tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4758038849209565512024-02-23T17:29:54.482+11:00Tim & Tina's new home building blog - redevelopment in Australia!A detailed, regularly updated blog about buying and old house, demolishing it, and contructing a new house with a volume builder in Melbourne, Australia. Making your house a home! We also review house and home products, services and designs - if you want to reviewed and get noticed in the blogosphere, please contact us!T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.comBlogger311125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-56876965664623364052019-03-16T10:05:00.001+11:002019-03-16T10:05:28.153+11:00Long term review - Clipsal wall plates and connectivityJust a quick whinge today - if you're given the option to NOT use Clipsal products, take it!<br />
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We prewired the house for networking, and of the 10 points, around half are useless. The problem lies in the actual plug in ports for cables, where the ports just disintegrate, fall into the wall cavity, or grab onto the network cables and refuse to release them.<br />
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Terrible quality, would never use again, 0/10.T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-46428009533483345652018-08-06T19:41:00.003+10:002018-08-06T19:41:43.240+10:00House repairs - attempting to DIY repair a damaged wooden exterior doorSo again - no updates for a very long time - been busy with life and work and everything else!<br />
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Recently we've been doing a lot of petsitting since our dog Hannah died in 2016. Agreed to look after a beagle/cavalier cross for a friend without meeting the dog first - big mistake! After one night, he'd torn up our lovely back wooden sliding door... making it look something like this!<br />
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A few little scratches here...</div>
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Some more big scratches here, a few mm into the door itself!</div>
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Not sure if you can see the chunks missing at the bottom of the door! And no, that's not the guilty dog in the background - yet another doggo we're looking after!</div>
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So anyway, we're left with a rather sorry looking rear door. I thought about getting a professional in for the repair, and figured (as usual) I'd give it a crack myself. I mean, the worst case scenario would be I'd call in a professional to repair my botched job anyway, right?</div>
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So, off to the big green shed with $2.50 sausages to buy some supplies.</div>
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Picked up some masking tape, exterior wood filler, a metal blade and a bunch of sandpaper. Before going any further, I removed any loose wood from the scratches and rubber everything down with a rag to remove any dirt/dust and loose bits.</div>
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Then, taped up the glass next to the damaged areas.</div>
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Opened up the wood filler, and began slapping it into the damaged areas, using the metal blade to gets things kind of close to right. You don't want to put too little in (which will leave a depression) or have too much which will take ages to sand down.</div>
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Aaaaand.... that's as far as I got. The filler needs a while to set (it says 3 hours) and then I got distracted by playstation and went to play some games. Hopefully this weekend I'll have a bit of time to get sanding.</div>
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And for anyone living in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs/Yarra Valley, we're proud to announce the opening of <a href="http://www.elationdental.com.au/">Elation Dental in Croydon South</a>!</h2>
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Located at 111 Bayswater Road (corner of Eastfield Road, at Eastfield Shopping Centre) our brand new, state of the art dental clinic is now open to serve our local community!</div>
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<a href="http://www.elationdental.com.au/">Our dental clinic is close to Ringwood, Heathmont, Kilsyth. Bayswater, Ferntree Gully and the Yarra Valley</a>!</div>
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We've got some great opening offers - for example, up to $1000 bulk billed dental care for eligible kids under Medicare CDBS! Also NO-GAP Preventive care for all kids/teenagers under 18 - that means checkups, cleans, xrays and tooth sealants are fully paid by your private health insurance!</div>
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Plus if you're an adult with ANY private health insurance from ANY company, your complete checkup package (worth $385) is only $50 gap!</div>
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Anyway, for more details on our clinic and location, click here to visit <a href="http://www.elationdental.com.au/">Elation Dental Croydon South</a>!</div>
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And for our readers on the west side of Melbourne, <a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/">Verdant Dental at 326 Keilor Road Niddrie is available to welcome all new patients</a>!</div>
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<br />T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-76630098480918543382017-06-08T13:17:00.003+10:002017-06-08T13:17:34.965+10:00Tim's tips for the easiest things to grow in your vegie patch - get fresh, save money = winning!Though it was a bit hard to get out of bed this morning (as it was 4 degrees and I forgot to turn my oil heater on!), it was worth it to get out in the garden on a non-rainy day to tidy up the vegie patch.<br />
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Unfortunately no pictures of my actual vegie patch (due to it being a bit muddy and an uncharged mobile phone), but my top tips for planting (given that I usually kill anything I do in the garden) are...<br />
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1) Mint</h3>
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Mint is great to grow - it's just about impossible to kill, and great with many of my favourite winter dishes (lamb in particular!). Plus if you like a bit of tea in winter, try adding some crushed mint and sugar - trust me, it's amazing! Picked that one up in Morocco...<br />
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2) Rosemary</h3>
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Rosemary is pretty good I reckon - it's a reasonably decorative plant which is flowering in autumn, very drought resistant, grows anywhere (I've got it growing in builder's mud and it's doing fine!) and just like mint, it's beautiful on lamb dishes. I'm particularly fond of it in a slow roasted lamb shank.<br />
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3) Spring Onion</h3>
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Maybe this should be number 1 - I use it all the time in asian cooking, but you can use this pretty much on any dish calling for it! Go grab a bunch of spring onion from the supermarket or asian shop for $1 or so, chop off the bottom inch with the roots attached, and go stick these roots outside in your vegie patch. It'll take well, and start growing new shoots, which you and chop off and use over and over again! Though I usually rip it out after 6 months as it gets a bit woody. Then you just get some more spring onion, replant and start again!<br />
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<a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/">Verdant Dental are Melbourne's Defence Health Preferred Dentists!</a></h2>
