Author Archives: Bill Hutchison

Should I Install A Home Solar Power System?

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Since moving back to Australia I have noticed a huge trend of homes installing home solar power systems. As it turns out 10% of homes actually have solar power systems installed, and they are producing about 1% of the nation’s power.

Solar Panel System Installation

At the end of 2012 the rebate from the Australian government dropped by half of what it was. The funny thing is though that the price of systems has not changed significantly based on the flyers that I had from December 2012 and one from March 2013.

One benefit of having solar power is the electricity feed in tariff. Here in South Australia there are two feed in tariffs that you can receive; one from the government and one from your energy retailer. The one from the government though is set to be eliminated if your system is installed after September 30, 2013:

Solar customers who received approval from SA Power Networks for an upgrade prior to 1 October 2011 will be permitted to carry out and complete that upgrade before 1 October 2013 to remain in the feed-in scheme, however, they will only be entitled to receive 16c/kWh for future electricity fed into the grid for the whole of their system until 2016 …

So with that in mind, should I install a home solar power system before September 2013? I would LOVE some advice as it is a large investment, but it could have some real benefits down the track …

3-Steps to Prevent DIY Injuries

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Injuries suffered during DIY renovations and repairs is becoming increasingly common, especially in connection with sedentary life styles. There are a few things that we can do however to lower the chance of injury.

After spending a week on crutches after I pulled my iliopsoas / hip flexor I started thinking about how common DIY injuries are and what I could do to prevent them in the future …

In hospital with a Pulled Iliopsoas inner hip flexor

Below are three simple things that you can do to help prevent injuries during DIY projects:

  1. Stretch before starting your work
  2. Get help when needed
  3. Don’t work beyond your ability

Links from the podcast:

The Finished Workbench

How to stretch the Iliopsoas

Photos of our Old Backyard

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It’s a bit strange to find one of our old houses on-line and up for rent, but my wife found our old Queenslander in Townsville up for rent. It was up for rent for $650 per week, which is quite a bit really!

The inside of the house looks pretty much the same. They actually used some of the photos from when we sold our house for the online advertisement for renting our house this time. That was kind of weird …

Here are some photos of the backyard and the rear deck. They put a lot of work into the backyard including:

  • New pool
  • Back Deck
  • Storage Shed (under deck)
  • Removed all the trees
  • Paved path

The main deck looks very similar to the one that we had originally planned except that they didn’t build the stairs and waterproofed it so they could have a shed and patio under it.

Back Deck on the Old House

I love the back deck, it’s what I always wanted on the back of that house.

Old House Tiled Back Deck

It’s a great size with a nice roof and space for a large table and of course the BBQ.

Old House Back Yard Pool

We aren’t really pool people, so we had never planned to put in a pool. Actually the pool is over top of the main sewer line so I didn’t even know it could be done.

Kind of neat to see what they did with the yard…

Should You Tile Under Bathroom Vanities or Kitchen Cabinets?

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Cracked and Damaged Grout Against VanityLike many issues that we have come up with during our home improvements there seems to be no clear cut “correct” way to do this. A lot of it comes down to personal preference.

When the kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities were installed in our house they were installed first, and then the flooring was installed. While this is a common way to do it, there are some disadvantages that are inherent to this type of cabinet and tile installation.

Exposed Concrete Under Cabinet Beside TileIn our kitchen the dishwasher was installed in a cabinet space that used to be a cupboard. Because it was not tiled under the cabinet you can see the concrete sub-floor under the dishwasher. The concrete floor was also about 1.5cm lower than the tile, so I had to raise up the dishwasher so that the bottom of it would match up with the tile.

Water Damaged Bathroom Vanity Grouted Into TileThe vanity in our ensuite has unfortunately sustained some water damage. Because the vanity is grouted into the tile we don’t really have the option to replace the vanity. Instead we will need to attempt to repair the existing vanity, hopefully without damaging the existing tile or causing more damage to the already compromised vanity.

Some other thoughts about tiling under kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities can be found here:

Music is “Do What You Can” by Lee Rosevere