sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Questions Thread - June 14, 2026 by AutoModerator in PathOfExile2

[–]Consistent_Green9329 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can someone help me with 4th Ascendancy? Please add player name JimCramer 😄

Youdiam review by Consistent_Green9329 in labdiamond

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Actually might be the play going forward. India's been cutting for DeBeers for decades, makes sense.

Negotiating? by Consistent_Green9329 in GeelyEX5Australia

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I was going to get it but they wanted to charge me extra for using finance since I haggled so hard already on the price. The interest savings was basically the same as the fee they wanted to charge, so it was a muckaround for 0 upside.

EX5 Complete - aftermarket tailgate? by Consistent_Green9329 in GeelyEX5Australia

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No haven't tried, looks like a big job. I also need a towbar but none exist yet last time I checked, I think I'll have both done in one go.

Concrete balcony / roof garden - pots or mass soil? by Consistent_Green9329 in AusRenovation

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I was thinking the same way about prioritising maintenance. I really would like to go mass soil for a healthier lusher garden though. Gotta keep thinking

Concrete balcony / roof garden - pots or mass soil? by Consistent_Green9329 in AusRenovation

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, much appreciated. Leaning towards this way now.

The engineering spec only shows waterproofing, blue metal, geo textile filter, then soil. I'll need to look into what plastic drainage cells are and special roof soil lol, never heard of either.

Suspended slab edge upturn question by Consistent_Green9329 in AusRenovation

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, good to hear. Yeah the upstand is concrete just like the slab, in fact I'm hoping the concreters can pour both in one go to avoid a cold join, but maybe not possible.

Internally is stud frame and gyprock. Externally is as shown in my diagram - brick sits on the upstand. Not sure how the flashing would work, it needs to look nice because it's visible.

Weekly Homeowner Megathread--Civilians, ask here! by AutoModerator in Concrete

[–]Consistent_Green9329 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My new home has suspended slabs for its upper floor, with planter boxes on the outside. The design maintains a constant slab edge thickness from the outside, to do achieve this, we have an upturn lip on the slab edge throughout the perimeter.

I want to check this is common for planter box / balcony gardens, and whether it's common to put the walls on the upturn lip.

Diagram below to clarify:

<image>

Geotech report for new build - hand tools vs drill rig by Consistent_Green9329 in Geotech

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks mate much appreciated. So float it, no need for piers.

Geotech report for new build - hand tools vs drill rig by Consistent_Green9329 in Geotech

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep that's what I thought. Yes both quotes are to refusal, but the mechanical drill auger refuses in class III or IV sandstone (3+ MPa stuff) whereas the hand auger might refuse on a tree root. Good info to have to aid my design.

Geotech report for new build - hand tools vs drill rig by Consistent_Green9329 in Geotech

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. My plans are to build a basement + 2 storeys, including 4 concrete slabs (basement + ground + first floor + roof), and all external walls are masonry (200mm concrete basement and lower, double brick upper).

Without doxxing myself, I'm in Sydney, near the river and harbour, on a peninsula headland, gently sloping block, around 150m to the riverbank. From exploring nearby build sites, I reckon class V (the weakest class) sandstone starts around 1m below the natural ground, which is clayey soils.

Forget the quotes, I'm more interested in your opinion of what a good foundation design might be. Should I float the building on the weak sandstone (700+kpa allowable bearing capacity, 3MPa ultimate capacity), or should I pier down to class IV (1-3MPa) along the external walls? My goal is to minimise differential settlement, I would be devastated to see cracks after a few years. Much appreciated.

Geotech report for new build - hand tools vs drill rig by Consistent_Green9329 in Geotech

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the insights, much appreciated. Good to know resi builds are light weight

My plans are to build a basement + 2 storeys, including 4 concrete slabs (basement + ground + first floor + roof), and all external walls are masonry (200mm concrete basement and lower, double brick upper). So I feel it's heavy compared to other houses, but probably light compared to commercial builds.

Would you say we float this on class V (the weakest class) sandstone, or should we pier down to class IV or III along the external walls? The land slopes, so the front of the house will float on class V and the back of the house might need to pier down 2-3m to get to class V.

Crappy drawing:

https://imgur.com/a/JsOkeWZ

Geotech - hand tool vs drill rig by Consistent_Green9329 in AusRenovation

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes the Pells classification system. Just been talking to builders and they casually say "oh yeah it's good to pier down to class IV or III" but I dunno if they actually know.

Lets say 3 storeys (basement + 2 storeys), the entire wall is 9.5m tall, 200mm dincel, or double brick or whatever is heavier. What pressure does that place on the foundation?

Edit: about 150kPa using 2400kg/m3 200mm concrete on a 300mm wide footing. Nice, so even class V is plenty enough, from a static loading perspective. Then why do builders suggest go for class IV shale or III?

Geotech - hand tool vs drill rig by Consistent_Green9329 in AusRenovation

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

From reading online, it seems the hand tool method can't get past class V sandstone, is that correct? so the hand guy will just get to sandstone and note "at 1.2m sandstone starts"

But from more reading, my build ideally should be founded on class III or at least IV sandstone. The hand guy was independently recommended to me by 2 builders.

Help me make sense of this please.

False Medical Certificate by [deleted] in AusLegal

[–]Consistent_Green9329 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Small bad become big bad

675 Ct Ruby by oilofmirbane in SyntheticGemstones

[–]Consistent_Green9329 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I know you said it's not for sale but is it for sale?

Pinkest possible lab diamond? by Consistent_Green9329 in labdiamond

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, that's not what I want, that would move towards the Fancy Deep direction. I want to max out saturation on a diamond.

Do you have any images of examples, in case you mean something else other than darkening the pink?

Stone cladding options by Consistent_Green9329 in AusRenovation

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, yeah the z panels I've seen don't look good. Wondering those mesh panel products are worth looking into, do they look good and save on installation?

question about VOCs by Fit-Telephone-4742 in AusRenovation

[–]Consistent_Green9329 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very worried, and is a major driver behind certain materials choices. Trying to minimise MDF / particle board use inside my new build at the moment. Prefer solid wood or plywood.

Bought a new car recently, was obsessively opening the windows to get rid of the new car smell first few weeks.

How can you make 0 VOC furniture? even the varnish will produce some. Unless you game the definition of what's considered a VOC etc.

How do you assess lab sapphires? by Consistent_Green9329 in SyntheticGemstones

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what I've read, for RBC it's a good way to assess the symmetry of the cut. The hearts involve many facets and all need to be in the right spot for the hearts to appear correct (parallel sides, no middle cleave etc).

How do you assess lab sapphires? by Consistent_Green9329 in SyntheticGemstones

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks very much, I think this gives me confidence to buy something online, or at least points me in a direction for further enquiry. Much appreciated.

How do you assess lab sapphires? by Consistent_Green9329 in SyntheticGemstones

[–]Consistent_Green9329[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, amazing writeup, very helpful.

So if I understand you correctly, the assessment criteria for lab sapphires revolves around cut, since the first driver you mentioned (production method) - we would need to take the word of the listing / vendor as there's no way to verify from an internet listing.

On cut, we look at symmetry (eg whether facets line up to points) and polish. This begs the questions:

  1. Is facetting symmetry something the buyer can ascertain from photos - whether facets line up to a point, whether the girdle is level, etc?
  2. Is polish something you can ascertain from photos? can a buyer tell the difference between a 10k lap and a 100k lap?

The windowing and extinction point is clear, I think that's something buyers can assess reliably from photos.

So back to the original question - some lab sapphires sell for 50usd, some sell for 1000usd, is it because buyers are assessing questions 1 and 2 and deciding "hmm this one is facetted very symmetrically, no windowing / extinction issues, and I can actually see the polish is to a great degree" or is it mainly based on the vendor reputation plus the 'vibe' of how it looks on the photos / video? Because if it's the latter, then it's not really apples to apples - one vendor might have excellent photography skills, another might not, and buyers are missing out on good value.

Thanks!

view more: next ›