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<a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/">Free dental checkup, clean and fluoride treatments for eligible Defence Health members!</a></h4>
Finally, now that we're in June, I figure I'll put out this bit of public information - for anyone with health insurance and extras with Defence Health (includes Navy, Army, Air Force etc) then your extras benefits expire at the end of June 2017! <a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/">If you have Defence Health Extras Premier, Value, Top Extras or ADF Total Package then you should receive your dental checkup clean and fluoride for free if you attend at Verdant Dental</a>!<br />
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Most other health fund benefits expire at the end of the calendar year, so we usually are extra busy in December. Defence Health is the one major exception - so call Verdant Dental on 9379 3736 and we can get you seen before your health fund benefits expire!<br />
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Tim<br />
<br />T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-16506095327472542612017-03-07T20:41:00.003+11:002017-03-07T20:41:42.002+11:00A cooking session with Adam Liaw thanks to Metricon!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So last month we managed to grab an invite to see Adam Liaw cooking at the Metricon display home in Burwood East.<br />
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Must admit - we've both got a massive crush on Adam Liaw, who won Aussie Masterchef back in 2010. He's had an amazing career since then, and if you haven't seen his cooking shows on SBS (Destination Flavour: Japan is our favourite!) then do yourself a favour and go stream it now!<br />
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The demonstration was mostly about Chinese New Year, so I got to make a few dumplings (poorly) with Adam. We also got to have a good look around the display home, which in typical Metricon style was fully maxxed out with amazing features.<br />
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In retrospect, would've been nice to have a butler's kitchen in our house... as well as a butler to cook for us! With the long hours we're spending at <a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/">Verdant Dental Niddrie</a>, we're usually back home late eating reheated frozen food, which is a long way short of a Masterchef meal!<br />
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And of course I'm obliged to finish this post with some good news and an offer for everyone out there - if you have private health insurance (with extras) from <a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/">HCF or Defence Health, you're probably eligible for a <b>FREE dental checkup/exam, clean at Verdant Dental Niddrie! </b>In particular, HCF members who are eligible also get free dental xrays and a free fluoride treatment, as well as a free mouthguard every year at Verdant Dental Niddrie</a>!<br />
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<a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/contact-us-dental-appointments-emergencies-toothaches/">To make an appointment at the best dentists in Melbourne (Verdant Dental, obviously!), give us a call on 03 9379 3736</a>!<br />
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Tim & TinaT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-67284141663553907992016-11-06T10:23:00.002+11:002016-11-06T10:31:50.000+11:00Bye Bye Hannah - and up to $1000 in free dental care for your children!A little while ago we said goodbye to the dearest member of our family, Hannah.<br />
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We got Hannah from when we bought our first house in Mitcham - the owners had two Jack Russells and were downsizing, so we bought the house on condition we got to keep Hannah. She's a Jack Russell/Mini Foxy cross, full of energy, a little bit cheeky and loved to cuddle up to us.<br />
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So we've been driving around looking for another little pup to adopt - there's a great shelter called <a href="http://www.petshaven.org.au/">Pet's Haven Animal Shelter </a>out in Woodend who we've donated to, so if you're looking for a pet for your place - please don't buy one from a pet shop! Rescue and adopt a shelter pet instead, and they'll love you forever.<br />
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Up To $1000 Free Dental Care for your kids in Victoria! </h2>
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From little dogs to little adults now - did you know that your <a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/">kids might be eligible for up to $1000 in free dental care at Verdant Dental - Suite 1, Level 1, 326 Keilor Road Niddrie Victoria</a>?<br />
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In order to check, just give us a call on (03) 9379 3736 from 9-12, or 1:30-4:30 Monday to Friday! Ask Tanina at the reception desk to check if your kids are eligible - all you need to do is tell us your Medicare number, give us a contact number and we'll call you back once we've checked for you.<br />
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We bulk bill 100% all checkups, cleans, dental sealants, fillings, fluoride etc to eligible children!<br />
<a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/dentists-prosthetist-checkups-dentures-best-reviews/"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/dentists-prosthetist-checkups-dentures-best-reviews/">We've got some wonderful dentists who are the best dentists in Melbourne for working with kids including Dr Alpa Lodhiya and Dr Sonia Sumer, and of course you're welcome to ask for me as well - Dr Tim Wenas</a>!.<br />
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Verdant Dental bulks bills eligible children who have access to the Child Dental Benefits Scheme!</h3>
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Please note not all families are eligible as it depends on Medicare - plus the Government is attempting to <a href="https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-government-axing-free-dental-care-for-kids-petition-to-federal-minister-for-health-the-hon-sussan-ley-mp">wipe out dental benefits</a> for your kids and are planning to do so by the end of 2016! If you do happen to be eligible, we'd recommend having your treatment done ASAP because after the Government scraps the scheme, it is not possible to backdate any treatment.<br />
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<a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/dentist-326-keilor-road-best-parking-tram/">Verdant Dental is at Suite 1, Level 1, 326 Keilor Road, Niddrie. Close to Essendon North, Strathmore, Moonee Ponds, Airport West, Tullamarine, Keilor and Maribyrnong</a> - we accept all patients from everywhere!<br />
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Plus we accept all Private Health Funds with extras cover through our HICAPS machine. Looking for the <a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/contact-us-dental-appointments-emergencies-toothaches/">best dentists in Melbourne</a> - here we are!<br />
