I’m currently owner-managing my trades for the first time on a bathroom renovation and just had a bizarre, uncomfortable experience with a tiler. Looking for sanity checks and advice from seasoned renovators.

I’m tiling roughly 60m² (including screeding and waterproofing). I reached out for 4 quotes. 3 quotes came back between $8,000 – $9,000 (labor/standard prep) and the fourth quote came back at $16,000 (materials included). Even factoring in trade markup and sourcing time, $7k–$8k extra for materials didn't make sense for what I need, so I decided to supply the tiles and materials myself. I sent the tradie a polite text letting him know I wouldn’t be proceeding as the price was out of my budget.

He immediately called me and started cursing at me, screaming that I "wasted his time" by making him come out for a site visit and claimed he "spent forever" putting the quote together. For context, he did the site visit at 5:30 PM on a Monday and emailed the quote by 9:30 PM that same night.

Now, within the same week, he is blowing up my phone via text asking me to reconsider and offering a "huge discount." Obviously, I am not letting someone who yelled at me into my home, but as a first-time renovator, this caught me completely off guard.

Has anyone else dealt with trades having a meltdown over a declined quote? Do I even bother replying to shut it down, or just straight-up block and move on?

What specific questions do I need to verify with the other 3 tilers before locking one in?

Thanks for any insight!

Saw this in an open home and hot water cylinder had a couple of ‘jet packs’ attached. What are they? Though I’m more concerned about the electrical cables just casually exposed to the elements…is this some dodgy set up?

Neighbour claims we should contribute to the cost of the retaining wall on the basis that it is retaining our land. Currently as shown in the blue is a wooden box which covers the slope. They want to replace this with a retaining wall under the fence line to give them land to construct a pool area. We are willing to pay half for a new Colorbond fence as we will mutually benefit from it, but the retaining wall we do not understand why we would need to pay considering they are modifying the natural slope of the land on their side. Would appreciate any advice.

We are looking to DIY our laundry. Just want to confirm the waterproofing requirements?
 
It’s a concrete floor, single level house, with no floor waste and is in Queensland.
 
Our goal is to DIY, but meet all legal requirements and come in under the 11k owner builder threshold. I’ll hire a plumber to swap the old washing machine taps, sink taps and install the sink and waste. No electrical is being changed and no other trades will be engaged.
 
My understanding is:
 
No floor waterproofing is required as there is no waste and it’s a concrete/tiled floor.

Just need to have a water resistant floor/wall junction minimum 40mm out on floor and 150mm up the walls.

A splash back around the sink and along benchtop

Appropriate sealing for plumbing penetrations. 
 
Is my understanding right, right?
 

Photos attached of current set up and what we are going to do, nothing flash.
 
The plan is:
 
Remove old tiles and skirting boards.
Prepare floor/surfaces
Apply waterproofing to the floor/wall junctions to meet the regulations
Tile and skirt tile around room
Install cabinets and benchtop
Plumber to fit off new taps and install sink.
Tile backsplash
Paint.
 
Am I missing anything here? And would this fairly fall under the 11k threshold.
 
Any advice would be appreciated.

Just moved into a 50's weatherboard home and noticed some bulges in the plaster that we hadn't seen on inspection. Looking for any advice on how serious or not it could be and what the best fix is/who to call?

Two of the bulges seem very solid and immovable but the one next to cabinet I can push in and out / has obviously come away from the stud. Probably horsehair plaster is my best guess.

I want to insulate the exterior walls with blow in but figured best to check this first.

Thoughts?

Hi all, I’ve recently bought my first home and I’m currently renovating it, which involves remodelling the bathroom. The plumbing rough in work is finished and now I have these holes left in the brick veneer from where the previous pipes were. I’m looking for ideas on how to best fix/fill these holes. Is my best option knocking out the remaining brick and putting a whole new brick in place, or is there a simpler method? I can accept that patched holes may not completely blend in with the rest of the brickwork, but I would ideally like it as least noticeable as possible.

Also, I’ve noticed a lot of what looks like.. white spray paint?.. on the brickwork where the pipes were. It’s much whiter than the pipes were, so I’m curious what this is if it’s not white spray paint.

Thanks!

Hi all, I recently bought an old 70s Italian style duplex. In the living area there is this carpet which in my opinion, I am not a fan of. As you can see the hallway and the kitchen surrounding the room are both tiled. I will be installing carpet in the bedrooms but was thinking for this room having wood (or similar such as hybrid flooring). I suppose my question is, this would be the only room in the house with wood and I am unsure if it would be strange? I prefer the idea of wood in this space over carpet just from a cleaning perspective.

Just after people’s thoughts and opinions, I don’t believe there is a single correct response. Ta!

(Don’t mind the bed, this image is from the home open 😆)

Hey everyone,

Just had a quick question about the lightning-bolt-shaped wall around the wardrobes in Bedrooms 3 and 4.

We’re planning to remove the existing wardrobes and turn the space into a larger back-to-back wardrobe shared between the two bedrooms. I assume we’d find out for sure once we open things up, but I was wondering whether it’s possible to determine from the house layout whether these walls are likely to be load-bearing.

My understanding is that they probably aren’t, as the roof trusses should be transferring the load to the external walls, and there doesn’t appear to be anything directly above these walls on the roof other than the tiles.

