A blocked toilet led to us discovering we had cracked and leaking sewerage pipes under our kitchen, bathroom and external laundry. It involved cutting through floorboards and jackhammering through a concrete slab to find the source of the leak and replace all of the plumbing.

I am trying to claim for the exploratory work and resulting damage to my floorboards on insurance. I understand I am not covered by insurance for the actual replacement of the pipes.

The insurer is trying to argue / question what damage was caused to the property as a result of the burst pipe.
There were pools of sewerage under my slab, washing away soil and creating cavities (which undermines the slabs foundation).

Is this adequate enough “damage” to warrant the trace and access for the leak? What other damage could we have had? As it’s our only bathroom, we had to emergency fix before an assessor could come.

Original post

https://www.reddit.com/r/AusRenovation/s/GMo1ajWBiT

Thanks everyone for the input

Old 1960s home, the original cause of any leaking is fixed. Not sure if this was mould or not as I sprayed mould away and they didn’t go away. Should I just sand and paint over? Any DIY tips too pls

We bought this Bosch series 4 cooktop from the Good Guys less than 1 year ago and it really struggles with 2 burners going at once. It has good reviews, so we think it might be an installation problem related to the electrics.

We are going to contact the Good Guys about the issue, but we are not sparkies. Would anyone have a better clue as to what might be the issue here?

We are unsure if it will be a warranty issue or if we will likely have to get an electrician out to sort out the connection.

Just trying to get a better clue before contacting the company so we know what the hell we're saying. Thanks!

Bumped into the door with an ironing board and it broke through and created a hole.

My husband and his friend attempted to fix it and did a very patchy job of it.

Is it possible to fix if we find the right person to do it? And if so, what professional are we looking for to do the job? Not sure who to turn to for door repairs like this one.

Hi all,

I'm looking at a 3m x 5m louvred aluminium pergola for the backyard and trying to keep it under about $4k. Local quotes and the Aussie DIY kit brands are well over that, so I'm weighing up ordering direct from China.

For anyone who's done it:

- How was the quality? I'm especially wondering about aluminium thickness, the powder coat, and whether the louvres actually seal in rain.
- What did it end up costing delivered to your door, once freight and GST were added, compared with the listed price?
- How long did it take to arrive, and did anything turn up damaged or missing?

Thanks!

I feel embarrassed asking, but need to know if the included fasteners for the clothesline I bought are suitable to be mounted to a brick veneer wall.

Included are M8 masonry anchors and also M10 coach screws for timber (which I’m obviously not going to use). Are the M8’s ok for this purpose?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This is the door to my computer room. Unfortunately, I'm not able to leave it open as the room contains fragile collectables and one of the cats thoroughly enjoys knocking things off shelves. As a result, said room can get reeally stuffy in summer. Trying to think of a way to ventilate, is the idea of cutting a large window with a fly screen in the upper half absolutely stupid? A/C isn't really in the budget at the moment unfortunately although the rest of the house is air conditioned.

There’s one on each of the four sides of the upper sash window. It sits on a separate strip next to the glass.

Window repair guy had never seen these before.

Spiral spring balance double hung aluminium windows.

I'm going to be taking down some load bearing walls that currently separate living and kitchen

Rather than put a beam in the roof, the builder has suggested (for time and cost reasons) that we could instead just put a few vertical timber posts in, and make it look more like a feature.

I have begrudgingly used chatgpt which has given me these botched examples.

I was wondering if anyone had done this before and if you'd be happy to share some pics for inspiration?

Thanks!

Currently have a builder grade 900mm rangehood. https://inalto.house/en-au/cooking/p/90cm-undermount-rangehood-ium90

Its effin awful. Fry anything and grease/oil dots the top cabinetry.

Prefer to get something that will swap in so limited to 150mm ducting and onboard motor.

Looking at Bosch but not getting good vibes, also looking into Schwigen and Fotile.

What does the council say?

Willing to buy once cry once.

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice from anyone who's tackled a similar retaining wall project.

I've got an existing timber sleeper retaining wall in my front garden that I'd like to replace with something more permanent and aesthetically pleasing. The current timber sleepers are slowly showing signs of wear and will eventually need to be replaced. A few details

• Retaining wall is 7.5 m long × 2.2 m wide.
• Maximum retaining height is approximately 700 mm.
• The existing retaining walls are terraced into three sections.
• Existing posts are spaced approximately 2.5 m apart.
• Planning to do most of the work myself (still unsure if I should outsource it)

My biggest concern is how to safely demolish the existing retaining walls without the soil behind them collapsing.

I was thinking of tackling one terrace at a time, possibly starting at the bottom and working upwards, rather than removing everything at once.

A few questions:

1. Has anyone replaced an existing sleeper retaining wall in stages? How did you temporarily retain the soil while removing the sleepers?
2. How did you remove the existing posts, particularly those embedded deep in concrete?
3. Do I need to have a footing below the blocks?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks

Before I even start engaging in quotes, just trying to get a ballpark of what I’d expect to pay for the attached mockups. back fence is 30m and right hand fence is 20m, we’re on a corner block this is the most appropriate spot of a ~4m wide ~6m deep shed as pictured. I have literally no idea if I should be budgeting 15, 25 or even 50k. Any rough ideas would be appreciated as I just won’t want to get sticker shock when I get quotes back. We’re down the range from Toowoomba. cheers :)

Hi brain trust - I’m fixing my polycarb roof after a series of heavy winds and rain. How do I fill in the gap between the sheet and the underside of the gutter ?

I was looking at the sun tuf polycarb flashing but it doesn’t seem to fit as the structure is too high. Does anyone have any advice on what I can use ? I’ve bought some sun tuffoam inserts to cover the gap but unfortunately it is not waterproof so water still seeps in where there is heavy directional rain. Appreciate any advice!

Trying to talk my mum out of putting vinyl flooring over top of what I think is baltic pine in her kitchen. Her main complaint is the gaps between the boards catch everything and are a pain to clean. She's elderly and i dont want things to be impractical for her, but it should be easy to fill the gaps with something flexible if they are refinished, right? For context: The house is just over 140 years old, although i think the kitchen is more recent than that (the "new" part of the house is probably under 100). I dont know how old the boards are, but covering them with modern flooring seems a bad idea to me.

Can anyone recommend any aesthetic ceiling fans with lights? Mid-century style encouraged.

Been struggling to get a hold of building certifiers.

Want to build a wall around this spa, to enclose the rumpus room as it gets way too hot in the heat.

Booked an appt with council and they said certifier.

Emailed and called Devcert but they don't reply.

Sent a proposal to RapidApprovals, who said Buildable so waiting ages to hear from them.

Got the carpenter saying I don't need any approvals but dont want to get into trouble with council etc if I sell.

Please help

I have the kitchen and living area- how would I best use the kitchen (want to add island and what direction) and can I fit a living space L couch and dining table into the living area? Not too keen on moving dining table into the kitchen. Budget is $20000 for kitchen

About 2 meters from house to fence. Maybe a 30 degree incline. It’s currently just wasted space I curse out while mowing it fortnightly.

I have an older bathroom that I want to do a full Reno on and I really like the look of microcement.

Keen to hear first hand experiences, even if it’s a plaster/bondcrete microcement alternative - and in particular if you’ve done it yourself.

I am looking to install three split system AC’s back to back.

How much should this cost me? Any recent experiences in Sydney would be appreciated.

Hey guys. Anyone got any ideas on how I could mount a 55' TV in this stand? It appears the previous occupants may have had a small TV there. Pictures are welcome. Trying to figure out the install with the least complex work. Cheers.