Both scopes in one visit — building to AS 4349.1, timber pest to AS 4349.3. The fuller check, by a registered building contractor. Report within 24 hours.
Greenwood is a classic 1970s and 80s family estate suburb, brick-and-tile homes on comfortable blocks, laid out and project-built in a distinct era of construction. A building and timber pest inspection here reads that era on its own terms, because a 1970s or 80s home is built quite differently from the pre-war and post-war stock closer to the city, and it has aged into a different set of things to check.
The construction of the era is the key. Where the older suburbs are double brick, much of Greenwood is brick veneer, a timber frame carrying the house with a single brick skin outside it, and that changes the inspection. The timber frame behind the brick is read, through the roof space and wherever it is accessible, for movement and moisture, and any decay or termite attack, because in a veneer home the structure is that frame, not the visible brick. The wall ties between frame and skin, along with the weep holes and the articulation joints, are all read for the movement a veneer wall is designed to accommodate.
Many Greenwood homes sit on a concrete slab rather than a suspended timber floor, and a slab-on-ground home is inspected differently: there is no subfloor to enter, so the inspection reads the slab edge for dampness rising past the damp-proof membrane and the floors for the heave or settlement a reactive or poorly prepared slab can show, and the perimeter for the slab-edge exposure that lets termites in. The concrete tile roofs of the era are now brittle with perished sarking, and the aluminium windows, which replaced the steel of earlier decades, read for seal and frame condition rather than rust.
Asbestos is a declining but real factor in Greenwood. It was being phased out across the 1970s and 80s but remained in some materials, in eaves and fibrous cement sheeting, and wet-area substrates, until the late 1980s, so the inspection identifies and flags suspect materials by age and appearance without disturbing them.
These homes are now forty to fifty years old and mostly renovated at least once, so additions and patios and reconfigured wet areas are each read for structure and waterproofing, and for whether they were approved, because unapproved work passes to the buyer.
On the timber pest side, a brick-veneer, slab-on-ground suburb has a specific profile: the concealed timber frame and the slab edge are the pathways, and the mature, watered gardens of an established estate are the moisture. The roof space and frame are read for activity and the perimeter and slab edge for conducive conditions and mud tubes, with suspect timber sounded, with movement detection where a gallery is suspected behind a wall. Termite management follows AS 3660.
Greenwood is an ageing 1970s and 80s estate, and the report earns its value by reading the construction of that era accurately, the veneer frame and the slab, and the transitional materials, rather than treating it like the double-brick stock it is not.
We run the same two-scope visit across the area, including nearby Kingsley and Warwick.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $616 inc GST for both scopes, report within 24 hours.
The construction is different. Much of Greenwood is brick veneer, a timber frame with a single brick skin, not double brick, so the structure is the concealed frame, which we read through the roof space and wherever accessible for movement, moisture and decay. Many homes are also slab-on-ground, which we inspect differently again.
It is a timber frame carrying the house with a single brick skin outside it. It matters because the structure is the frame, not the visible brick, so we read the frame for movement and moisture, and decay and termite attack, and we read the wall ties, weep holes and articulation joints the system relies on.
There is no subfloor to enter, so we read the slab edge for damp rising past the membrane and the floors for the heave or settlement a reactive or poorly prepared slab can show, and the perimeter for the slab-edge exposure that lets termites in. A slab home is a different inspection from a suspended-floor one.
A declining but real one. Asbestos was phased out across the 1970s and 80s but remained in some materials, in eaves and sheeting, and wet-area substrates, until the late 1980s. We identify and flag suspect materials by age and appearance without disturbing them.
Often. The concrete tiles of the era are now brittle and their sarking has perished, so we read the roof for cracked and slipped tiles, for the sarking's condition and for water entry, and the frame beneath for any resulting damage.
They replaced the steel windows of earlier decades, so rust is less of an issue, but we read them for seal failure and frame distortion, and the water entry that tired seals allow at the reveals.
Yes, and a veneer, slab-on-ground suburb has a specific profile: the concealed timber frame and the slab edge are the pathways, and the mature watered gardens are the moisture. We read the roof space and frame, the perimeter and slab edge, and sound suspect timber, with movement detection where needed. Termite management follows AS 3660.
A flat $616 including GST for both scopes together, the same in every suburb. A forty to fifty year old estate home takes careful reading, and you have the written report, with photos, within 24 hours.
The additions and patios and reconfigured wet areas, each read for structure, for waterproofing, and for whether they were approved, because unapproved work passes to you at settlement.
Yes. A clear report separates the significant issue, a decaying veneer frame, slab movement or a termite path, from the cosmetic, and gives you a concrete basis to renegotiate.
Buying in Greenwood? A pre-purchase building inspection — building scope only, report within 24 hours — gives you the documented record before exchange.
Pre-purchase inspection →Our office is at Suite 55, 15 Labouchere Road, South Perth WA 6151 — on the Swan River foreshore near the Perth Zoo.
Tell us about the property and what you need. We'll come back to you with a firm quote and a time.
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