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.
Medina was the first of four neighbourhood units designed in the early 1950s for workers in the new Kwinana Industrial Area, and its designer was Margaret Feilman, Perth’s first female town planner. What Feilman built for the workers of the BP oil refinery, BHP steel and the other Kwinana industries was a specific type of home found nowhere else in this coverage area: the original State-housing homes had jarrah weatherboard to window height, sheeting above, with jarrah frames, floors and stumps. A building and timber pest inspection at Medina reads for what seventy-plus years of continuous occupation has done to that specific construction type, and for what living beside a heavy-industry complex for seven decades does to a residential suburb.
The jarrah weatherboard and sheeting construction is the lead specific read. This is not brick-and-tile, and it does not fail the way brick-and-tile does. Jarrah weatherboard that was untreated or inadequately protected in the 1950s can absorb moisture through paint failures and split boards; sheeting above window height can admit water at the joins and junctions; and the jarrah frames and stumps that carry the home are susceptible to the wet-dry cycling of a coastal-plain climate and to the termite activity that 70 years in an industrial suburb near the coast sustains. We read all of these elements on their own terms.
The industrial context adds a site read. Medina was built for a heavy-industry town, and while the residential streets are separated from the industrial areas, homes nearest the industrial precincts of Kwinana carry the noise, vibration and industrial-adjacency context that belong in a site assessment. We note these as the site considerations they are.
The later infill housing in the suburb earns the age read of its construction era, without the specific jarrah-weatherboard construction profile that makes the 1950s originals a genuinely distinct inspection.
The timber pest side follows the construction and the climate. Jarrah frames and stumps, weatherboard that can retain moisture, and the coastal-plain ground of a lower-income industrial suburb give termites the conditions they use. We read subfloor, roof timbers and the perimeter with the specific construction in mind.
What you get is a plain reading of the Medina home at its real age and in its specific construction, 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 Kwinana Town Centre and Leda.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $616 inc GST for both scopes, report within 24 hours.
Its unique 1950s construction type. The original State-housing homes designed by Margaret Feilman, Perth's first female town planner, have jarrah weatherboard to window height, sheeting above, with jarrah frames, floors and stumps — a profile found nowhere else in this coverage area.
It does not fail the same way. Weatherboard absorbs moisture through paint failures and split boards; sheeting admits water at joins and junctions; jarrah frames and stumps are susceptible to wet-dry cycling and termite activity in ways that brick-and-tile masonry is not.
At seventy-plus years they are the age where wet-dry cycling, moisture absorption and termite activity all need close reading. We read the stumps, the subfloor timbers and the frames for what seven decades on coastal-plain ground has done.
Perth's first female town planner, who designed Medina in the early 1950s as the first of four neighbourhood units for workers in the Kwinana Industrial Area.
Homes nearest the Kwinana industrial precincts carry the noise, vibration and industrial-adjacency context that belongs in a site assessment alongside the building read.
The standard age read for its era, without the specific jarrah-weatherboard construction profile that makes the 1950s originals a genuinely distinct inspection.
Yes. Jarrah frames and stumps that can retain moisture, weatherboard that splits, and 70 years on coastal-plain ground all give termites strong conditions. We read the subfloor and roof timbers carefully.
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.
Yes. Feilman's town-planning layout, with its specific arrangement of residential streets, parks and community facilities, is still recognisable in Medina's streetscape.
Buying in Medina? 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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