Do it yourself home improvements

DIY or not to DIY

Doing it yourself is cheaper, a lot cheaper, than hiring a tradesperson but if you are inexperienced, don't really enjoy the work, or able to do something else with your time that is more constructive or profitable, then perhaps you should "give it a miss". If this is not the case then read on. The following text contains a list of links to relevant Australian web sites and books from amazon.com that we believe might be helpful.

DIY online resources

Bunnings Warehouse and Mitre 10

The two largest Australian home hardware retailers have a lot of online DIY material. Mitre 10's is better, in our opinion, partly because it includes instructional videos. Here are the links to their respective DIY web pages:
   • Bunnings DIY brochures
   • Mitre 10 DIY central.

Articles from the Australian Home Design Directory

• Frequently asked questions. Answers question like: "What will things cost?", "What council fees do I have to pay?", etc.
• Construction cost calculator. Estimate what it will cost to build before you get into too much detail.
• Owner-building. Learn what it takes to be an owner builder.
• DIY home design. Learn how to design your own home.
• DIY kitchen. Learn how to design your own kitchen.
• DIY bathroom. Learn how to design your own bathroom
• How to read plans. Learn how to read construction diagrams.
• Design tips. Miscellaneous design tips.

Articles from Home I Own

• Comfort of your home. This article is about a new home for a new family.
• Cost of demolishing a house. Explains all the costs involved in a demolition job.
• Building a house from concrete blocks. The advantages of using this inexpensive construction material.

Articles from Complete Home

• Interior design. Articles and advice.
• Renovations. Read about real extension, addition and renovation projects.
• New homes. New home examples from leading Australian building designers.

Editor's note: Complete Home is a very comprehensive and professionally put-together online magazine.

Articles from the Home Improvement Pages

• Adding an extra bedroom. Adding an extra bedroom can not only give you the space that a growing family requires, it can also add great resale value when it comes time to sell the home.
• Painting Your old tiles. Painting your tiles is a cost effective way to get them looking like new once again and it's so simple, you can even do it yourself.
• Converting your garage. Do you need more room in your home but can't afford an extension? Consider converting your garage, you will benefit from having the structure already in place.

Articles from the online Yellow Pages (Home at Yellow by Sensis/Telstra)

• Integrating indoor and outdoor living spacesPaying attention to function, colour and feel is all-important when it comes to integrating indoor and outdoor living spaces.
• Rewiring your home. If your home is older, it may require rewiring.

Videos from YouTube

Go to YouTube.com and type in the search term "DIY home improvements" (for example) and you will find many short (and often helpful) instructional videos. A good example is this video: Taping and Mudding Drywall (Drywall is called Gyprock in Australia).

DIY books from amazon.com

It is our experience that if you buy more than one book it is often cheaper to by from amazon.com than from bookstores in Australia, even when you factor in the USD/AUD exchange rate and the cost of shipping. Amazon also has a much better selection of books.