- but by same token, steel frame houses dont have massive problems either - mine has very minimal creaking noises, by no means the excessive problem some posters have portrayed, and the house is no cooler/ hotter than with a timber frame. Nor does it have cracks all over the house after 6 years. :?...

It's always a good idea to do your own research before starting anything. Don't try to expect things will fall into their own place in time. Complaining about use of timber in house building is absolutely naive. Also with the thought that having steel frame and no need to worry about termites is def...

Have to agree with Bluesuede. I've been in IT industry for over a decade. There are simply too many time people take vows that certain technology will never "die", certain connectors will "live happily ever after". But the truth is connectors and technologies are having shorter a...

Snowing I just googled the wireless charging system for my phone and it's available. The charging pad still needs a USB but it's pretty cool. Just put your phone down on the mat and it charges. Hmm I want one now lol There are some that use standard powerpoint as well. Not as common thou. I have qu...

For me, I wouldn't jump into this usb powerpoint thing. These kind of connectors change from time to time. It may be good for this year and next year. But you can't be sure if your new devices from third year onward can use it. I'll stick with the normal power sockets. :) ps: new phones can use wire...

Thanks for the tickets! Lots of things to see in the show and nice ideas in my own list now. :)

It's true that you will need to put down some money for your feasibility study. There is really no free lunch on this especially you are going to customized plans. You better off set a budget for yourself first. My experience is that I set myself a minimum budget which is what I told my potential bu...

@AussieMark you are right, I'm on that path as well. It just doesn't work out to be solid timber not tempered with. I won't trust anything that sounds too good for a deal. That's what my dad always told me, "There is no deal as great deal. If you get something you call a great deal, you'll gonn...

If you want to know more, it might be a good time you start searching on net for all things about solid timber floors. There are many variations and features that can affect the pricing. Some can go to the extreme of double the pricing. ie: select grade vs feature grade timber already has a price di...

Don't get it wrong. Class P does NOT necessary means that you have highly reactive soil. Class P is problem site. There is usually a reason that follow this class. ie: lots of trees / plants with big roots and abnormal moisture, site too steep with thick grass etc.. The report usually will state if ...

Thanks for your advice snowing. I had a look at your thread and thanks for the PM. ( I cant reply yet as I'm a newby). cheers You're welcome. :) Take your time to look around.

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm in Melbourne and my block is on steep slope. How big is your block? If it's not a big one and with a 4m fall over it, frankly speaking, your budget is way to low for a 30sq. I have spoken to quite a few builder and conclusion is that depends on how steep and how acce...

Well.. honestly I have talked with quite a few builders before I decided on mine as well. Not all of them replied and some replies are so "formal" like from a robot. If you tell them that you have a block already, chances are that you will receive a reply is higher. If you don't even have ...

It seems that you still haven't purchased your block of land, right? If that is the case, most of the builders wouldn't put much time for you especially you are talking about a very dedicated lifestyle house for yourself. Since they have no idea of what they are working with in terms of the block of...

It might be hard to arrange insurance as well. As in theory, once your builder start the build, the block of land and things inside it are "temporary owned" by the builder. So it is a little hard to work with insurance on items on "someone else" block of land. This might sound st...

I agree with you too. Not a good time to walk away, 3 years of hard work. One question thou, your builder cannot supply anything similar in terms of windows? I did have a bit of drama with that as well. At the end of the day was the solution we'd came out as builder will do the negotiation with supp...

I'm not sure about other builders, but for mine we work this way.. For items supplied by builder, those are of no issue as margin already in and they'll cover them. For items supplied by me, my builder suggested that there are items which won't affect build.. ie: additional light which I'll add afte...

Another reason is that not all appliances can use wifi. Some still relies on wired network or need to spend more to get wifi options. On the technical side, there or only certain number of channels available for use with wifi. As more and more people using wireless network, you bound to get disconne...

It really depends your agreement with your builder and how your contract reads out. Some custom builder will count in fees paid for concept and planning stage towards the final construction contract. I am not too sure how it will work out if you pay for your design and then have someone else for con...