Yes the eastern states have been copping it. Snow etc, I am not a fan of cold. In the west has not been as bad, just a bit of a whinger when I think how cold you guys have had it, even Brisbane. I am waiting for those new solar panels with battery storage capacity (tesla) to come down in price in the next few years, before we retire I would like to have them in and paid for.

I came to visit my elderly neighbours when I was kid and discovered my cat in a bed there. They had actually been putting him to bed at night at their house for years. There he was asleep in a tiny cat bed, with tiny sheets all folded down over a tiny thick wool blanket. He apparently slept all tucked in at night at theirs while we thought he was out because he wanted some fresh air...

Here is a little more info for you...and some "light" reading. Victorian Building Act 1993 16.1 and 16.2 state that a building permit is to be issued for all works that require a permit under the Act. (see below re schedule 8 of the regs) 176.2A states that a builder cannot undertake work under a domestic building contract unless he/she is registered under the class of registration that is appropriate for the works. Victorian Building Regulations 1801 and 1802 and Schedule 8 outline building works that do not require a Building Permit. You will be surprised at how many building projects actually do require a permit. For example; if you want your front fence to be higher than 1.6m, not only will you need to lodge an application for a building permit, you also need to lodge a "report and consent" application with your local council before your permit will even be approved. Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 Part 3 Definitions "major domestic building contract" means a domestic contract in which the contract price for the carrying out of the domestic building work is more than $5000 (or any higher amount fixed by the regulations part 2.2.11 details the limitations for receiving deposits for works. The best advice I can give is that if you are unsure about the works you are about to undertake, contact your local council building services office and ask. The Acts and regulations are a pretty tough read. lourdesmay, you will most likely find information on the SA Gov site, I assume that SA has a similar body to the Victorian Building Authority, or contact the State Branch of the Master Builders Association. Good Luck

Yes, I used Granite transformations, back in 2008. The home we purchased had a terracotta coloured laminate on kitchen benches. I had the kitchen transformed for around $4000. Even the realestate agent thought it was real caeserstone, when we sold our property in dec 2018, before looking and noticing the layer of engineered stone, that is placed over the original laminate bench. The thickness of stone layer over laminate is about 10mm. The area covered was about 5 metres of bench. I have attached the before and after. We did not change the cabinets, just took the hutch off the end of island.