Guides
Home improvement guides
Practical, reviewed advice for planning repairs and projects, choosing the right pro and knowing what to ask before you hire.
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491 guides
- Guide
Rendering guide
Stucco is the American word. In Australia the trade is rendering, and the everyday terms are render, bagging and texture coat.
12 min read14 September 2026 - Guide
Exterior Cladding guide
In Australia the word cladding now covers two conversations that have almost nothing to do with each other, and a homeowner searching for a cladding contractor can land in either.
10 min read22 September 2026 - Guide
Exterior Trim guide
External trim is everything on the outside of a house that is not the cladding, the roof or the glass: barge boards, window and door architraves, sills, corner mouldings, scotias, brackets, valance boards, balustrade…
9 min read22 September 2026 - Guide
Chimney Repair guide
It is worth being honest about this market before anything else: the masonry chimney is not a standard feature of Australian housing the way it is in North America or Britain.
12 min read14 September 2026 - Guide
Chimney Cleaning guide
Australia has no licensing regime for chimney sweeps. There is no registration you can look up, no certificate the person at your door has to hold, and no national body that signs off on the work.
9 min read22 September 2026 - Guide
Masonry guide
Australia is a masonry country, but not in the way overseas guides assume. The standard detached house across the eastern states is brick veneer: a single leaf of brickwork tied to a timber or steel frame that does the…
13 min read14 September 2026 - Guide
Brick Repair guide
Brick repair is the narrow version of masonry work: a diagonal crack that has opened above a window, a course of fretted bricks at the base of a wall, a bulge in a veneer panel, a run of joints you can rake out with a…
12 min read14 September 2026 - Guide
Tuckpointing guide
Tuckpointing is not a repair method, and the confusion costs Australian homeowners money. Properly, tuckpointing is a decorative finish: the joint is filled with a mortar coloured to match the brick, and a fine raised…
9 min read22 September 2026 - Guide
Exterior Caulking guide
Australians say sealant, silicone or mastic rather than caulking, and the job is the flexible line of material closing a gap on the outside of a building: around a window or door frame, at a control joint, where two…
9 min read22 September 2026 - Guide
Exterior Waterproofing guide
External waterproofing above ground is a distinct discipline in Australia with its own standards, and most homeowners meet it at a balcony.
9 min read22 September 2026 - Guide
HVAC Contractors guide
Heating and cooling in Australia is a cooling problem first. For most households the main appliance is a reverse cycle air conditioner, a single unit that cools in summer and heats in winter by running the refrigeration…
10 min read14 September 2026 - Guide
Ducted Heating Installation guide
Central heating installation in Australia usually means ducted gas heating. A single gas heater unit sits in the roof space, under the floor or outside against a wall, and warmed air travels through insulated ductwork…
11 min read14 September 2026
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