I doubt the termite people would be impressed with this. Assuming you do have some kind of a termite barrier / protection built / installed as part of your house…

Gorgeous, Stormy! I still remember you doing that brand new desk in blue ... Anyway, I think your house should be renamed to Dreamy Castle…

Absolutely!

Yes, we deifintely have a waffle pod slab, on top of piers. Site was cut and fill, approx. 350mm each, mid line somewhere in the middle of the house.
Yes,…

Wow! From what you said, seems like a long time passed between the concreting job and when the owner first noticed issues! Funny how the concretor tried to pin the…

Probably not what you have, but my 2c.
I thought your grout looks a little bit like the old style "grout" for floors (or as my builder labelled it -…

Brilliant !!!!

Wow, I really like it. Actually, love it! Colours and all! Didn't read the whole thread, just the title caught my attentino as we are still to build our pergola…

…

As long as the "stiffer bitumen impregnated join material" is flexible. Must not be rigid, or become rigid with time.

So now you have to use oil based paint on ceilings!!!?!

Are they in the same soil, how far apart are they? Same side of fence, same aspect, same conditions?
Have you inspected very closely for borers? They could be…

"I am not sure whether my husband and I are just fussier than most and as a result have unrealistic expectations of the quality of our build. Everytime a stage…

Is there a scientific name for this clay type? And do we know where in Aus mainly these clay types are?
Or do you mean the broad term "reactive" clay?

How big is the area? It could be better in the long run if you lay some slab underneath if it's not too big.
If you put some plastic, I…

What's RCD?

My godness, you would think there would be some standard in relation of what need to be completed by what stage of the build. This house seems to be at…

Have a look here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104&start=240
Be aware that usually tallowwood will have some other timber type in the mix (a smaller proportion), I can't remember…

In the absence of "Like" buttons on H1, have to say I LIKE what qebtel wrote

"And it doesn't seem fair to have to spend $15000 retaining their garden, when we were not involved in the building of it in the first place." - and he…

Glad to hear that you at least have a path to the street s/water!

The system, when translated into practice, seems to have been designed to work against the consumer.
Good that you provided the update! Whereabouts was the leak? Under the actual house…

Hey, don't worry about it. We had the mother of all gaps (35-40mm!), AND on our beautiful FRONT facade, but now I have to remind myself to look for it…

What is "horizontal shearing"?
Our house also makes scary noises, but it sort of stopped (almost) or at least lessened in the last 6 months or so. Prior to that,…

Ah, ok!
The pit is for sewage o/f only. I just glanced at it and assumed it's for stormwater. Like

I have no idea about the design itself, but just a few very minor thoughts (comments and corrections welcome if appropriate!).
Does the overflow pipe need to gently slope towards…

Anna, why are you asking the question? Do you plan to get rid of them anyway?
To figure the sort, I would like to see how does it look like…

Exactly my thoughts! And a good point - where was the mandatory drainage for this "retaining wall"? To think that someone would pile up about 1.5m soil against someone else's…