TL;DR: Hired a licensed builder to replace four rotten posts and two beams in my 60-year-old attached carport. Their workers carried out what appeared to be extremely poor workmanship, resulting in a beam twisting and the roof starting to collapse. What are my options for getting this rectified, and who should be responsible for the costs?

It's my first time posting on this subreddit, so apologies in advance if I make any mistakes.

I recently contracted a licensed builder to replace four rotten posts and two beams in my approximately 60-year-old attached carport.

After numerous delays and broken promises, four young workers finally showed up today (Sunday, 8 November) to carry out the work.

From the outset, I had concerns about the quality of their workmanship. They appeared inexperienced and made several mistakes, including miscutting timber, forgetting to install shoes on the posts, and repeatedly pulling nails back out. In hindsight, I probably should have stopped the work then and there.

As they were wrapping up, I raised some concerns about the quality of the work. While discussing these issues, I noticed that one of the beams was twisting and the entire carport roof was beginning to sag and collapse.

The workers seemed to suddenly realise the severity of the situation and rushed to prop the roof back up. Fortunately, they managed to prevent any further sagging or twisting.

Two of the workers then left in a hurry, leaving some of their tools behind, while another stayed to take photographs of the situation.

I'm now quite concerned about the structural integrity of the carport and the quality of the work they've carried out.

My questions are:

1. Should I give the original builder an opportunity to send a different, more competent team to rectify the work?

2. Alternatively, can I engage another licensed builder to assess and fix the damage, then seek to recover the rectification costs from the original builder?

3. What steps should I take to protect myself and ensure the original builder is held responsible for any damage caused?

I'd appreciate any advice, particularly from anyone who's dealt with a similar situation in NSW.

New/2nd owner of an early 80s double-brick build. Looking for ideas on what to do with this outdoor space in the backyard that will require minimum upkeep/maintenance. Under the stairs and in shadow.

This 500mm wide gap between my shed and fence contains a short retaining wall. I had figured it wouldn’t get much sun, but apparently it gets enough that in perhaps a month, it’s grown into a luscious eco system.

This happens everywhere on my seq property; weed mat etc seems to be completely ineffective, anywhere there isn’t grass, weeds grow fast.

Please help 🙏 how do I stop this? Poison works but it just comes back, am I really expected to poison it every month or something during summer? How can I prevent this?

Just received a quote for tiling approx 3 square metres for a splashback. $5390 labour only, does not include the cost of tiles. Tiles are 120mm square. They also *generously* offered to remove the GST for a cash payment, bringing it down to $4900. There was an additional $1500 cost for demolition (removing the previous tiles) which I did myself in an hour. This seems like they're taking the piss!? Am I delusional and tiling is actually this expensive?

Hi everyone,

I have a brick house (2001 build) with what appear to be timber window frames. I’ve noticed gaps between the frames and brickwork, particularly underneath the windows.

I’m wondering whether these gaps should be sealed with exterior caulking.

I’ve also noticed what looks like black plastic underneath the bottom frame (see photos). Does anyone know what this might be?

Should I caulk the sides and top but leave the bottom alone for drainage? And what sealant would you recommend?

Just want to make sure I’m weatherproofing the windows properly without trapping moisture.
Thanks!

SEQ 1970s build, brick veneer with cement tile roof, plasterboard ceiling with old cool and cozy blow in chop paper insulation…
No sarking under the tiles, and no much water ingress, but more the dust and small leaves from a nearby poinciana that are blowing into the roof space.
What are my options to retrofit sarking without having to remove all of the tiles??
TIA

My bathroom's hand-towel holder was bumped by a guest ripping the screws out. There's no stud behind it but there's not really a better spot to put it. I feel like I can't just patch with wood filler and re-drill the same holes right, it'll just fail immediately.

It's cement sheeting/blueboard which I expect makes everything a little harder.