<br />T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-91769400351946468092016-07-17T19:48:00.000+10:002016-07-17T20:12:40.305+10:00Verdant Dental - Suite 1, Level 1, 326 Keilor Road Niddrie<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hey everyone!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can't believe how long it's been since I even remembered having this blog. I do recall being totally building-obsessed when we first started this journey back in... 2009?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Clearly the results of that obsession have been well documented here on this blog. Daily drive-bys, and in-depth focus on the details that makes a house a home. We've had hundreds of comments and we hope our replies have helped you on your home building journey!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But this post marks a bit of a milestone... Tina and I have been massively busy obsessing about another project for the last few months, and this post is the reveal!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/"><img alt="Verdant Dental, Suite 1 Level 1 326 Keilor Road Niddrie" border="0" height="180" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-su0Xss-PelU/V4tPUr3-rRI/AAAAAAAAD_g/0ha3SNMlePUKFtptufk2gMP0vapym0cJgCLcB/s640/Verdant%2BDental%2BLogo%2BFull.jpg" title="Verdant Dental, Suite 1 Level 1 326 Keilor Road Niddrie" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Telephone: (03) 9379 3736</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've been working with Dr Joseph Versace for 12 years, and for the last 8 years at our current location at <a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/" target="_blank">Suite 1, Level 1, 326 Keilor Road, Niddrie VIC 3042</a>. We've had an amazingly loyal patient base, and we perform general, family, cosmetic and emergency dentistry to the inner west area. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mostly our patients come to us from Essendon, Aberfeldie, Moonee Ponds, Strathmore, Niddrie, Keilor, Greenvale, Airport West etc, but some of our clients are so loyal they fly in from interstate to see us!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We also do a lot of teaching of postgraduate dental students for The University of Melbourne Dental School. Dr Versace has decided to do more teaching and to step back from private practice, so we (Tim & Tina) have decided to take on the privilege and responsibility of operating the practice - now known as Verdant Dental.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have a fantastic team around us including dentists Dr Christina Romanella, Dr Alpa Lodhiya and dental prosthetist Mr Jeremy Kearns. All the team are personal friends of mine, and I can vouch for their kindness, care and honest nature.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some of you have been following this blog for years (or years ago) - and I hope that you've benefited from the effort and dedication we've put into this blog. We've put even more effort into Verdant Dental, to make sure it upholds the ethics, honesty and genuine relationships that have been a tradition since Dr Versace commenced the practice back in the 1980s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Should you be in the area, or have friends or family nearby, we welcome you to Verdant Dental and promise that you'll have the best experience ever! You can ask us any questions you want, and you'll get an expert, honest and open answer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Please visit our website at <a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/">http://www.verdantdental.com.au</a>, or you can email us to make an appointment enquiry at <a href="mailto:smile@verdantdental.com.au">smile@verdantdental.com.au</a>, or even the traditional way of calling us at (03) 9379 3736!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And you never know - I might even keep updating this blog for home building related stuff too!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Signing off for now....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dr Tim Wenas</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Verdant Dental</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.verdantdental.com.au/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Suite 1, Level 1, 326 Keilor Road, Niddrie VIC 3042</a></div>
T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0326 Keilor Rd, Niddrie VIC 3042, Australia-37.7371003 144.89223400000003-63.2591348 103.58364000000003 -12.215065800000001 -173.799172tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-64366393733826707272014-06-22T10:45:00.000+10:002014-06-22T10:45:08.880+10:00Winter updateAs usual, life gets in the way of updating blog stuff.<br />
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What's been happening around the house? Not a great deal, really. We had a little alcove built in behind the bed in our bedroom which has been fairly empty for a while. I was wanting to put in a fancy fully built out set of shelves, hangers etc, but ended up putting in a basic wardrobe unit the other week.<br />
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Why? Well, it was inexpensive, easy and quick to install, plus we have a lot of wire basket shelves that match it that sit underneath. Also added a laminate shelf. Final results looks great and is very practical, but didn't get any final photos. If we ever do end up putting in a custom wardrobe here, it's easy to disassemble it and put it in storage or re-install it in another room.<br />
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Also... eventually.... going to plant some of my fruit trees in the ground now that they're dormant. Been saying that for a year or so, so it probably won't happen in a hurry. Should actually get around to doing some front landscaping, but I've been saying that for even longer. Been occupied lately fixing up my track car and there's always something breaking that I get to fix! That's probably one regret I have about our house... didn't put in a 10 car garage with a hoist. Guess if we had that, there would be no room for the house itself!<br />
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t&tT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-57783731444077295382013-07-13T13:34:00.000+10:002013-07-13T13:34:15.276+10:00DIY: Recovering another filing cabinet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So I recently scored a few old bits of furniture from a warehouse relocation - I'm a big fan of reusing, redesigning, saving things from the rubbish tip where possible! This filing cabinet has a file drawer and is meant to have two upper drawers, but one is missing. </div>
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Not the most attractive for a modern home! Never mind. Just had to unscrew the rails for the missing shelf.<br />
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Bit of offcut of yellowtongue; trimming to size.<br />
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This will form a fixed shelf where the old drawer used to be.<br />
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Think I'll cover it in a matching silver vinyl that I used for a similar filing cabinet recover.<br />
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Fixed into place with 4 countersunk screws - leftover from the rear deck construction.<br />
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Recovering the outside of the cabinet too.<br />
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Finish off by covering the drawer fronts, and 99% done - just a little more to cover and the old cabinet will be updated!<br />
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There's also a matching huge desk that will get some kind of treatment - I won't cover it in vinyl, got something a little unusual up my sleeve for that one!<br />
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As for our garden design, Dave at <a href="http://www.onlinegardendesign.com.au/" target="_blank">onlinegardendesign.com.au </a>has been great with rapid responses to our questions, and has come up with some very practical thoughts that we hadn't even thought of. We're working on getting a final layout organised, and for a bonus offer <a href="http://www.onlinegardendesign.com.au/discounted-landscaping-packages/" target="_blank">Dave is offering $100 off landscape design packages - but hurry this offer ends July 15</a>!<br />
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t&t <br />
