Thanks so much Brian! I hope to do more renos in future, so it's most definitely good to know! Phew!BTW, hubby has told me that the stuff behind the tiles was actually render, so sorry about that confusion.

Thanks Crashy, yeah, abit daring… the wall was also in the unit (BTW, it wall worked out well, I'm really glad we did it!).After thinking through the responses, I now realise what this Fibro is. The old owners have used it before re-tiling (doing a really crappy job with really cheap tiles which fall off in some areas just by looking at them).…[Read more]

Thanks so much for the info guys, you're always so insightful!Just some more info, we live in an old block of units on the ground floor, so we can't get under the bathroom. The only way in was to jackhammer into the floor to access and rearrange the existing plumbing.From my understanding, as we had to cut into the existing floor out so the p…[Read more]

Hi There,Just thought I'd share my similar experience. I purchased a ground floor unit last December for $320k (Sydney), and using it as my PPOR while I renovate.I recently had an internal wall removed (between kitchen and lounge room to open it all up. Cost me about $4000 (plus $350 for the skip bin). I had an engineer come to assess it first…[Read more]

Thank you for the tips KIZ, very very encouraging… I too am an "average" 30yo female, so it was really good to hear it from someone in the same position Yep, been attending those free DIY bunning courses, they are really insightful.

Thanks for the advice Rator! I would have never thought about the finance side affecting it. Its really helpful to know.I might need to give it  miss too as I would like to look at investing in more property in the future. As the retirement units are in a lower range, yet have strong and steady returns, I even started thinking of perhaps holding…[Read more]

I think it's great that so many people have done the diy bathroom reno I'm in the same boat and looking at renovating my bathroom this year. I'm thinking budgeting about 7 or 8k. I've been told that a great way to cut costs is to avoid moving the plumbing where possible (keep toliet, drains, and taps in the same location). So that might be a…[Read more]

Thanks for the reply everyone!! Its been very useful. It seems the best and first option would be to get professional advice to avoid any messy situation with the owners corporation.All this information has been so helpful! Thank you so much!!

Thank you so much for the prompt responses!! It's been a really great help. Just to let you know, my current plan is to move and rent out my current unit , and buy a 2nd unit to live in. I've decided that buying an older unit needing some renos is the way to go, so here i am doing some research to make sure it is possible. Really appreciate your…[Read more]