I have a whole wall that I need to block off with some sort of door. I'm thinking that a bi-fold door would be awesome. However, my husband kind of wants a sliding door. I just think how cool it'd be to have a whole wall made up of a door that could easily be tucked away when needed. This would make outdoor barbecues a lot easier. It would sure save me from having to open the door every time. http://www.superiorwindows.com.au/content/Products/BifoldDoors.aspx 

I couldn't tick one or the other of the boxes – I think the choice has to be made contingent on so many variables. In fact we have painted timber, double-glazed bifolds (with a fabulous retractable pleated fly-screen) at the end of the dining room leading out onto a terrace and a painted timber, double-glazed slider (with a timber-framed sliding fly-screen) on the other side of the kitchen (but on the same axis) opening onto a raised timber deck. Each works really well in terms of function and aesthetics but they would not be interchangeable as the different locations determined which was more suitable – but they have been made by the same highly skilled window craftsman and have given us nothing but pleasure. And on a hot, steamy evening with both open we have the most wonderful cross ventilation.

If the front of the house is west facing in Queensland and you have glass on that side of the house, in summer in the afternoon the sun beats down on this side for hours, heating up the whole house. There is some speculation on double glazing as some think that they do heat up, better than nothing. Once the sun hits the wall you are lost. These image are for north this is worst for west. A more passive means of cooling the house is to install tall enough thick leaves to the base trees on the western side so that they shade that elevation. Problem with that is that in winter, that sun would be nice. So you need trees that drop their leaves early winter and have them back on say September when the sun starts to heat up. Some trees hold onto their leaves till a few weeks before spring, so make sure you do your research and think root barrier up front to protect your footings. Photo below horizontal external shade screens, Another method is to shade the house with screens, i said house not windows. With western sun, it is low when it starts to clear the roof overhangs, so no amount of horizontal shade devices will make any real difference. The screens for western sun in Queensland must be of a vertical nature. So screens that hang OUTSIDE the house to around say 900 mm off the ground would be fantastic. Since the sun travels around the west from more south west in peak summer to west in winter, vertical blades tend to be ideal solution and should pivot, to deal with this moving sun. In the past, Queenslanders used to have these vertical screens on castors and they moved them around to suit the conditions, for some reason we did not learn from the past. This house the screens are not shading the walls at the bottom so they would still heat up. From the plans i see you are building in brick, so western sun and bricks in summer make an ideal oven. Takes bricks 12 hours to cool down depending on the colour. All material heats up in the sun, but bricks take longer to cool, light weight material which is properly insulated is a better choice and against popular opinion, glass is also a good choice, all better if vertically screened. Double brick tends to keep a house cooler and you might as well use the double brick for structure instead of the decorative nature of cavity brick house, but after a while that heats up and takes forever to cool. Studs hold up the roof, not the face bricks. Ever wonder why the house stands up during construction with stud wall and roof? Photo is vertical blades which pivot. A good landscape architect would be worth a look and they will know how to blend your style of house with the garden. North windows in Queensland even with no overhangs, (which is stupid in Queensland) do not get sun into the rooms, but in winter it might crawl in say 2 M which is nice. What are you doing with the roof and concrete tiles heat up nicely and the darker you make them the hotter they get, Colorbond is a good choice with all the hail we tend to get, or keep a stockpile of tiles for when they break. Colour also makes a difference to heat. Make sure you vent the roof space, whirly birds, and vented eaves or gable ends, make sure you fully insulate the roof and also ceiling, and choose a light colour. choose a style of external screens or trees to fit the house. See if that makes a difference to the report which is there to make your life better and we are talking the cost of air con for the life of the house, the reports are there to help save you money, maybe a bit more up front but worth it in the long running cost of a house. Ros

I am about to start some alterations and the front door is currently dark violet purple but soon to be black. I will however be retaining the natural rimu on the inside even though my kitchen walls are dark charcoal currently. I like them so much the new kitchen will have the same coloured walls. The new sliding windows in the kitchen have a pine frame so won't match the rest. I am going to paint it dark charcoal too, with the cedar sliders and rimu finishing.