I'm sure there's plenty of confusion about the why's and wherefore's of house orientation. The reality, as I have recently discovered, is that if want to live in an area that is older, developed, close to facilities, you take whatever orientation the block actually happens to be and do the best you can with it. Unless you're out in the country, or buying something in a new estate, you may not get a choice of orientation: we certainly didn't. And yes, our garage does have the best aspect - because there was nowhere else to put it - it had to face the street - but we live walking distance to shops (think of the petrol saved on not having to get into the car), we've got clerestory windows on the west side so no afternoon sun issues, and we're assembling a collection of sails for the south side, where the deck is, to provide shade from the late afternoon sun. Oh, and skylights for the kitchen. No, not ideal. But the location is, and the designers have worked around the constraints of orientation. And that's reality for a lot of us.

part of the builders price includes insurance for the workers and the materials and we aarrnged for our builder to employ our electrician and plumber and then we paid the wages direct without the builders' percentage...your labour costs may be cheaper but will your workers be properly insured and what about the costs for the concrete and all the materials for the tiler that the builder may be able to source much more cheaply than you or your family and, for the size of the house that you've asked about in your other posts, you'll need a team of concretors to manage a slab that big...why not ask the builder what discount he'll give for you to supply the slab...the tiler isn't such an issue as it's decoration after the builder has finished most of the work but will your tiler do all the wall prep and arrange waterproofing and the plumber to work around your tiler? the only way to find out for sure is to ask the builder

Hi There, Tilers will charge anywhere from $55 to $60 to lay subway but you are best to just ring around first they all have very different rates. if you have and niches this will be extra. if you are doing a smaller area like a kitchen splashback they might want a minimum charge they should have a rate for under 3sqm or 5 sqm best ring a few to get a firm rate. Regards Laurie

There are so many variables it is impossible to give an estimate. Depending on under-floor access for new plumbing, the amount of new cabinetwork, the demolition of the old internal laundry walls, the making good of the old laundry floor to match the kitchen, the amount and quality of the tiles in the new laundry, how many new powerpoints that need to be chased into your brickwork, and the availability of local tradesmen to work on a small project I can safely say that the cost will be in the five figures. Whether this cost is closer to $10,000, or $99,000 will depend on all of those unknown factors. You need to think a bit more about what you need, what you are prepared to spend money on, and contact a local builder for a more realistic understanding of the potential costs. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls