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.
Sorrento is one of the northern coast's most affluent suburbs, wrapped around Hillarys Boat Harbour, and its housing runs to large and complex, high-value homes: multi-level builds with pools and decks, basements and extensive glazing, taking in ocean and marina views. A building and timber pest inspection here is as much about the complexity of these homes as about the salt they sit in, because on a large luxury home the more elaborate the design, the more junctions there are for water and defects to hide in.
Complexity is the defining Sorrento factor. A multi-level home with a pool and a deck over habitable space, plus a basement or cellar, a lift and long runs of glazing, has more waterproofing and weatherproofing junctions than a simple house, and each is a place a rushed detail can fail expensively. The inspection reads the wet-area and pool waterproofing to AS 3740, the membranes under decks and podiums, the basement or cellar for water ingress and tanking, and the complex flat and skillion rooflines these homes favour for their falls and box gutters. On a home at this value, whether the quality behind the finishes matches the price is the central question.
The setting adds salt and, near the harbour, its own ground. Sorrento takes the full marine air, so the inspection reads exposed metal and fixings for accelerated corrosion and the extensive glazing for its seals under wind-driven rain. Homes near Hillarys sit on flatter, sometimes reclaimed ground by the water, while the elevated blocks behind are built up the limestone with retaining that holds the view, read for condition and drainage, and engineering.
The limestone is read where a home is founded on or cut into it, the footings for undermining and the base for salt attack near the ground. The older mid-century homes among the mansions are read for their era, with the asbestos and brittle tiled roofs and delignified framing flagged, and where one is bought to knock down the inspection focuses on the site and the plan.
On the timber pest side, the free-draining limestone tempers subterranean termite risk, but the heavily watered and landscaped gardens these large homes carry create their own damp, and any timber is read for it. The subfloor and perimeter are read for conducive conditions and suspect timber sounded, with movement detection where needed. Termite management follows AS 3660.
Sorrento is a suburb of large and complex, high-value coastal homes, and the report earns its value by reading the waterproofing and the build quality of an elaborate home as closely as the salt outside it, because at this level a missed defect is an expensive one.
We run the same two-scope visit across the area, including nearby Marmion and Hillarys.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $616 inc GST for both scopes, report within 24 hours.
The waterproofing and the build quality behind the finishes. A multi-level home with a pool, a deck over habitable space, a basement and long runs of glazing has many junctions where a rushed detail fails expensively. We read the wet-area and pool waterproofing to AS 3740, the deck and podium membranes, the basement for ingress, and the complex rooflines for their falls.
Yes, where they are part of the property and accessible. Their waterproofing fails expensively when rushed, and Sorrento's large homes carry more of these wet zones than usual, so they take close attention, especially a deck over habitable space or a tanked basement.
Because the more elaborate the design, the more junctions there are for water and defects to hide in. On a home at this value the central question is whether the quality behind the expensive finishes matches the price, and complexity is where that is tested.
Yes. Sorrento takes the full marine air, so we read exposed metal and fixings for accelerated corrosion and the extensive glazing for its seals under wind-driven rain. On the coast, corrosion drives many defects.
It can. Homes near the harbour sit on flatter, sometimes reclaimed ground by the water, while the elevated blocks behind are built up the limestone with retaining that holds the view. We read each accordingly, the low ground for damp and the retaining for condition and engineering.
They can be. The flat and skillion rooflines these homes favour rely on careful falls and membranes, and box gutters, and a leak tracks into the structure differently from a pitched roof. We read them closely for pooling and failure.
Lower than inland, because the free-draining limestone means less standing moisture, but the heavily watered, landscaped gardens these homes carry create their own damp. We read the subfloor and perimeter 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 large, complex home with pools and decks and a basement takes real time to read properly, and you have the written report, with photos, within 24 hours.
Especially so. At this value a single missed waterproofing or structural defect can cost far more than the inspection, so reading the complex wet zones and build quality closely is exactly where the report earns its keep.
Yes. On a high-value home a clear report separates the significant issue, whether basement or deck waterproofing, a failing flat roof or corrosion, from the cosmetic, and gives you a concrete basis to renegotiate where it really counts.
Buying in Sorrento? 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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