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.
Kensington is a small inner suburb three kilometres from the city, and it is unusual for Perth in what its homes are made of. From the 1920s much of Kensington was built in weatherboard and brick rather than the double-brick that dominates the rest of the city, and a block of postwar State Housing was added in the 1950s. A building and timber pest inspection here has to read timber-framed and mixed-material homes on their own terms, because a weatherboard house ages and fails differently from a brick one.
The weatherboard homes are the heart of it. A timber-framed, timber-clad house lives or dies by keeping water out of the frame, so we read the cladding and its paint, the flashings and the junctions where boards meet windows and corners, and the stumps or piers the house stands on. Where water has been getting in, the frame, the sill plates and the stumps are where it shows, and that is structural rather than cosmetic, so we read it closely.
The postwar State Housing and the early brick homes are the other part. The 1950s Commission homes were built plainly and are now around seventy years old, so we read them for their age: roofs and wiring near the end of their life, wet areas long since due, and the asbestos-era materials the period commonly used, which we note where we see them so a buyer knows.
Many Kensington homes are now a mix, an original weatherboard cottage with a brick addition, or a Commission home extended and reclad over the years. We read those changes for how they were done and how the old and new fabric meet, because the join between a timber-framed original and a later addition is a common place for problems to hide.
The timber pest side matters more here than in most of Perth, because there is simply more timber. A timber-framed, timber-clad house on stumps gives termites both food and cover, so we read the subfloor, the frame where it is visible, the stumps and the ground around the home with particular care.
What you get is a plain reading of a home built the way Kensington built, timber, brick or a mix of the two, with the report inside 24 hours and the real defects separated clearly from the cosmetic.
We run the same two-scope visit across the area, including nearby Victoria Park and Como.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $616 inc GST for both scopes, report within 24 hours.
Its materials. Much of Kensington was built in weatherboard and brick rather than Perth's usual double-brick, so we read timber-framed and mixed-material homes on their own terms.
Because a timber-framed, timber-clad house depends on keeping water out of the frame. We read the cladding, flashings and stumps, since water in the frame is a structural cost, not a cosmetic one.
Not worse, just different. They ask for a materials read of the timber and cladding, and a well-kept weatherboard home can be an excellent buy once its condition is known.
The 1950s Commission homes are around seventy years old, so we read them for roofs, wiring and wet areas near the end of their life, and note asbestos-era materials where we see them.
A building inspection is not a hazardous-materials survey, but we note where the era and materials suggest asbestos may be present, so you can seek specialist advice before you buy.
We read how the original and the addition meet, because the join between a weatherboard original and a later brick addition is a common place for problems to hide.
It can be, because there is more timber. A timber-framed house on stumps gives termites food and cover, so we read the subfloor, frame, stumps and surrounding ground with particular care.
Yes, where there is safe access. On a timber-framed home the stumps, sill plates and subfloor are central to the read.
Yes. The building inspection to AS 4349.1 and the timber pest inspection to AS 4349.3 are done in one visit, with a single report within 24 hours.
A flat $616 inc GST for both scopes, report within 24 hours.
Buying in Kensington? 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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