then replacing the post and railing and fixing up the damaged corner of concrete that holds the post. I made these timber features out of recycled hardwood at my community shed. The gap in the front rail is space reserved for a feature panel I haven't yet made. Lastly I learned to tile to make the patterned floor. This was pretty arduous for me, even finding interesting tile options was a challenge. I need to figure out how to tile that right hand strip as the concrete curves up after about 20mm. Nothing in the house is perfectly square but in some ways maybe that's to our advantage as my amateur workmanship doesn't stand out too much lol.

Hi we've new tiles laid by reputable renovation firm.

I know nothing about tiles or building but a few things don't seem right to me there are several places where the tiles don't line up and the grout is quite uneven throughout

How picky do I be and what's the remedy even? Not lining up seems like they would need to rip them up, even uneven grout doesn't seem like they can just "top it up"

Should I do another layer of render to make it flatter or could I just even it out with the adhesive before I tile?

They’re 30cm ceramic subway tiles if that makes a difference.

Does ripping 86x19mm spotted gum decking boards in half to create something close to a 42x19mm batten sound like a good idea?

I can get the decking cheap and would work out to be about a 1/5 of the price of just buying the battens. I don’t mind the extra work to save a few dollars.

I just want to make sure the ripped battens would be stable and not move/shift more than the ready made battens.

G'day everyone,

Looking for a sanity check on a plan to retain a boundary drop beneath an existing Colorbond fence.

The Situation

• The neighbour's yard sits 200 to 400 mm higher than ours across a 20-metre boundary.
• The previous owner's temporary fix of loose bricks, timber offcuts, and reed screening is finally giving up.
• I need a clean, permanent solution with proper drainage that will not put lateral load on the fence posts. (Photos attached: current state)

The Plan: Freestanding Dry-Stack Wall Rather than bolting plinths or sleepers to the fence posts, I am planning an independent, low dry-stack block wall (looking at Brighton Eziwall, Hudson Stone, or similar) sitting just on our side of the boundary.

• Trench and base. Dig down 120 to 150 mm, lay 75 to 100 mm of road base, and compact it thoroughly.
• Base course. Bury roughly half of the first block below finished ground level to prevent kick-out.
• Height and stepped run. Stack 3 to 4 courses (300 to 400 mm total), stepped along the natural fall. Glue the cap/top course down with landscape adhesive (Sikabond or similar).
• Fence gap. Maintain a 15 to 20 mm gap under the bottom Colorbond rail to prevent rust from trapped moisture.
• Drainage. 65 mm socked ag-pipe behind the first course, surrounded by 20 mm blue metal wrapped in geotextile fabric, draining to a lower point in the yard.

Questions

• Trench prep. For a 3 to 4 course wall at this height, is well-compacted road base enough, or is a concrete footing worth the extra effort on a mild slope?
• Alternative setups. Has anyone tackled a similar drop with a modular system they preferred over dry-stack blocks?
• Drainage details. Any practical tips for keeping the backfill free of silt over time without creating an awkward channel behind the fence?

Keen to hear your thoughts or spot any glaring mistakes before I order materials.

Cheers!

Just wanting to know which sealant would be best to reseal the area where the window blocks meet the brick. Having water coming inside when it rains. I've purchased SikaSeal 300 Glass % Weather sealant, but apparently it might not bond to brick properly.

Have marked in yellow where the sealant needs to go.

Morning all! Recently finished up a DIY laundry project and we tiled ourselves,

Unknowingly we chose nearly the most difficult tiles to grout as they were unsealed and have many little crevices

We sealed them first with a spray on sealer recommended and then used piping bags to try and grout and keep the grout out of the crevices

Unfortunately due to poor technique we got grout everywhere, not the end of the world but it has left the tile with a white washed look which we aren’t so keen on seen in the first photo

I was wondering what people would recommend to get it looking “wet” all the time as we love it which is the second image

Would a gloss paint on sealant be the go? Or is there a tile cleaner out there you would recommend we use? Open to any and all help!

Cheers a DIY novice

Hi everyone,

Hoping I can get some advice on your experiences with builders margins for knock down rebuilds. The first door comes standard with my fixed price contract and retails for $794 and I’ve asked for a variation quote to upgrade to the second model which retails for $1116. The builder has quoted me $1400 for the variation. Just wanted to see if this is the norm in terms of mark up from builder? I am essentially paying for a new door plus more.

Planning irrigation for my garden. House has 19mm poly going directly into concrete path. Wanting to replace with 25mm blue line to run to a valve box for irrigation.

What will be the best way to do this, and approximate cost?

Current thinking is to remove the 19mm poly and coring the existing hole in the concrete to ~90mm and running stormwater pipe through. Would then be able to feed blue line through. Other option is cutting a strip of concrete out. Open to all suggestions. Cheers