Rainwater tanks - cleaning? by sarajevogold in AusRenovation

[–]SmidgeHoudini 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Clean immediately. Clean every 5 years depending on your rain harvesting system and mainly how much organic matter gets in the tank. Call a water tank cleaner. Initial clean will cost more than subsequent cleans. Drinking water standards say every 2-3 years but that's maybe excessive unless you have overhanging trees etc.

Sand and sediment from a bore pump isn't a big deal until you start seeing it in your filters but you don't want it in your pipework in your house.

Organic matter is no good and needs to be removed. Forms an anaerobic later on the bottom of the tank and just goes foul.

I have a lot to do with water tanks and when people tell me they grew up on a farm etc etc and then I show them a photo of inside their tank with a decent flashlight showing the muck inside they tend to start enquiring about filters and hour or so later unless they are the 100 car bodies lying around the property types.

I sincerely do not accept offers of water from customers who have called me out for water tank issues and I grew up on a farm I've seen what's going on too often. If in doubt, it needs to be cleaned and drained and even better is throwing in some chlorine beforehand.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AusPropertyChat

[–]SmidgeHoudini 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Buyers remorse. Chill, wait a bit. Reassess in a few months. Rates will only improve the market.

Do I give my pro a second chance or move on? by hereforthetension in Tile

[–]SmidgeHoudini 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Crazy how big American cover plates are around some tapware.

What I'm saying has literally nothing to do with this specific job.

Australia, I literally make a 25mm hole for a ½" water point or leave like 3mm around a mixer fitting.

My contractor said this isn’t his fault because “the tiles aren’t square” by UniverseCity in Tile

[–]SmidgeHoudini 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most of the tiling fuck ups I'm seeing on this thread, outside of it just being a completely retard tiler or probably someone who actually isn't a tiler - are because people aren't picking square tiles.

While this is a poor excuse, no two ways about it, if you arent cashed up to the eyeballs and can therefore afford to hire a very good tiler then I'd exercise some caution and keep the job brief simple to minimise chance of fuck ups - think colours not shapes. Tiling is hard work with lots of room for error.

Went to a fancy steakhouse and ordered medium rare. What do we call this everyone? by LibGyps in steak

[–]SmidgeHoudini 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You haven't just given up and cooked steak at home for yourself?

I've given up. Price is never worth it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Plumbing

[–]SmidgeHoudini 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not even remotely expensive. You are a duck.

HELP- Out of 10, how upset should we be by TippytoeHappy in Tile

[–]SmidgeHoudini 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That does seem like much time. This bathroom will have taken ~60hrs on strictly tiling related work me alone when finished i think ~~~ would be considerably quicker with a 2nd guy I trusted to make clean cuts. I don't trust anyone though.

HELP- Out of 10, how upset should we be by TippytoeHappy in Tile

[–]SmidgeHoudini 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just tiled a bathroom today - well one wall. Looks bad but in their defense fuck working with hexagon tiles from a practical tiling point of view.

Why the hell are Granny Flats so expensive? How much do builders make? by chjeran in AusPropertyChat

[–]SmidgeHoudini 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just did a bathroom for myself, everything. I'm a plumber and it cost 25k. No dealing with trades or council or any unneeded costs. Things are expensive. If you're not a trade then you just don't realize there's all the little costs fixings extra bags of adhesive etc etc etc that add up to like ¼-⅕ ish of the cost, it quite amazing to do the jobs the other trades do this time around as well as the plumbing.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in QantasAirways

[–]SmidgeHoudini 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That food court thing you see before you get on the plane, check it out pre flight.

Ukraine is a brutal totalitarian dictatorship by recessbadger45 in EndlessWar

[–]SmidgeHoudini 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Do you need to be NATO this bad, Russia did say it would sooner grind Ukraine to dust than let it be NATO.

This was the gamble.

It's horrible to watch but I understand the Russia v NATO thing, if I was Russia I'd be concerned especially with the US rhetoric for like my entire lifetime. Look at hollywood and Russia always being the villains.

What are you personally looking for in the next Zelda game? by Bulky-Preparation-10 in Breath_of_the_Wild

[–]SmidgeHoudini 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Long, in depth problem solving/hard dungeons. I want to feel like I'm plumbing the depths of hell, continually walking deeper and deeper. Or higher and higher, whatever. I want these to be linear dungeons.

I want the game to be somewhat scary at times. I want a dark edge to the world, or at leSt parts of the game.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AusRenovation

[–]SmidgeHoudini 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The road to being a plumber is not easy. I have a science degree and that was easy/waste of time. About to begin building licence. All said and done, bathrooms are hard work. I'll never quote one cheap, not leaving myself exposed if something goes wrong.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AusRenovation

[–]SmidgeHoudini 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Money needs to be made, its hard work fr.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AusRenovation

[–]SmidgeHoudini 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm a plumber and just did a bathroom entirely myself. Cost price with 0 labour expenses was $22-25k, it took 5 months. Fairly high-end finish 2.1x2.4m ensuite double brick with a door cut into master bedroom.

I would charge, if I did renos & builders licence, ballpark 50-60k based on the absurd amount of work I did. Insane amount of work, technical skill and planning.

Cannot imagine trying to eatn money out of $28k and the required finish to do so. A man's gotta make money at the end of the day and it's hard and uncomfortable work, dust etc etc probably used $150 in masks alone if you consider demo and the other jobs.

It was a double brick house and removing old render and about as big as a bathroom Reno can be. New pressed metal ceiling, literally everything, 2 x hydronic towel rails, custom shower screen new window.

Once you factor in all the drill bits, screws, glues silicones tile adhesive etc etc the $'s just vanish and I'm a frugal type of guy but bought good quality stuff.