<br />T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-23606025607956248132013-06-20T21:48:00.001+10:002013-07-13T13:34:40.070+10:00Planning for Spring: Finishing up the outdoor landscapingWith today being one of Melbourne's coldest June days in a decade, it's not really the time to geting dirty outside - is it? We've left the front of our house until last to get done, but with most of the insides and backyard just about there, it's about time we pay attention to some street appeal!<br />
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At the moment things look like this... pretty bland, pretty boring. I've got a few fruit trees growing up slowly in pots - oranges, mandarins, limes etc, and have constructed a low-key raised box; where I plan to stick in a whole lot of mint and other herbs. But there's a vast expanse of black mulch that needs to be overhauled, and while I might not be getting out the garden spade just yet, there's no harm in getting some planning done!<br />
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Will definitely have to do something to cover up that eyesore of a brick wall that's on our boundary and there's another wall right outside out kitchen window that will also need covering up! Plus something to hide the bins.<br />
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Anyway, while I'm happy enough getting on the tools and constructing stuff, neither I nor Tina have much of an idea when it comes to gardening. All we know is that we don't want to spend hours trimming and fiddling with things, we like to have a productive garden that we can chew into (hence all the fruit trees and herb patch) and we want it looking modern and upmarket at the same time.<br />
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I don't know if we'll ever get the patience, time and money to construct something like this, but I love how it looks!<br />
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As luck would have it, we were recently contacted by Dave from <a href="http://www.onlinegardendesign.com.au/" target="_blank">Online Garden Design</a> who has offered to help us with some expertise and advice on how to select and create a landscaping layout that would suit our house. We certainly need a lot of help getting the large front area looking beautiful, plus there's already a gardemn bed area set aside at the backyard that needs some planting, and even the area behind the garage with a whole lot of empty space that could do with some brightening up.<br />
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So Dave has sent us an intro pack with all the info he needs - things like a rough existing site plan, some information on the style and design we like, which we've sent back to him for review. Will update things as we progress further down this road!<br />
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Open disclaimer: Dave has offered his design services to us free of charge in this instance, so that we may review his services and provide a blogger's perspective on how his services work.T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-64335964917726388062013-06-10T11:32:00.005+10:002013-06-10T11:33:58.579+10:00Clearance on door dampers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Right, so it's taken a while to figure out that our website<a href="http://www.tim-and-tina.com/" target="_blank"> tim-and-tina.com</a> hasn't been working, but it's fixed now!</div>
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Anyway to celebrate, we're clearing out the last stocks of our door dampers at a special price - a special bundle enough to do all the doors in your house!</div>
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They work like this;</div>
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If you're interested in ordering, please <a href="http://www.tim-and-tina.com/" target="_blank">see our website </a>for more details. Please note that screws are NOT included in this clearance price, but are available cheap from any hardware store.<br />
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t&tT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-36287924956476794102013-05-30T11:18:00.001+10:002013-07-13T13:34:54.533+10:00Backyard updateWow, can't believe that it's been 5 months since I last posted on this blog! I guess once you've gone through the excitement and anguish of building your house, other things grab your attention. That said, we're still progressing very very slowly on getting our house sorted out!<br />
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The next thing we did after laying the pavers for the BBQ was to have a look at the rest of the backyard.<br />
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Right... so it's not pretty is it? Leftover builders rubble, rocks, a couple of weeds. Not really something enjoyable, and we've left it a couple of years like this!<br />
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Anyway I was driving home one afternoon and was following a bloke who was towing his bobcat behind him - I contacted him and organised for a bit of a cleanup of the backyard. This was around the end of 2012.<br />
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Spying on him working from one of our surveillance cameras! First I poisoned all the weeds for 3 weeks, before he came in to level the backyard. Fortunately his bobcat could just fit through our garage rear access door.<br />
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So after a bit of cleaning up, we've got a base layer of turf underlay soil spread out with a slight fall towards the back fence. In the far corner near the unpainted fence I've left a section vacant for a shed.</div>
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Delivery of some buffalo grass waiting to be laid. While it's entirely possible to DIY turf laying now that the basic preparation has been done, I just don't have the time or energy to do it, plus the cost of turf laying is pretty cheap.<br />
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Aaaaand.... turf laid out! I had a huge water bill for that quarter, since it was in the middle of summer and you have to keep the turf wet for it to take well. Now it's early winter and the grass isn't growing so much there's only 1-2 weeds to pull out by hand.<br />
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We still have a lot of work to go of course... would love to have something done about the front landscaping, since it's nothing but a vast wasteland of black mulch right now! More to come.<br />
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On a final note for this entry, my condolences go out to those <a href="http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2087160" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">affected by the GH collapse - read more about their plight here on whirlpool</a>.<br />
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t&tT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-75774539815935489952012-12-31T15:04:00.003+11:002013-07-13T13:35:05.126+10:00DIY Pavin pt 3: Laying paversWow, is it the end of the year already?! Been taking a bit of time off lately working on constructing my shed, but I guess we should finish off some unfinished business first - the little paving project.<br />
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So now with the foundation of crushed rock and sand laid, you need to make sure the sand is as level as possible - I used a long straight bit of timber to sweep across the sand.<br />
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The 16 pavers to be laid are off to one side. Useful tools for this step is a rubber mallet, tile spacers (I used leftover 3mm spacers from my deck project) and ideally someone else to lift and lay the pavers for you, as they're quite heavy! <br />
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Anyway, started off carefully laying the first paver, and the first row. Use the rubber mallet to gently seat the pavers in place and to tap them closer together. If they're too close, wedge in a flat screwdrive to prise them apart. <br />
