-
Best way to connect railing cap and upper rail?
Hi all, we need to replace our rotten front deck railing and have decided to use beautiful hardwood (Blackbutt). I've been educating myself on how to install a new railing, and most videos I've watched just screw or nail through the railing cap into the upper rail (both meet like an L on its side). But I'm reluctant to do…
-
Can you use rigid ducting for subfloor ventilation?
Hi all, we have had subfloor ventilation installed by a contractor, but its quality is not very good so I want to redo it. As flexible ducting always has a greater resistance to air flow I was thinking, "what if I used rigid ducting, i.e. 150mm PVC pipes?" Is that just a mad shower idea or has one of you experience with…
-
Can I save our grass tree?
We have an established grass tree in our backyard and it doesn't look as it did a year ago. I think its leaves are more brown and it doesn't look vital. It it dying? How can I save it? Our soil is a layer of 30..40 cm of loam on top of clay. My hunch is that the big rains have upset it, but I'm not sure what to do. Thank…
-
Side path budget paving using recycled materials
Recycled bricks and pavers used to make a solid side path. The project I want to share with you how I redid the paving of the sidewalk next to our house. The previous paving was loose in parts and very slippery in wet weather, so I decided to replace it. To keep costs down, I reused concrete pavers that were left over from…
-
How to add an insulation cap to internal double brick walls?
I'm getting started to insulate our attic. After lots of research I learned that internal double brick walls act as chimneys for cold air - they suck it in from the subfloor and vent it out into the attic. This leads to heat loss in the house. Unless they are capped. But I have so far failed to find a good solution for…
-
Best way to change shed down pipes for small water tank
Hi guys, we have a small garden shed with 75mm zinc downpipes. I like to change that setup so that I can join the two downpipes on one end and redirect the water into a small water tank. Unfortunately Bunnings no longer carries 75mm PVC pipe fittings, and a zinc 90 degree elbow is a steep $45 – I'd need two of those, plus…
-
Attic insulation: Should I remove wooden covers?
We have a fairly old house where the ceilings have wooden covers in the attic (see photo below). One of my next projects will be to improve attic insulation for the ceilings of our rooms. After watching a fair amount of YouTube videos I am wondering if I should remove all these wooden covers in order to be able to lay…
-
How to use fishing tape to feed cables down the wall
Recently I wanted to install cables in our double-brick home. I drilled holes into the inner brick wall and then fed the cable into the space between both brick walls, catching the cable from the subfloor as it fell down. However, one brick wall space was so convoluted with other cables that the new cable refused to follow…
-
Repaving a side path for less than $200
I want to share with you how I redid the paving of the side walk next to our house. Here is the end result: The previous paving was loose in parts and very slippery in wet weather, so I decided to replace it. To keep costs down, I * reused concrete pavers that were left over from a patio upgrade, * used bricks recycled…