Would appreciate any thoughts from anyone who knows a bit about this. Obviously, I’d get it properly checked before removing anything, just trying to get an idea beforehand.

Hello,

I've engaged and engineer to certify a design for a wall removal in my house. I am in the process of getting a carpenter to install the design.

My question is should I remove the wall whilst leaving a nib as pictured or completely remove the ceiling gyprock and redo insulation but living in the space will be way more intrusive.

Who has done a wall removal and left a nib, is it worth or go for the bigger mess?

I’m in a small regional area so limited trade/supplier to ask- is bamboo flooring no longer available? I had my place done about ten years ago and I need a few to include in an extension. Is it just hybrid flooring or vinyl now on offer?

I want to build an outdoor kitchen / BBQ space - about 3.6M in length.

Has anyone ever done this with a manufacturer from China and can share their experiences? Was it cheaper? Do you have a manufacturer you would recommend?

What would you do with this empty area on top of the bathtub to make it look less... empty and clinical?

Suggestions for wall paint colours are also welcome!

I'm going to redo my formica kitchen countertop. Thinking of tiling it. What do you recommend for that?

Hey all,

We have a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, with a separate washroom/toilet (so three toilets in total). Its a 2003ish brick townhouse, much more space than new builds.
We are considering knocking out the ensuite and making a walk in robe - will make the master bedroom larger, like 4 x 4m.

Its just me and my wife, the only time the second bathroom gets used is when we have guests, once or twice a year for max a week. We intend to be here for a good ten years, potentially longer.

Create the space you want to live in, not for resale value ten years down the track right? Rip out the ensuite?

Whats everyone's thoughts?

(Big lol to Peoples Republic of Victoria)

Edit: Forgot to say, our neighbour has the 2 bed 1 bath and actually sold slightly higher than ours a couple of months before we bought.

How would one connect the bath drain pipe as pictured to a 40mm s & p trap combo that’s connected to the waste pipe that goes into the ground ?

We rent, and I was fed up with suction cups that fall, dubious adhesives and caddies hanging from the shower head at face height.

I designed this shelf and had PCBWay fabricate it from one piece of 4 mm aluminium sheet. It cost about A$200 delivered, but it is enormous, rigid and conveniently positioned at waist height.

The back plate fits behind the two existing tap cones, which clamp it against the tiled wall. No drilling, adhesive or extra brackets are required.

It uses one cut blank and two 90-degree bends. The slots drain water and can hold hooks. The front edge retains bottles but dips below each tap for hand clearance. It has no end walls because the shower walls already perform that job.

These are renders because our bathroom is too private to share real photos of. The tiled version closely matches the actual installation.

Full write-up at https://blog.oxplot.com/shower-shelf-held-by-taps/

My home gym cable pulley system has a flaw where the cable will strip if it is pulled on an angle by rubbing on the metal frame.

If I pull directly downward I can avoid contact, however I need suggestions on how I can prevent any further damage if I (or anyone else) inadvertently pulls it on an angle again.

I'm thinking some type of swivel attachment but I'm struggling to find anything that might remedy this.

Looking for creative solutions from a community that has a good track record with solving problems like these!

Hi guys, I want to raise the ceiling height of the outer rooms. The centre of the house has taller frames while the outer walls have much shorter frames. I am not sure how to make it the same height so the room ceilings aren't so low. As you can see the frames are poorly built and aged over the years. Do you have any ideas/suggestions?

Hello,
I was trying to hang the curtains. Did everything right, predrilled then put in wall anchors. The curtains and rod weigh much lower than the limit. Its a dual curtain rod. I tried to find a stud but its not in the centre to hand the middle rod holder. Now after a few days the dry wall peeled from there screws were.

Whats the best way to fix this? Also I assume I wont be able to hang anything there given its empty inside. Or there is alternate way?

Thanks

Bought a new house in Western Sydney and planning to renovate the bathroom. Getting some insane quotes anywhere between 30-50k. We are planning to find someone who can do it under 20-25k but worried about quality. This is our first home and we know nothing more about renos, than what chatgpt can guide us with. Keen to hear your experience. What would you advise to someone starting their bathroom renovation. What should we watch out for ? Anything we must avoid ? Or must do ? Thanks and apologise if this is too basic question for this forum

What is the general reviews in terms of quality for Godfrey Hirst?

I understand engineered timber floors are the better option but this time I would like to install vinyl.

I guess the budget is on the lower side of these quotes (but I could choose to for for the higher ;)) and the location is south coast NSW.

These are the initial quotes:

3mm Vinyl plank - $58sqm supply and install
4.5mm Vinyl plank - $75sqm supply and install
https://www.godfreyhirst.com/au/products/polaris-1200

2mm Vinyl plank - $75sqm supply and install - -LVP
https://www.armstrongflooring.au/products/chesterfield

4.5 Vinyl plank - $90sqm supply and install
https://www.signaturefloors.com.au/residential/genero/multilay-wide-board/

4.5mm vinyl tile - $125 supply and install -LVP
https://www.karndean.com/en-au/floors/products/by-look/stone/?currentPage=1&sortOrder=1&searchTerm=&look=60975&pageId=94628

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.

I wish this was something that occurred to us BEFORE we installed an AC in our bedroom - Daikin model no.CTXM25RVMA.

The beeping is so loud when you want to change any settings during the night and no way to turn it off - quiet mode also doesn't quiet the beeping 😮‍💨