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And then (actually didn't take very long) here are all the pavers laid out.<br />
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To finish things off, I mixed up some cement to lay a cement border around the sides of the pavers, and then used PaveLok sand to sweep in between the pavers. Apparently it has some extra ingredients to stop it washing out and to stop weeds growing inbetween the pavers. I still need to seal the pavers (which will make them look nice and dark and glossy) but other projects, as usual, have interuppted me finishing things off 100%.<br />
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So, for the end of 2012, we hope everyone has a happy and safe New Years, and looking forwards to another exciting year to come!<br />
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t&tT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-16912740501874610322012-11-17T10:39:00.002+11:002012-11-17T10:39:28.292+11:00DIY: Paving Part 2 - foundationSo the next part of paving is to put down a suitable foundation, something that won't move (much?) that will make things look all wonky later.<br />
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Some professionals will only lay paving on concrete, but that gets expensive rapidly - and if you're already going to put concrete, you might as well put down coloured, stamped or aggregate concrete and be done with it, I figure. Depending on how much paving you're putting down, some DIY websites suggest just levelling, putting down some sand, and then pavers on top. Because my "soil" in thge area was pretty crappy, full of builders rubble, clay, cracks etc, I figures I wanted something a little more solid than just sand, even though I was only doing a small (4 square meter) area for my BBQ.<br />
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So for my foundation I figured 1/2 cubic meter of crushed rock, compacted down, topped by 1/4 cubic meter of sand (about an inch) on top.<br />
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First, the crushed rock; I also put another sleeper in near the deck, and a couple of spare bits of wood on the sides to temporarily brace the crushed rock in place. Yes, the sleeper near the deck is slightly off, which annoys me no end - but I'm planning to make a little step down in merbau matching the deck later on anyway, which will cover that sleeper entirely.<br />
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Then spread a bit of sand on top. Check with your landscaping yard for appropriate sand to use, as there's a few different kinds.<br />
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So far, so good... next - the final part, laying the pavers.<br />
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[Recently we're also had someone in to lay turf in the backyard, and it was just finished - exciting! Finally, no more weeds taller than I am!]<br />
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t&tT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-83992628054498223652012-11-08T19:23:00.001+11:002012-11-17T10:32:54.896+11:00DIY: Paving Part 1, setting out the paving area.Well, we're almost at that magical time of the year, with long hot days, warms nights, mosquitoes... and BBQs! Having built my deck at exactly the wrong time of the year (middle of summer is no weather to be mixing concrete and screwing down decking boards!) I decided this year to get a head start on the next part of the outdoor area - the BBQ area.<br />
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It would be great to have the BBQ actually undercover, on the decked area, but our decking isn't that big to start off with, and with the table and chairs there isn't enough room for the BBQ anyway.<br />
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The plan was to either build a mini deck to the side of the original deck, or have some other area just for the BBQ. I also consider just putting down some crushed rock or Lilydale toppings - both are quick, cheap and easy, and being crushed rocks with fine dust or (in the case of Lilydale toppings) crushed limestone, both pack down hard to being a concrete equivalent, at least for the minor task of holding up a BBQ.<br />
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But I didn't really wants exposed crushed rock being the BBQ base, since there would be a likelihood of the fine stones being brought into the house (mess = not good, especially with a little dog running around) so a base of pavers was the way to go!<br />
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Part 1 of DIY paving - setting out the area you want to pave. (Actually, part 1 should be choosing your pavers, since I mucked things up a little, more on this later!)<br />
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*<b>Standard disclaimer</b>* I'm not a professional paver - in fact, before building this house I actually hated doing anything in the garden! While I've done my own research into how you should do paving, read further at your own risk!<br />
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Anyway....<br />
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So this is the area to the side of our deck. There's only about 2.5 metres to the side fence, and quite a slope down. The rough area I've dug out is about 2 x 2.5m. Because of the slight slope down to the fence, I though I'd set up a mini retaining wall, which would help retain the pavers - had a few leftover sleepers that needed to be used anyway.<br />
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Dug out a couple of holes for the vertical post things, which are just offcuts of sleepers, about 400mm deep. Bolted the main sleeper to the posts, and set things up level. If you look at the bottom of the sleeper it's still a bit green from the timber preservative brushed onto it, leftover from the deck build. Probably not needed, but doesn't hurt to be there as well.<br />
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Mix up a small batch of concrete - wheelbarrow, concrete mix, water, and a shovel.<br />
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Spoonfeed your concrete around your posts and do not disturb for a day or so. <br />
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Then went back and roughly levelled the dirt out.<br />
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Now, remember I said something about choosing your pavers first? I thought I'd use matching 400x400 pavers that would match the 400x200 pavers I used as stepping stones along the side of the house, but the big ones didn't look so good. We ended up picking 495 x 495 pavers instead, and if you set out your area for a different size of paver, clearly things may not match up so good!<br />
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Next up, Part 2 - paver foundations.<br />
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t&t<br />
<br />T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-37926487582987600772012-09-17T20:41:00.001+10:002012-09-17T20:41:53.274+10:002 years in! A retrospective.So as of today, we've been in our house 2 years! Here's a little retrospective to see how to build first went - lots of photos....!<br />
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The original house - 50 odd years old, asbestos everywhere, gaps in the floorboards large enough to see the dirt under the house. We forced ourselves to live in this house a few months in 2009! <br />
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Bye house! Only took about 30 minutes to drive a crane through it.<br />
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Ready for a new start. Old house gone, all utilities disconnected, and a very secure security fence installed.<br />
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Slab all poured up. I remember it didn't look that big when we first saw it! <br />