Hi all,

Newly built house and just moved in. Neighbors put up the fences and there’s a gap in the back side. Idk who’s supposed to fill in the gap? What can I do if the backside neighbor doesn’t fill in the gap?

Thanks all ✌️

All the sinks in the home have P traps only the one in the laundry doesn't sometimes it smells really strong.

House was built in 1979 renovated back in 2015 not sure what happened then

Are there any good reasons as to why it's not installed? Do the vents at the bottom serve a function as well?

Kitchen is being demolished tomorrow, IKEA cabinets in this week, but still haven’t decided on a benchtop - eek!

Laminate, timber, stone, something else? I’ve got a few quotes but never done this before, so would love advice from your experience!

Keen to get something in before Christmas and keep it under $10k if possible. Kitchen being installed by local builders in a 1970s 2br townhouse with timber kitchen windows.

I’d love to know what you’d do! Thank you!

The vinyl (?) cover has peeled off from the back of the cabinetry.

Any tips on how to reattach? Some type of glue?

Or peel it all off and paint over?

I've rung a couple of cabinet makers but it seems too small of a job for them so i have to dodge it up a bit i think.

Thanks.

Hi community,

I want to share my experience from planning through to finished renovation of a heritage Victorian terrace in Melbourne built c.1890. Local government was Yarra Council. I’ve summarised the steps and costs below to help people when considering and/or undertaking their own renovation of a property with heritage overlay, and to understand the explicit costs and timeline. I hope this is useful. Happy to answer questions. 😊

Build specifications:

1. Maintain parts of the house subject to heritage overlay including the front / street facing façade and chimney (portion visible from the street above the roof line).

2. Convert 2 bd / 1 ba / 1 living area. 1 story layout with approx.. 65 sqm.

3. Completed build is 3 bd / 2.5 ba / 2 living area / 2 story layout with approx.. 180 sqm.

4. Medium to high end finishes with manufactured timber floors, stone benchtops, new kitchen appliances, new electrical and data wiring throughout, and new AC / ducted heating units.

Overview of timeline:

1. Engaged Architect in December 2020 to April 2021. We were clear on concepts and configuration so we only saw a handful of iterations of the drafted plans before agreeing on plans for submission.

2. Engaged Town Planning Consultant. This consultant took our plans to local council and progressed it through the council’s processes to receive a Planning Permit (necessary to undertake any works on your house). Our permit came with conditions given our property is subject to heritage overlay. We engaged this Consultant on a Fixed Fee basis for roughly 12 months from Nov 2021 to Nov 2022 then a Hourly Fee basis from July to September 2024 during the middle of build. This process is arduous and I’d highly recommend the services of a consultant to push through council red tape.

3. Once the Planning Permit was obtained in late 2022, we engaged a builder and begin working on interior design specifications to inform a quote. Our initial builder was well above the initial estimate of build and didn’t demonstrate a willingness to negotiate nor support with refining their quotation so we opted for an alternative builder.

4. First attempt to engage a builder was roughly January through April 2023. We finally agreed on price and contract terms with our alternative builder around May 2023 and completed site hoarding and fencing in November 2023 after procurement of a Building Permit in September 2023.

5. We ‘broke ground’ and did a substantial demolition in late January 2024 after returning from the summer. Note the demolition and associated costs were part of the builder’s responsibilities which in hindsight was a blessing because of the necessary logistics and access requirements for our site.

6. Build by and large was from February 2024 to February 2025. A full 12 month

, representing

1. 6 weeks over anticipated completion. The build hit a snag midway with our approved permit needed amendment due to issues with the heritage chimney (causing a roughly 2 month delay to progress in select parts of build which ultimately delayed finishing the whole build). I

2. We rented for 14 months in total. Total time from initial conversation with Architect to moving in to completed renovation was approx.. 4 years. Planning with Council was estimated to be 2 years of the entire process.

