Don't discount the possibility of it being rectified. Maybe they could do coffered ceilings with bulkheads, at least in some rooms. I say this because our builder was meant to make the front part of our place the same as the a display home. An annotation was accidentally left off the plans and specs...

FWIW, our standard MBA contract from 2008 states in Clause 3.5 under "INCONSISTENCIES": "If there is a difference between specification information and drawing detail the specification information will be followed unless otherwise agreed" If you can find a similar clause in your ...

Find out ASAP from your contract if the specs over-ride the plans or vice-versa. If the former is the case, you can insist on the partly-build house to be modified to reflect the upgrade you have paid for. If it's the latter, you will have to negotiate the best outcome you can with the builder. Chee...

If you get efficient speakers (like Paradigm monitors, for eg. ::wink:: ) then only having 50WRMS to play with should present no issue - my first decent Onkyo Stereo receiver (which I still use) is 45WRMS, and it used to rock my old bedroom through a pair of Bose 801 P.A. speakers... My Klipsch La ...

All our mixer taps have extra hot and cold taps where the pipes exit the wall - so the water can be turned off very easily for replacement or repairs - great idea, but I don't know if it's regulation or not. Why, Oh why, would you put the taps in the ceiling though? Surely they can be sufficiently i...

Well, being a bloke, I have NO idea on interior decorating. But I like "blank canvasses" so I thought I'd have a go. I must say, though, this particular canvas is less blank than most. Great architectural detail, clever furniture and a nice strong green feature wall. My 2c worth is a big r...

Just maybe you were too quick to try scraping it off. I remember painting a zincalume tubular fence with acrylic paint maybe 20 years ago. After it had dried I complained to the paint manufacturer that it scraped off with slight fingernail pressure. I was told "stop trying to scrape it off with...

It IS probably rust. :shock: But don't panic! We found similar rust spots and rust seeping out of joins on a colorbond coated sunroof. The rep was able to demonstrate they were only on the surface - little steel filings (from edge cuts and holes made by drills for rivets or self-drilling screws) tha...

To those who paid money without yet receiving goods, did you pay by credit card? If so, you'll probably be OK. I lost $500.00 deposit when an Adelaide retailer went into administration and was wound up about 10 years ago. What made me doubly sh*tty was that the business subsequently reopened in the ...

Hi I am looking at installing an instant hot water unit the runs on lpg. Can anyone help, with their experience , I am looking at a bosch 16h hydropower, as it needs no power to be run to it to operate pilot light. The area I live in has no natural gas and LPG storage units make hot water very expe...

We have other sheds on the property to function as a workshops etc. So, the garage attached to the house is purely a garage. So, we didn't add the complication of a window. I did think about it and saw no good reason for it - so we just didn't bother. Cheers zeke

Another option: On our sliding door we have the sheer roller blind plus a roman on top. They both open completely up so there's easy access. I love them and will be doing them again through the next house. Good luck We've done the roman blinds in this house and the previous one because we like the ...

Just a thought - is the unit really that yellow or is it a bit grimy/smoke-stained etc? I'd be tempted as a first option to attempt a really thorough clean with either a good detergent or a spray-and wipe type cleaner to see if it makes any difference. Often, the outer casing can be taken off comple...

To me, the biggest negative about verticals is their lack of insulation capacity. The second is that they were "done to death" when they came out and, of course, fell out of favour due to over-exposure. IMHO, they are not intrinsically ugly. They just have bad associations in most peoples'...

This question can't be answered without more information. . My question is how many kW of power does the 23KW (capacity) Actron Air consume per hour? Assume that it runs at its max capacity (what I mean is that just turn on the Actron Air Unit at its maximum speed for 1 hour then turn it on for 1 h...

We love our 19hp Greenfield. Built in Australia, no less. A solid, gutsy, well engineered machine that makes no apologies for not being as "pretty as some of the competition. The 26 hp one would be a ripper. http://www.greenfield.com.au/ Initially we tackled much of a 20 acre property with the ...

I once knew of a lovely family which included 5 kids. On a whim, the parents decided to add the kids' names to the title of the house - something about everyone in the family having ownership of their humble but much-loved home. The problem arose many years later, when this "gesture" had b...

IMO, definitely start with a builder and design that's as close to the standard you want as possible. The builder will be doing what they do all the time rather than swimming out of their depth. Probably the most important factor is that the tradies on the job will be used to meeting that builder's ...

If you believe your place has "something special" that would make more then one buyer desperate to secure it, then go to auction. If, on the other hand, a potential buyer could happily pass on your house, knowing that something similar and just as good is either on the market or will crop ...