Spotted Gum is a great hard wearing timber with a Janka rating of 11. This means it is high density timber and won't dent as easily as softer timbers like American Oak. A polyurethane finish is the hardest and most durable timber floor coating and it comes in gloss satin and mat. The lower sheen's are more forgiving if you you have pets and young children. Bamboo is another hard product but only comes in short lengths so you would need to take that look into consideration when selecting. Some clients don't like the look of the short boards and consider it a cheap look. Others prefer the longer floor boards of timber. If you do choose bamboo make sure that you find out the coating used and whether it can be sanded and re coated down the track, as all timber and bamboo floors will need a touch up especially if you have pets. Some bamboo floors can not be sanded due the coating used. Hope this helps. Our website may offer some inspiration. Good Luck http://budgetfloorsanding.com.au/

yes it is a bit of a quirky layout - but for that budget realistically you'll be limited to cosmetics/fit-out upgrades and minimal alterations - there's no way that budget will stretch to cover both renovation + an extension. Advise you seek professional advice in regards to options and likely costs involved one way or the other..., as off the bat, if we were approached with this general brief & budget, we'd be saying likely double or triple it to get it properly reconfigured....the tricky thing on these is where do you draw the line and whether or not it's actually worth doing anything unless you are able to achieve an overall result that makes sense. The issue is that the house zoning is all over the place and if you're going to do anything the whole thing needs to be pulled together to make more sense and function more practically with say main living, master area & secondary bedrooms/kids zones properly organised and positioned so as you correctly identify, you are not doing the "wierd" transition across certain spaces into another than doesn't make sense in terms of the overall residence. Whilst you may have a reasonable amount of existing space, by the time you get it working practically to your needs by trying to rejig within the existing perimeter, you'll be staggered as to what the costs will be. This is a classic example of what we deal with regularly, and more often than not these types of projects scopes will involve (a) increase of budget to achieve the scope and (b) a delicate and carefully though through solution that minimises work to existing and consolidates the spend as cost effectively as possible, which typically is achieved by some form of "clean" demo & extension solution......these days it is often proven false economy to rework within existing building perimeter unless it's confined to relatively cosmetic only upgrades.... Hope this helps & bests of luck Cheers PD :)

These decking ideas are great - it's always a good idea to consider the practical as well as the aesthetic! Another practical thing to think about is using the right timber connectors around your pool, because unprotected brackets and post supports can rust away very quickly and make decks unstable and dangerous to use. These articles on our website might be of interest: https://vuetrade.com/blog/i-want-a-new-deck-some-decking-tips-and-advice/  https://vuetrade.com/blog/pool-construction-checklist/

You will need a bath with three or four tile flanges to match the one in the first photo. It has to do with complying with the building regulations for waterproofing and protecting the timber framing that is under the tiles. If the edge of the bath where it meets the tiles is not properly protected from water seeping through then concealed wet rot could start, and eventually everything will need to be ripped out, and built again. Sometimes even the timber floor joists under the bath rot out and need to be replaced. So I would do your research and co-ordinate carefully with your builder to ensure that the details are correctly built. Some builders will not go to the trouble of getting it right as they don't care if your bath falls through a rotten floor in ten years time. Quite often your choices in the bathroom should also take into account the long term functionality of the bathroom, rather than just the aesthetics. Best of luck with your research, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls/Dr Retro Virtual Visits.