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| Thread ID: 125493 | 2012-07-02 09:36:00 | DIY or Handyman Site | John Calvert (16516) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1285461 | 2012-07-05 00:45:00 | A few years ago I had my house moved onto my section. To get the house signed off I needed to have entrances to the front and back doors. I decided to build a concrete path to the back door myself. I Googled concrete paths and diligently followed the instructions re removing soil, building boxing, mixing concrete in a barrow, pouring concrete, tamping and smoothing the concrete. I decided on not having too smooth a surface because we have frosts here in winter. I was lucky that I read that building regulations require the concrete to have a slant on it so that water run off the concrete path away from the house. When the Building Inspector came around he poured water on the path to ensure that the water ran away from the house. This was my first experience of working with concrete. It was lucky that I had done research beforehand. I was pleased with the results. The front entrance was a bit trickier as it is higher off the ground. I had bought a kitset set of wooden steps from Mitre 10. The measurements for height were correct. I decided that it would need more than a few four inch nails to attach the steps to the house so I ended up hiring 'some bloke' who knew what he was doing. He charged about $800 to do the job but it was worth it. He knew a heap more about regulations and added things like reinforcing iron bars which made the steps more secure. The building inspector passed his handy work. Drainage was another thing that I needed to learn about. My brother-in-law, a digger driver and the plumbers all gave me good advice. I used clay pipes. Before I put the drains in my backyard was like a swamp and gumboots were needed but now I can walk up to my back fence in slippers. |
Bobh (5192) | ||
| 1285462 | 2012-07-05 01:48:00 | When looking for bits of information I've often ended up at Lifestyleblock. It isn't a specific DIY site but it does yield nuggets because the people on it usually want to solve problems themselves or at least find out where to go. www.lifestyleblock.co.nz |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 1285463 | 2012-07-05 02:51:00 | You could try the Bunnings website (www.bunnings.co.nz). or the Mitre 10 website (www.mitre10.com.au). Mitre 10 do have DIY brochures in their stores. |
Bobh (5192) | ||
| 1285464 | 2012-07-06 10:47:00 | OK, thanks for all the suggestions and stories. Much appreciated. No problems with compliance, noise, etc. as we're not talking anything structural (the house is rented), and I don't go much on noisy power-tools. |
John Calvert (16516) | ||
| 1285465 | 2012-07-06 11:05:00 | Noisy power tools? It's music. Anyway, those pedal operated chainsaws are not so good when you get to the heavy stuff. |
R2x1 (4628) | ||
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