HI All....read everything and to me it would appear the main cause is your slab, albeit issues around the slab. A trench is a start, with extra drainage (black round pipe with heaps of holes in it, and loads of scoria). My opinion is that the actual ground is damp and unfortunately concrete is porous, so as long as there's heaps of water around that cannot drain away, the concrete will slurp it up. (I'm no drainage expert) As far as your gib goes, I don't think you have any option but to replace it (then insulate wall by wall as you go.) Here in NZ, I previously worked for a company that did leaky building repairs, and honestly, that black mould is a very real danger to the family's health, so it's got to go. Like others have said, you may get rid of it visually for a period of time, but once you rip the gib off, you may come across other issues. I'd also invest in a dehumdifier and keep that cranked to start getting moisture out of the air, or other options as others have mentioned. Sorry Cathy, ain't no easy fix there..................... Is it possible to have a look into council records to see what the land back in the day was actually used for? That may give you an insight into what the problem could be.

From your drawings I leaned towards squaring off the arches but seeing the house IRL I say keep them. Being raised from the road and the way the house is perceived to sit into the land, they look great. There is a graciousness to the arches which you don't often see in houses of this era, I think it because they are not uniform. I would look at the Spanish Mission style homes in Palm Springs for inspiration and keep the roof tiles rather than go colourbond too. You can still do a version of beach just more Spanish mission hacienda style!

There are actually quite a lot of gutter choices. I always like an ogee profile (see photo) for more traditional style homes, like the ones that you have pictured, and prefer simpler rounder gutters for a more contemporary look. However with climate change and more intense rain events having gutters and downpipes that are larger than the current minimum requirement is a bit like an insurance policy, and easier to keep clean. If you have a good designer they should be able to advise on local rain patterns and upsize accordingly for your roof collection area. There is nothing worse than overflowing gutters causing eave damage to first floor eaves as they were undersized, or poorly maintained. If you don't have eaves then the water damage from overflowing gutters may end up inside your house!

Hi all We need a bigger rug to go under our square dining table (150cm). We are currently using a rectangular rug that is too small as an interim. I did today just move another larger rectangular rug underneath but it just looks odd. I would love any tips or photos of others with square dining - I will attach some photos.