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Framing all complete - didn't take all that long to put it up, maybe a couple of weeks. Hot work in the summer of 2010.<br />
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Roof tiles all on, windows in, and ground floor wrapping underway. <br />
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Brickwork half done, scaffolding everywhere. <br />
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House bricking complete, cladding on first floor, garage roof yet to go on. We had fantastic brickies who did a perfect job, very happy with how it all turned out. They were old school, using string lines to get everything level.<br />
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Interior fitout commenced. Kitchen benches and cupboards in, no stone benchtops yet. Insulation and plasterwork mostly done, still waiting on doors, skirting, architraves etc.<br />
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Ensuite tiled up, waiting on taps and mirror. Great job by our tiler as well - everything level, no peaks/falls (non level tiles), nicely trimmed and cutout around frames etc.<br />
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Our stairs - or should I say, Tina's expensive stairs! Yep, they do look very modern and architectural - and they should, for the amount they cost!<br />
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The Sign. This should be compulsory at all building sites!<br />
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The Handover - Lights on! Almost at the end of a long, exciting, occasionally frustrating journey!<br />
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And of course, The Key(ring). <br />
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I kind of miss the excitement of building, now looking back at these photos. We're considering taking on a development opportunity, if we can find a site/land that's suitable and affordable, and either building a single luxury house to sell, or a duplex/townhouses. The general Australian economy of course will factor into things, so we'll see how it pans out. Now that we've gone through the process of building and are plenty more knowledgeable (we think!) then it might be nice to use that experience in another project. Should probably finish off our backyard before we think of doing any other work though!<br />
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Anyway, lots of pics in this post! Thanks to all the readers of our blog who have cheered us up with words of encouragement, and posted many questions which we've tried to answer appropriately. Good luck to anyone thinking of building (and I know I've been neglecting our sister-blog <a href="http://www.buildingprojecthomes.com/" target="_blank">http://www.buildingprojecthomes.com/</a> which I have been meaning to update more often!) and we hope everyone who has taken the big step of building or redeveloping are having a great journey too!<br />
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t&tT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-25021144662811730092012-08-19T10:24:00.000+10:002012-08-19T10:25:39.443+10:00Soft close door dampers, Paypal screws up yet again.Just an update regarding our soft close door dampers - yes, we have the new design v2.0 door dampers <a href="http://www.tim-and-tina.com/" target="_blank">back in stock</a>! Removable soft-close cartridge can be directly installed into cabinetry, or use self-tapping screws to securely retrofit these soft-close mechanism to any cupboard or drawer in your kitchen, bathroom, ensuite, laundry etc!<br />
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We've been alerted by Shayne that the Paypal link is broken (thanks for the heads up!), and after closer investigation is seems that Paypal are continuing their grand tradition of <a href="http://www.paypalsucks.com/" target="_blank">f#cking things up for sellers</a>. Anyway, long story short, you can still pay by Paypal if you must, but you have to follow the long instructions on our <a href="http://www.tim-and-tina.com/" target="_blank">soft close door damper website</a>. Or do a bank deposit, which is equally safe (registered post anywhere in Australia).<br />
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And apparently, this is the 300th post on this blog - hello to everyone still reading our (my) ongoing rants and raves!<br />
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t&tT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-66413826463626330532012-07-26T20:45:00.001+10:002012-07-26T20:45:21.531+10:00DIY: Replacing your kitchen tapSo our new kitchen tap has been staring at me for a few weeks, while I've been happily procrastinating playing PS3 games - finally decided to get up and have a crack at replacing our crappy kitchen tap today.<br />
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<br />I've said it before, I'll say it again - <b>avoid upgrading anything through the builder that you can do yourself</b>. We paid a couple hundred bucks to "upgrade" from the standard kitchen tap to this piece of cr@p Dorf Oasis spray mixer, and look at the just how much quality you get after a year of use, with all the braiding frayed, exposing the soft plastic hose inside. </div>
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To change it actually took a lot longer than I thought. Ideally you'll need a big wrench or two, a basin wrench, screwdrivers/hex drivers, spare towels, things to catch waste water in. Make sure you turn off the water from the internal taps located inside the kitchen cabinet first, disconnect all water lines to the tap and drain into containers.</div>
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Actually getting the old mixer out was a huge battle, since there was very limited space in the cabinet with our massive sinks getting in the way. I needed a sink wrench to reach way up under the sink to grab a tiny nut on a thread that was holding the tap in tplace, and with many hoses running into the tap in the same area it was hard going. If you have easy access to your tap from underneath the sink, things will be much easier for you!<br />
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After the old tap is removed, clean up the benchtop where it used to be,.<br />
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<br />The final result... well, almost! This tap is retained in the benchtop a totally different way with a massive nut on a 35mm screw, and the plastic washer it came with was too big to fit under the sink, so at the moment it's held in only loosely. And of course, once I hooked up the new hot and cold water hoses, I found the hot hose had a crack/leak in it, so I need to get a replacement of that. Tomorrow, a bit of fine tuning with a bench grinder on the washer, and a trip to a hardware store for a hose, and hopefully it'll all work out well!</div>
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Also ordered a new TV from JB Hifi online yesterday, and already having second thoughts about the whole process - should've walked into one of the stores and bought it that way, because their online store is truly craptactular. Logging into my account doesn't reveal my order, there's no contact phone number to call, and they don't return emails. No wonder we're all shopping online overseas, if this is the best an aussie company can do.</div>
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t&t</div>T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-72555599597099714022012-07-02T22:56:00.000+10:002012-07-02T22:56:54.881+10:00Need wall design inspiration from our blog readers!So, for many years I've been involved in the design, creation and manufacture of vinyl signage and graphics, specialising in vehicle graphics - racing stripes, sponsor logos, etc, selling to retailers around Australia and direct sales via some websites. Anyway, no doubt you've all seen wall graphics/wall decals, a great way to modernise and decorate (plus they're easily removable, changed and upgraded), and an area in which we already have some expertise! One of my (financial) new year's resolution is to get our wall design website finally off the ground, I thought I'd ask all our very informed and trend setting blog readers to maybe make any suggestions on what you'd like to see!<br />