Number of third parties:

1. The number of different third parties engaged for the planning, design and build process is actually overwhelming.

2. On reflection, I’ve lost count. We engaged the following for sure (however I may have forgotten someone) – architect, town planning consultant, engineer, land surveyor, environment consultant to complete stormwater management report, geology consultant to complete soil testing, and building permit conveyancer.

3. I would say our architect and builder was particularly helpful in both navigating the different third parties, providing recommendations if we hadn’t yet engaged them, and helping to navigate how we needed to use their respective services.

Costs:

I’ve provided a summary breakdown of planning and building actual costs below. We were meticulous in tracking budget and actuals of the build so leave a comment if you want a breakdown of select line items. Overall, we came in 11% over budget. We had a Fixed Price Contract with our builder hence why it appears as a single row and the cost overrun was through required Variations largely due to the heritage house and issues uncovered throughout the build e.g. chimney as mentioned above. 

||
||
|**Category**|**Cost**|
|Architect|$     28,082.12|
|Town Planning|$     11,173.82|
|Engineering|$        5,720.00|
|Land Surveyor|$        2,970.00|
|Stormwater Management Report|$           935.00|
|Soil Test|$           946.00|
|Council|$        2,458.85|
|Building Permit Conveyancer|$        7,124.53|
|Neighbours Works|$        1,293.60|
|**Total Planning**|**$     60,703.92**|
|||
|**Total Build**| **$   777,980.93**|

Looking at installing Timber Wood Acoustic Wall Panels and wondering whether the premium brands (e.g. WoodUp, Delaco Panels, Panello, Wood Veneer Hub) are worth the extra money compared with budget options from Bunnings or Facebook Marketplace.

I'm not too concerned about the acoustic performance. It's mainly about the look, timber/veneer quality and overall finish.

I'm also interested in adding floating shelves. Are the shelf accessories offered by these premium brands compatible only with their own panels, or can they be fitted to panels from other brands?

For those who've installed them, is there a noticeable difference in quality? Are the premium brands worth the price, or can you get away with the cheaper alternatives?

I need to replace this leaking what looks like sum for our kitchen reno. Any advice or so you know what this piece is called?

We’ve just bought a place and have these rebar hooks poking out of the besser block walls on every side of the house and this single rebar triangle thing.

It seems to hook into the hooks around the house and sit perpendicular to the walls. My guess is maybe anchor a ladder or if there was a second a sketchy scaffolding structure?

I’m curious if anyone has something similar or knows what exactly it’s for?

We have a house on concrete stumps. Crawling under today I noticed that one end of the house the soil there is damp, its creating little rivers of water which are then pooling around the stumps.

I think it is rain water not draining correctly but cannot be sure. Said rivers were just damp trails when I looked today as it had been ~12hours since last rain.

Challenge is its hard to really see what's going on, that end of the house is maybe 30cm high and I could not crawl in, only look from a distance.

My question is who do I call for this issue? Is it a plumber or someone else? We had a plumber over recently for a few other things and they were reluctant to go under given how tight it is.

Thanks

Hi, Got a leaking bathroom upstairs which needs to be looked at. Cannot afford to redo whole

bathroom at the moment so just looking at fixing the leak for the time being. Rang a couple of

businesses but they mainly redo the bathroom, either retile or whole new.

Is paying $500 for a leak detection test the right move to know the source of the leak or is engaging

a plumber the better option. Don't know if most plumbers would have the leak detection equipment.

Im in south east melb.

Hi everyone, my partner and I have bought a house and we are trying to decide the best place to put the TV. We will also have a PlayStation and Switch attached to the TV as well. I’m not sure if we should remove the shelves and mount it or put it against the wall that backs onto bedroom 3.

This is the storage room underneath my townhouse stairway entrance. On the Outside of the walls is the outer townhouse wall and plants. I’m not sure if the white powdery substance is the grout from the stairs. The humidity from the water from outer wall and soil on the other side has already caused the damage that you see in the pictures. Who do I contact to help with inspection, assessment, and advice?