Windows & glass

The Mystery of Henry Hoke

JonathanGreen — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:55:11 +1000

Like many readers of ManSpace, we at the Institute of Backyard Studies (IBYS) are big tool collectors. Most Sunday mornings you’ll find us out at garage sales, swap meets or the trash’n’treasure, casting expert eyes over piles of rubbish and junk in a search of that elusive little beauty. A Stanley plough plane from 1923 perhaps... or maybe a Wilkinson folding drawknife is just sitting there, waiting for our loving touch. You live in constant hope of that big find and some days are good.

FREE ticket giveaway for the HIA Sydney Home Show!

Darcy — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:32:07 +1000

When: Thursday 31st May - Sunday 3rd June, 2012Where: Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre, Sydney Want free tickets to the HIA Sydney Home Show?Just sign up for the BUILD newsletter. The first 50 people to sign up get a free pair of tickets (valued at $18 a piece on the door). Couldn\'t be simpler.Even if you\'re not in the first 50, we\'ll still send you a special half-price promo code. Not bad eh? Click here to sign up About the show:The HIA Sydney Home Show is being held in Sydney between the 31st May - 3rd June 2012, and features all kinds of ...

FREE ticket giveaway for the HIA Melbourne Home Show!

Darcy — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:23:58 +1000

NOTE: All of the free tickets are gone! Big thanks to those who signed up, we\'ll be in touch in the next day or two to get your postal details. If you\'ve missed the boat, don\'t despair - we\'re still offering a 1/2 price coupon code to anyone who subscribes to the newsletter before Monday 23rd April.Thanks again, and see you at the show! ______________________________________________ When: Thu 26th - Sun 29th April, 2012Where: Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Southbank, Melbourne Want free tickets to the HIA Melbourne Home Show? Just sign up for the BUILD ...

On the go again!

wrenton — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:35:25 +1000

It’s been a while since the last update, but there has been quite a delay with the supply of the steel for the upper level, and once a again it felt like there was very little happening. Quite a few of the wall frames had been completed but erecting these all depended on the steel being in place.

Going back a month or so, the bricklayers did a fantastic job with all the lower walls being completed in just under two weeks. It would have been nice if the steelwork had come along as well! Anyway, the clock cannot be wound back, and, as of this week everyone is back on the job.

Ian Hopkins' unofficial motorbike museum

JonathanGreen — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:00:09 +1100

A magnificent motorbike and memorabilia collection in a renovated ice cream factory is a visual treat of the highest order. It also acts as a chronicle of one man’s life, writes Jonathan Green. One of the best motorbike collections in Australia is located in an old ice cream factory in Cairns. With over 40 bikes of significance and a mountain of memorabilia and history, some have even said it’s the best tourist attraction in Cairns. Except for one small issue ... it’s not actually open as a public exhibition. Ian Hopkins (or Hoppy to his mates) has lived and breathed motorbikes his ...

Having a bar of it

JonathanGreen — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:36:57 +1100

In the launch edition for ManSpace we asked readers to send in personal stories about their space. Darren Gallagher has answered the call and gives us a first person account of The Flying Sailor Bar & Brewery; his garage retreat inspired by beer, blues music and cool cars: Never a truer word has been spoken since young Tobias talked it up in the 18th century. There is something fantastic about being young and hitting the high seas (which led to being hit from time to time, or from port to port). Having moved around as a lad because of my father’s employment, little did I know that he ...

6 sources of inspiration for your build

Darcy — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:58:52 +1100

Planning your home designs or renovations should be a bit fearful and overwhelming. Even if you\'re entrusting a designer or an architect with most of the hard decisions, the concept\'s still down to what suits you best. If you\'re not chewing your nails to a bloody stump when you\'re considering what you want, it\'s possibly a sign that you need to dust off your brain and think much harder about the endless options you have in front of you. The world\'s full of spectacular ideas about to how we\'re able to live in our built spaces, what we can build, and how we can tweak and refine our ...

Like a giant Meccano set

wrenton — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:04:51 +1100

With the holiday break behind us the action on ‘The Block’ is picking up. Early January the scaffolding was put in place, then from that point on there didn’t appear to be much happening. However, we were assured there was plenty going on behind the scenes.

Can a price be too cheap?

matthew — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:06:41 +1100

We all love a bargain right? Group buying websites, department store sales, online shopping. We are being bombarded with discounts so much that if we pay full price we tend to feel ripped off.

Giving hefty discounts is fine if you have large markups. Sure profits take a hit, but if they are still making money the business can be sustainable.

Extreme DIY: Barry's backyard observatory

JonathanGreen — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:18:40 +1100

As a kid, Barry Armstead was a huge fan of Star Trek and Dr Who. He watched documentaries on space and dreamed of becoming an air force pilot so he could fly close to the outer rim. Instead, Barry joined the army, and on returning from active service in East Timor he decided to build an observatory. This was his very own Tardis – in the front yard of his house – that could transport him through time and space … if only through lenses. Astrophotography is the art of taking photographs of objects in space. Aficionados use telescopes, digital cameras and other sensitive equipment and ...

So you have at least 3 quotes, now what?

matthew — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:57:20 +1100

If you have carefully selected your tender list, then choosing your builder should be relatively easy. If you have read my previous blogs you would have already selected builders that can provide what you are looking for. So once you take this variable out of the equation it comes down to scope and dollars.

What you are trying to do here is get all of the builders to price exactly the same scope. Once this is done you can either just go with the cheapest price, or negotiate with your favourite.

The slab is in!

wrenton — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:46:14 +1100

It is hard to believe, looking at the concrete slab, how much work has gone into getting the project to this stage.

