Hi we have had to engage in a flood engineer who has managed to model a house design where the flood waters won’t impact our neighbours. It costs about $12k…

Hi, where did you get this info from? I looked up SES and they had maps of 1% AEP, but no maps of where my block is.
You can get Flood…

You can definitely do it on the inside before gyprock, so all is not lost. You can even pick a good quality class 4 vapour barrier and you should get…

Alex
Commercial also have thicker glass, I think its 6.3m versus 4.5 for residential.
Also higher quality hardware and runners which also add to the cost.
We prefer to use commercial on most…

Clear double glazed glass alone (Ug) has a U value of 2.8. To get below 2 for the whole window has little to do with the window design and more…

Vapour permeable wraps are recommended for any climate and main thing that it allows walls to breath (i.e. remove water vapour), while, at the same time, provides protection from the…

We are doing heaps of hybrid at the moment and the cost sits between $60-65/sqm including installation. Stairs are around $90-100 each

Lucy,
For what it is worth I think your builder is in the wrong and they should fix the doors ( and windows).
The builder has a responsibility to read the plans…

I’d just accept the 2400mm door, it is already huge and probably saved you some money. Mistakes happen, you can’t expect the builder to measure off the plan, the mistake…

Imagine that you have specified 2700 ceilings and your builder made 2400 instead. It would not be the end of the world because only you would know about this problem.
In…

I don't necessarily agree with that. You own the land right up to your boundary so you absolutely should be allowed to build up to that point. Particularly with lot…

We had a good idea of what we wanted from a colour scheme, form, and finish perspective and made the choices ourselves.

Great to see some progress.
Sorry to be the negative nelly, but a couple of things stood out in the photos.
1. As you are on a steep site that drop edge…

When we are using Hebel we like to put the joists closer together to minimise deflection as Hebel is brittle and any movement causes cracks.
With particle board we can go…

We considered the Hebel Power Floor, but at the time 25k extra on the build cost of a 600k build seemed excessive. Now, sitting downstairs I can hear my kids…

IMHO passivhaus is overrated for Sydney specifically and for Australia in general. 0.6 is a way too tight.
HRV will certainly cost more than aircon and what happens if it…

Your house roof does not show rusting other than some surface rust on the flashings. In my opinion you dont need to replace or paint the roof other than treat…

That is a really good attitude akin to you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
I do enjoy watching that tik tok inspector from Victoria but he does go a…

Hi Everyone
We had our first ever independent building inspection yesterday, and I want to share the experience from a builder's perspective.
As background, I have spent the last 5 years on…

I will try and sit down in the next few days and analyse them and then post a report