There is a Company in Ballan, where the owners come from Switzerland and they make great windows. Expensive but great for both temperature control and noise.
I’m looking at changing our windows as we’ve got the typical ol aluminium sliders from 50 yrs ago that leak temp like a sieve.
I’m looking at PVC, a lot of installers here use
https://www.aluplast.net/au/produkte/fenster/
and construct the windows here.
Aint cheap.
If you’re really nerdy you can compare thermal ratings of both glazing & film at:
https://awawers.net/en/res
We had double glazed windows installed about 11 years ago. Definitely reduced the noise and we saw decreases in energy bills. I think they have now paid for themselves with the energy bill savings.
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I’m probably a good one to talk about this topic. We’ve had both retrofitted double glazing as well as complete timber window replacement. We also have another mob coming in to quote the european style upvc windows and doors.
We had a number of 80’s style roll out windows completely replaced with traditional sash style windows, double glazed. (We need another two windows done this way in bedrooms). Expensive…but we wanted to put in windows that matched the style of the house.
We’ve also opted to retrofit a front bay window, 2 curved feature windows and a staircase window using Thermowood. Fantastic experience with these guys. Completely rebuilt one sash because of rot, no curveball seemed to fuss them The guys were super friendly and professional, I couldn’t recommend them highly enough. It was also a fraction of the cost to retrofit opposed to the quote we had to replace from numerous carpenters. If you have timber windows in good to ok condition, give them a call.
In both cases we have noticed a significant reduction in noise (we’re on a semi busy road) and a more stable temperature throughout. Not to say rooms don’t get cold or hot, the extremes of cold and hot are no longer and issue. Also, the condensation issues that we had are gone. No more squidgying windows every morning.
We’re now needing to external doors and a bathroom window done. Because they’re a more modern look towards the back of the house, we decided against timber and wanted a more robust build for a northern face. We’ve considered an industrustrial aluminium option however they are generally hollow rendering double glazing pointless as the temperature will escape through there. You can get insulated aluminium however thats an extra cost on top of an already expensive venture.
In this case we think uPVC will be the far cheaper option. (But i’ll let you know once we get the quote.) We’ve got Winplex coming to quote this weekend.
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I ended up going full on with an aluminium extrusion, fixed lovers that go about 700mm above the fence hight that was slightly higer than normal anyway. Cost fortune but worth ever cent and doesnt look too bad, and goves us 100% screen for the pool on once side where there was a balcony overlooking our pool. I had lilly pillies and palms on the other 3 side so now 100% privacy now
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Im in the middele of re painting a 2 story house, fixing a front fence and gates and then replace 2 decks, Houses are a never ending money pit, but I do love doing as much myself as I can. It’s enjoyable hard work
That is actually a good point.
Thanks for the feedback 
Can anyone recommend a really good online walk in pantry design tool?
I tried ikea and Kinsman, but couldn’t really design what I had in mind.
I painted our garage floor on the weekend. It’s a new build and being the garage floor didn’t care too much how it looked, just didn’t want to be walking on the slab forever as once we fill up the garage it would never get done.
Took a bit longer to clean/etch it than expected but came up alright. I’m sure I could do it in half the time next time.
https://i.imgur.com/5anP9wC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/jSysclx.jpg
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What are you hoping to get out of it?
If you use a tool supplied (free) by someone like IKEA, you’ll only be shown their stuff (which is pre packaged flat pack)
Which is probably 95% of spaces
Actual cabinet makers give you more options if you’ve got funny shaped/sized spaces, if you’re in that 5%.
That looks great. I wish I took the time to do ours, there’s crap stacked all over it now so I’ll never get as good a finish.
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It’s a WIP fit out for a new build, so basically a blank canvas
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Carpet or floorboards for upstairs? It’s nominally an adult space id that makes a difference. Rest of the house is tiles/laminate
Floorboards can make noise travel, even footsteps.
Floorboards look better, wear better and reduce allergies.
We have jarrah floors and no problem with noise.
I guess it depends on what your upper floor is made of. If concrete, no issues with noise.
Otherwise, tell people visiting upstairs not to wear hard-soled shoes and have boards installed as plank-on-ply to reduce noise.
personal preference really as there’s pros and cons to either floor cover
I like the bamboo engineered stuff. Put that in the last place.
Tough as anything. Depends if you’re in a panda prone area, of course.
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Floorboards downstairs, carpet upstairs for us. I think carpet adds a warmth and plushness to areas, and if you put extra money into good quality underlay it helps with noise deadening to the ground floor.
Thought of on the topic but I’ve just watched a fair old glue of methylated spirits spill into my recently laid carpet.
It says generally use bicarbonate soda for the pong but your kind of stuffed otherwise?