The initial setup was done, and once all the string lines were set out the lower corner of the floor seemed to be so elevated it was difficult to get everything in perspective. The fall of the block seemed to create an optical illusion. However, it was a case of wait and see as the preparations continued.

The ultimate underground garage

JonathanGreen — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:58:35 +1100

The quite extraordinary garage of Ralph Plarre could be described as many things. It is certainly somewhere to store the cars. All 10 of them. And there is space – and facilities – to work on them. But it also feels a little like a showroom. With the flexible space of an art gallery. But with great practicality. And with a personal touch that gives it warmth and promotes a genuine social environment. Oh ... I don’t know. Let’s just say it’s a lot of things.

5 technologies that will revolutionise our homes

Darcy — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:00:00 +1100

We all love new technology - and what a revolution it's caused in our homes over the last 15 or 20 years. I can imagine a few of you are looking around your living rooms and scratching your heads... it's hard to blame you if you haven't really noticed. Unless you've just built a shiny, elaborately wired wunderhaus the changes are likely to be subtle, and are probably things you've already completely taken for granted.

Progress at last!

wrenton — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:26:25 +1100

Who could believe that after signing the building contract, not a blade of grass had been disturbed in three months!!

We finally have some action shown in the photos. The clearing of the block has been completed, the cut has been done for the downstairs, and now the foundations have been poured.

Base Level Decisions

JonathanGreen — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:00:50 +1100

Most men enjoy their garages. Many see it as a ‘Fortress of Solitude’ where a guy can store his tools and equipment – not to mention his prized possessions (mainly his cars!). And while most of us do use the garage to house our cars, the garage of today is also being used for a number of other purposes including an office, a retreat, entertainment area, workshop or a home gym.

No matter what you intend to use it for, one of the ways you can economically add real aesthetic value and functionality to your garage is to consider renovating the floor.

It's your ManSpace

JonathanGreen — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:37:04 +1100

There’s nothing particularly new about the concept of a ‘man’s space’.

Men throughout the world have been creating their own personalised rooms and areas for centuries. Mark Twain had a billiards room, Theodore Roosevelt had a trophy room – even Winston Churchill had a painting studio.

It was not sinister or exclusive, just a dedicated space for an individual – as he wanted it – where he could enjoy time alone or socialise with others. It’s pretty simple.

National Architecture Awards 2011 - Winners' gallery

Darcy — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:38:30 +1100

The 2011 Australian National Architecture Awards winners were announced today, and as you'd expect they include some jaw-dropping houses from across Australia.

Obviously there's volumes to be said about the materials and designs that have been used for each of these ridiculously good looking homes, but pictures will always speak louder than words...

The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture - Houses

NSW building warranties - from 7 years down to 2?

Darcy — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:04:11 +1100

Some ominous legislation\'s being digested through the NSW parliament at the moment, and if you\'re planning on building a home in NSW it\'s something you really need to know about - because the changes it proposes are likely to cause a lot of people serious grief and heartache. The Home Building Amendment Act 2011 is ostensibly designed to tickle a bit of life into the construction industry, which has been languishing at record lows. Unfortunately, even if it does give the industry a bit of a boost, the biggest impact of this bill won\'t be felt at the industry end at all - it\'ll be felt by ...

WIN double passes to Grand Designs Australia Live!

Darcy — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:20:41 +1100

NOTE: THIS PROMOTION IS NOW CLOSED! THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED, AND CONGRATULATIONS TO THOSE WHO RECEIVED TICKETS. WIN one of 10 double passes (valued at $57) to see Kevin McCloud, Peter Maddison and a huge range of cutting-edge building ideas at Grand Designs Australia Live at the Sydney Convention Centre, Oct 21-23. HOW TO ENTER All you have to do to enter is register for the BUILD newsletter on our sign-up page. Winners will be contacted by email on Monday, 17th October and the tickets will be mailed to them.

Quotes, and taking the razor to the plans

wrenton — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:31:32 +1000

The three builders quotes have come in and to our horror they are all more than 30% over our original budget. We will now get the razor out and look at where we can reduce the cost of the whole project. We met with each of the builders again and went through in detail all the areas where savings can be made without jeopardising the overall design. They resubmitted their quotations and we have chosen Jake - a local builder who is very keen to build our home. The next step is to complete the Project Building Specifications as required by the Master Builders Association. This is a 30 page ...

The BUILD Placebook is alive!

Darcy — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:39:22 +1000

After many months of tweaking, polishing and refinement, we’re happy to say that we’ve finally unleashed our amazing new BUILD Placebook blogging platform. What does this mean for BUILD readers? Great question, glad you asked… What\'s in store We’ll have guest bloggers contributing from now on – people with years of expert practical experience, Australian industry insiders, colourful commentators, information on new products, events, competitions and giveaways, and stacks of hints, tips and advice on all aspects of building and renovating. You\'ll be able to leave your own ...

Jumping through hoops - permits and builders!

wrenton — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:53:39 +1000

Our planning permit was finally approved six months after being submitted to Council. The approved plans state that the works must be in line with the stamped plans, which note that the Manna Gum tree at the front of our property ( on Council land) is to be removed at our expense: The next step in our building project is to meet with our architects and proceed the advanced stage of the design development and working drawings. Further on from there we were presented with our interior design drawings which include all interior specifications including cabinetry, kitchen design ...

A Day Made Of Glass - by Corning

Darcy — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:14:29 +1000

A captivating video that looks into the many interesting roles that glass may play in future technology.

Light shelves

Darcy — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:26:40 +1100

Transoms and fanlights

Darcy — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 10:15:19 +1100

Clerestory windows

Darcy — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:20:53 +1100

Sawtooth roofs

Darcy — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:19:14 +1100

Skylights and roof lanterns

Darcy — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 09:11:12 +1100