Ask an expert

I have friend in a new retirement village with central hot water. It takes an inordinate time to run hot suggesting excessive dead legs runs.
Where can I find the regulations re this as the NCC Vol 3 is not definitive.
Currently there is a lot of wasted water and electricity

Trying to find out exactly what I need to do for footings and bearers for my deck and whether or not I need bracing. Bearers and joists are 50x 100 seasoned karri and deck boards are 22mmx 135mm seasoned karri.

Hey, i am a tiler and a bathroom renovator in Melbourne. I am a qualified tiler and licensed waterproofer. Occasionally i come into contact with a rotten joist of bearer. Mostly Joists. Do i need to employ a qualified carpenter with structural framing experience to replace it? Also if i find a single stump that is affected by water damage can i repair that also. As long as i am building to australian standards. Isn't it ok if i do the works if it is under a certain dollar figure?
Cheers
Rob

Hi. Is a seller of glass doors required to ensure that they are safety glass compliant here in QLD? If not, is it legal for him to advertise them and sell them?
Thanks
Wayne

We have moved a load bearing wall less than 1 metre back in towards the middle of the house.
Is there a 'safe' distance to move this wall, or should we re-inforce with a steel beam in the ceiling?
Thanks,
Kathryn.

Hi,
Can we occupy the Property(QLD) with only Form 61(Pending completion of Retaining wall) provided by the builder? Form 21 will only be issued once retaining wall outside the house but within the property boundaries is completed.

The Builder said that we just need to fully pay them and we can occupy the house even without the Form 21. Is that legal??

Thanks for any help.

Can a rangehood be flued into the ceiling space?

Hi there,

We are in the design stage of building our house and want to install the hot water service in the laundry inside a cupboard. Is this allowed in Victoria Australia?

Regards
Joanne

My friend has asked me to help with colours & some guidance with her new home.
She has just given me the floor plans & I am worried about the position of the cook top on the island bench that the architect has drawn up.
Is it took close to the edge?? for safety & for children?? I can't seem to find any info when I google this question.

Can you help please
Many Thanks
Arlene Parsons

My brickwork is really rough, and I am after the tolerances allowed in construction (QLD). Vertical mortar joins range in thickness from 7mm to 20mm - is this acceptable?
Also, Brickbond is staggered from bottom to top - is there an allowable deviation for this? Horizontal bed joints are also not straight.
I have attached a pic of our front "feature" wall to illustrate my concerns - is this acceptable?
Thank you

We are having our first home built in QLD, and I am concerned about the way the electrical wiring has been put in our home. We have electrical wires that span across the frame in some parts of the house, and none of the wiring appears to run along the frames (as I have seen in other constructions). Is this safe and within tolerances for QLD? I m concerned if I decide to put a nail in the plaster post handover that I will hit an electrical wire floating in the wall. Advice please.

Hello,
I am planning a reno/extension - should i put cement sheeting (19mm) as underfloor structure in bathroom, then waterproof and tile
or
can I use yellow tongue, 6mm cement sheeting on top and waterproof?

should I use cement sheeting on the walls for tiling or is Aquacheck plasterboard (13mm) suitable for wall tiling?

thanks so much Jonathan

Hi there,

We are building with a project Home builder and there was a delay with the brick layer. So rather than wait until the exterior walls were in place, they carried on and we now have alll the gyprock walls and ceilings In place without exterior walls.
In mid dec 17
They put wall insulation and the green wrap around the lower floor. The upper levels have just wooden frame and then they started on the internal fittings. We are now in February and we still have no external covering on the upper floor. The bricks to the first floor went in last week.

To be able to sell my property, do I need council approval for an existing pergola attached to my townhouse? I live in Carina and there are 3 townhouses on the block with body corporate.

We have had below freezing temps for the last 4 nights. Today all cold water facets have running water, but all hot water facets have nothing coming out.

I am building a double story house. It is under construction.

I have bathrooms in the second story house which has showers. House frame is made of wood. I have hebel flooring.

My concern is about the waterproofing
Metricon builder has fitted the cabinets in the bathroom before the waterproofing has been done. I have shower in the bathroom in the second floor. So after waterproofing has been done in the bathroom the following areas has not been waterproofed

A builder installed an engineered underground detention tank within the rear yard. it was not installed at the correct elevation leaving only 3" of soil and sod. To prevent the sod from browning and dying every year is there something to install, some sort of insulation that can be placed on top of the concrete to dissipate the heat?

https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/craftsman-house-plan-with-main-floor-game-room-and-bonus-over-garage-500007vv

i do want to change how many bathrooms there are along with making better use for the space but generally the outside shape will be as in

Hi There,
I am planning on building a low deck in an area surrounded on 3 sides by external walls of my house. The walls are brick veneer with the usual termite barrier two bricks up form the footings.