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These are some example of wall decalsjust randomly found on the web;<br />
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I've always liked the look of the black chandelier wall decal - it can reflect an existing light, or give a very luxe influence on a room. Tina found us a nice black French chandelier for the entrance (which still hasn't been installed, a year later!). I've done a few designs for chandeliers that'll definitely be on our website. Probably will leave those falling black leaves alone though.<br />
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This one is pretty neat, a silhouette that reminds me of Reservoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction. Would go well in a home theatre room, teenager's retreat, or rumpus/games room!<br />
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So, we've already got a website name, I'm working on the store customisation which might take another week or two, but what really matters are the designs, of course!<br />
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There's already plenty of stores which supply wall decals, but we want our store to stand out. Many wall decals sold in Australia are actually mass produced in China (which is why they all look the same) - where I think our store will stand out is that everything is designed and manufactured locally right here in Melbourne, and to take advantage of that, our store will have many items that are unique and personalised. For example, you might be able to submit your child's name to be integrated into a particular design, for example "Stephanie's Room" as a stickable design, surrounded by hearts and stars for example. Naturally, a custom one-off item will cost slightly more than a generic mass-produced item, but it'll be unique and tailored exactly to your needs and your style! Of course, we'll also have some custom designs that you won't find anywhere else too.<br />
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Anyway, if you have any ideas at all, what you might like to see, what you're sick of, or anything else, please leave a comment as your feedback will be greatly appreciated! Hoping to have the website launched with a few products within a month.<br />
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t&tT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-62486059302352586522012-06-30T09:51:00.001+10:002012-06-30T09:51:24.923+10:00Happy New Year's Eve!* (*financial new year)So I woke up all excited this morning - the end of the financial year has snuck up again, which means spending hours sifting through receipts, itemising invoices and payments, figuring out how much I'm going to get screwed on tax once more.<br />
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But it's not all bad news - EOFYS usually brings on a few good sales, if you're prepared beforehand, know what you want and how much it should cost. My favourite purchase most recently was another <a href="http://www.bigw.com.au/entertainment/video-games-consoles/ps3/ps3-consoles/bpnBIGW_0000000250329/ps3-slim-console-160gb" target="_blank">PS3 with a game from BigW - $256 delivered</a>. Should've been $248 delivered, but I got charged $8 for "registered" post. Apparently now the game bundles have sold out, but you can still get a bare PS3 for the same price. Target have a similar game bundle deal, but Kmart have an even cheaper PS3 only price, though I suspect they sold out in minutes.<br />
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And if you're wonding what game console to buy your kids - DON'T buy an xbox, because they're crap.<br />
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For the record, I've had nearly every console release since the 8 bit NES and the Xbox has been the worst of the lot. I have 2 xboxes, because I "had" to buy another one when the first one experienced general hardware failure.... 3 times. Now have two PS3s, because they're excellent - they play BluRay, have free online gaming, can record things off TV, free online apps, you can freely upgrade the hard drives to any size, and they don't explode at random moments like xboxes.<br />
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Anyway, another thing we picked up the other week was a <a href="http://www.recollections.com.au/detail_description/1548/Tapware/Contemporary%20Tapware/2/Paloma%20Single%20Lever%20Kitchen%20Mixer%20with%20Flexible%20Hose/1050347988" target="_blank">nice new commercial style kitchen mixer tap</a> from Recollections, of all places.<br />
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Normally we don't go into Recollections, as their furniture is more rustic than modern, but they have some surprisingly nice wall mirrors and modern bar stools (which Tina won't let me get since we have too much furniture, apparently).... and this kitchen mixer currently at <b>half price</b>, which makes it equivalent to online/eBay prices. We paid more for the crappy Dorf mixer tap "<b>downgrade</b>" from the builder, so yet again, another reminder to early players to NOT upgrade anything through the builder that you can do yourself, later.<br />
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I have yet to email Dorf to complain about their rubbish product, but I don't expect any resolution, since they only offer 1 year parts/labour on their products - and since their taps are designed to last a year and a day, there's no point in buying them in the first place.<br />
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T&TT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-40973850343476637222012-06-09T09:46:00.002+10:002012-06-09T09:46:44.693+10:00We're Back!So we haven't been posting on the blog for a couple of months - reason is, after all that time time planning and building the house, then getting married, then working madly to put a dent in the mortgage, we haven't had much time to get away on a proper holiday for years! So we decided to take some time off, and we're back!<br />
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Here's some holiday snaps;<br />
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View from the top of Marina Bay Sands, Singapore at sunset. <br />
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Well, most people would know what this is, and where it is!<br />
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Mountain town of Chefchaouen, Morocco<br />
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The Mezquita, Cordoba <br />
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Sagrada Familia, Barcelona<br />
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Plus some time in Hong Kong on the way home. People keep asking me what camera I used for these photos... seems like I buy a new digital camera every year and this year was no exception. Was going to travel with my old Canon 450D and some lenses, but I get so weary of carrying around a kilo of massive camera gear. Picked up an Olympus E-PM1, which is one of the new "Micro Four Thirds" range - much smaller than an SLR, but with a sensor almost as large. Result is a tiny camera, almost the size of a point&shoot compact, with incredible performance - I don't use my SLR as much anymore! I did use a couple of in-built filters in the Olympus for these photos, otherwise no retouching or adjustments used. You can also get the usual range of lenses for Micro Four Thirds, from fisheye, wide angle to tele and macro.<br />
