Rental repairs: what counts as urgent and what to do when nothing happens
The clock does not start when you notice the problem. It starts when the landlord receives it in writing, which is why the text message you sent is doing nothing.
Your smoke alarm has an expiry date, and Queensland has a deadline
There is a date printed on the back of your smoke alarm. Ten years from that date it should be replaced, working or not, and most households have never looked.
Why the house is still hot at 10pm when it cooled down outside
It is 24 degrees outside and 29 in the lounge room. The reason is stored heat, and the fix has an order to it that almost nobody follows.
Mosquitoes: the teaspoon of water in your yard breeding them
A pot plant saucer holds enough water to raise a generation. The mosquitoes biting you on your own back step usually did not travel far to get there.
Mould behind the wardrobe: the winter problem that is not a leak
It appears on the south wall, behind the wardrobe, in winter. It is almost never a leak, and treating it like one is why it keeps coming back every year.
Possums in the roof: it is illegal to move them, so what can you do
Relocating a possum is illegal in every Australian state, and the penalties are serious. The legal approach is to let it leave and stop it coming back, in that order.
One big cockroach or three small ones: they are different problems
A single large cockroach that wandered in from the drain and three small ones behind the kettle are completely different situations, and only one of them means you have a…
Ants in the kitchen: why they arrive and what actually works
Spraying a trail of ants kills the ants you can see and solves nothing. The nest is the problem, and the way you reach it is the opposite of what…
Never bin a battery: where they actually go in Australia
Batteries in kerbside bins start fires in trucks and sorting facilities. There is a free national drop-off scheme at shops you already visit, and one preparation step that matters.
Hard rubbish: what councils take, what they leave, and what it costs
Councils take far more than people expect and refuse a short list that catches almost everyone. The excluded items are the reason a pile sits on the nature strip for…
The FOGO bin: bones and meat yes, pizza boxes and tea bags no
Meat, bones, seafood shells and dairy all go in. Pizza boxes, tea bags and paper towel no longer do. The rules are close to the opposite of what most people…
What actually goes in the yellow bin, and what ruins a whole load
Most recycling mistakes are made confidently. Six items cause the bulk of contamination in Australian kerbside recycling, and the worst of them feels like the tidy thing to do.
Soft plastics recycling is back: what to do with the bag under the sink
Most households stopped collecting soft plastics in 2022 and never started again. The scheme came back quietly, it does not cover everywhere, and the rules are slightly different.
Pet carriers for the car, the plane and the vet
A carrier that works at the vet is often the wrong one for a flight, and the flight one is decided by the airline rather than by you.
Before you buy a self-cleaning litter box
An automatic tray solves the scooping and quietly removes the single best early warning you have about a cat's health. That trade is the actual decision.
Name labels that survive the dishwasher and the wash
Labels fail in predictable ways: iron-ons peel off polyester, stickers lift in a dishwasher, and marker fades. Matching the type to the surface is the whole trick.
How to choose a dog crate: sizing, type and what to skip
A crate that is too big does not help a puppy, it gives it a bathroom. Two measurements decide the size, and neither of them is the dog's weight.
What to buy secondhand for kids, and what not to
Children outgrow things faster than they wear them out, which makes most kids gear an excellent secondhand buy. A short list of exceptions is where the care belongs.