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Today we're going out shopping to replace our kitchen tap. We "upgraded" our standard tap to some Dorf pullout kitchen mixer/spray for a couple of hundred bucks, and that turned out to be a piece of crap, with all the braided lines coming apart with less than a year's worth of use. Of course, our standard advice to anyone building a house now is - "<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Whatever you can upgrade yourself later, don't upgrade through the builder</b></span>". Something like a tap is easy to DIY upgrade yourself later, and you can pick from a huge range of products, at a better price. Anyway, once we find a nice commercial style kitchen tap, I'll write up a DIY to change it over.<br />
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T&T<br />
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<br />T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-10368160401865194502012-04-04T20:54:00.000+10:002012-04-04T20:54:49.079+10:00Offtopic (again)... pizza!Most people know what it's like to get home after a long days work, and have nothing to eat (or maybe it's just me?) Anyway the other weekend we had some friends over, and tried some of the new Pizza Hut Signature pizzas. We normally get our pizzas from our local Pizza Heart (independent/local) or the Crust store about 5 minutes drive, but though we'd give Pizza Hut a go..<br />
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We tried a Mexicana, Tandoori Chicken, Surf & Turf, Garlic Prawn and The Works. Verdict? Size is about 11inches, toppings were good, price reasonable ($15 each, which is $3-4 cheaper than Crust). The only thing is, our nearest store is further than our local Crust franchise - maybe next time if we're particularly lazy, we'll get them to deliver!<br />
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T&TT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-23891558491117927462012-03-26T21:35:00.000+11:002012-03-26T21:35:02.465+11:00Offtopic.. The Raid Movie!Caught this preview the other day - nowadays it's actually pretty rare we'll go <i>out </i>for a movie, much easier to stay at home, brew your own coffee and pop your own popcorn and play the movie when you want. Still, I did want to see this at a proper cinema - <a href="http://theraidmovie.com.au/" target="_blank">The Raid has </a>won plenty of awards, but more importantly one poster for the movie stated: "1 minute of romance, 99 minutes of action!", and that's what it delivered!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/uWlmhMSnVdM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
There's a plot, but it's mostly irrelevant. The 1 minute of romance is quickly covered in the first minute of the movie, after that; it's lots of guns, lots of kicking, punching, knifing, bone cracking, eye gouging.. you get the picture! A serious beat-em up movie, plenty of cringeworthy moments (for the right reasons!), highly recommended!T&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-56239132967933997132012-03-12T16:55:00.000+11:002012-03-12T16:55:55.585+11:00Launch of a new blog - buildingprojecthomes!Hi everyone - we've recently registered a new website to carry on discussions about project home builders. It won't be specifically about our house, more designed to cater for all project home builders and relevant discussions. The new blog is at <a href="http://www.buildingprojecthomes.com/" target="_blank">http://www.buildingprojecthomes.com</a>, and it's pretty sparse right now because I was waiting for a relevant question to kick it off. This one came from G;<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">"Hi Tim,<br />
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Thank you for all the information on your blog! Very helpful. <br />
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We are currently thinking of buying a block (abt 15.2m for W) at Whitehorse area and building our dream home. As always, budget is the biggest concern so we probably won't able to build with M. Like the Camden floor plan of Carlisle and noted that the standard inclusion in the Essential series (prob equivalent as M's Allegra series?) does not provide much. <br />
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So I am thinking of checking with you the Nolan that you signed up with M was under which series so that I can budget my cost better. If yours was already at the top of the range and we should add another $100k for upgrades, I think we better drop the idea of building our dream home. (sad but reality is always cruel....)<br />
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Thanks again for sharing<br />
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G"</blockquote><br />
which we're replied to at more length on <a href="http://www.buildingprojecthomes.com/" target="_blank">http://www.buildingprojecthomes.com</a>. If you have a question you'd like to ask us, whether it's about our house specifically or about building/redeveloping in general, please ask it by posting a comment at <a href="http://www.buildingprojecthomes.com/" target="_blank">http://www.buildingprojecthomes.com</a> and hopefully we'll be able to answer it there!<br />
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This blog will still get the occasional update, there's not a great deal left to finish off (except the backyard which is being overrun by weeds!)<br />
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T&TT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-1907982133674232102012-02-09T19:14:00.001+11:002012-02-09T19:15:39.444+11:00Just in stock: door dampers v2.0!OK guys - it's taken a while, but we've got our new door dampers in stock!<br />
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Check out the video below for an introduction to the new redesigned door dampers. As before, they're suitable to install on kitchen cupboards, laundry, bathroom vanities etc. You can also use them on pot drawers, but after some experience with the previous model, the pot drawers can weigh 10-20kg when loaded with pots & pans, so you will need more dampers - 4 or more depending on how heavy the pot drawers are.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mlyVMK0Awwo" width="853"></iframe><br />
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If you'd like to order a set, or find out more details, please check out our dedicated site <a href="http://tim-and-tina.com/">tim-and-tina.com</a>. We'll be shipping these from Monday next week, all over Australia!<br />
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t&tT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-475803884920956551.post-30895744038209629562012-01-24T12:55:00.000+11:002012-01-24T12:55:40.279+11:00DIY Deck Part 6: All done (bar the staining!)So here's the result of our summer project;<br />
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Deck after a rinse and a bit of a scrub. Getting conflicting opinions on whether to clean the deck now and stain, or wait 6 months then clean and stain. If only the deck was this clean and shiny all the time! <br />
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Installing deck lights - if I was more prepared, I would've ordered these from eBay and saved 40%, but since I needed to wire in the transformer and run cables under the deck, had to buy them from the Big B at full retail *gasp*. There's 6 lights pointing upwards and 4 pointing out towards the "garden" at the back. <br />
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A dusk shot. The LED lights are surprisingly bright, once the backyard is properly finished, it'll look great! Now have to decide what to do with all the weeds and rubble littering the backyard - maybe paving around the deck? Lawn/turf? More mulch? More decking?<br />
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T&TT&Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13444351220885130201noreply@blogger.com4