Independent inspection to AS 4349.1 by a registered building contractor. What you are buying, read by someone who has built. Report within 24 hours.
A pre-purchase building inspection in Ridgewood pays particular attention to the ridge lines of the roof. This 1990s and 2000s estate is now twenty-five to thirty years old, and at that age the first thing to fail on a tiled roof is not the tiles but the mortar that holds the ridges, so the building inspection to AS 4349.1 reads the ridge and hip lines closely, because failed pointing is one of the most common and most overlooked sources of water entry in the suburb.
Roof pointing is the distinctive factor. The ridge and hip caps of a tiled roof are bedded and pointed in cement mortar, and that mortar has a service life: at twenty-five to thirty years it cracks, crumbles and lets go, so caps loosen, gaps open along the ridge lines, and water finds its way in. The building inspection reads the ridge and hip lines for the state of the pointing and bedding, the caps for movement, and, most tellingly, the roof space directly beneath the ridges for the staining and damp that show water is getting past. Re-pointing is routine maintenance at this age, but left undone it lets a small problem become a framing one.
The rest of the roof and construction is read for the era: the tiles for brittleness and the sarking for deterioration, the frame through the roof space for movement and moisture, the slab edge for rising damp, and the wall ties and weep holes. Asbestos is largely absent in stock of this era but flagged in anything older.
Where a roof has been re-pointed or re-bedded, that work is read too, because it can be done well or merely painted over.
Because it reports to AS 4349.1, the building inspection excludes timber pests, and a roof leak feeds that risk by keeping timber damp, so the timber pest scope is worth adding. The building inspection's value here is reading the ridge lines and the space beneath them, because that is where a thirty-year-old tiled roof starts to leak.
We run the same inspection across the area, including nearby Merriwa and Quinns Rocks.
MISSING: phone number · Book online → · Flat $440 inc GST, report within 24 hours.
The age of the roofs. Ridgewood's 1990s and 2000s homes are now twenty-five to thirty years old, and at that age the first thing to fail on a tiled roof is the mortar that holds the ridges, not the tiles, so we pay particular attention to the ridge and hip lines, reported to AS 4349.1 with the areas not safely accessed.
The ridge and hip caps of a tiled roof are bedded and pointed in cement mortar, and that mortar has a service life: at twenty-five to thirty years it cracks, crumbles and lets go, so caps loosen, gaps open along the ridge lines, and water finds its way in.
We read the ridge and hip lines for the state of the pointing and bedding, the caps for movement, and, most tellingly, the roof space directly beneath the ridges for the staining and damp that show water is getting past.
Re-pointing is routine maintenance at this age and not usually a large cost in itself, but left undone it lets water in and can turn a small problem into a framing one, which is why finding it early matters.
For its era: the tiles for brittleness and the sarking for deterioration, the frame through the roof space for movement and moisture, the slab edge for rising damp, and the wall ties and weep holes.
It can be, so we read it. Re-pointing done properly is the fix, but a job merely painted over can look sound while the mortar beneath has still gone, so we read re-pointed ridges for the quality of the work.
It identifies and flags any suspect materials without disturbing them, though asbestos is largely absent in stock of this era, so it is flagged mainly in anything older.
Yes. The building inspection reports to AS 4349.1 and excludes pests, and a roof leak keeps timber damp and inviting to termites, so the two scopes are worth doing together.
A flat $440 including GST for the pre-purchase building inspection, or $616 including GST with the timber pest scope added in the same visit. The fee is the same in every suburb, and you have the report within 24 hours.
Yes. A clear building report separates the significant issue, failed pointing letting water in, from the cosmetic, and gives you a concrete basis to renegotiate.
Also available as a combined building and timber pest inspection in Ridgewood — both scopes in one visit to AS 4349.1 and AS 4349.3, one report within 24 hours.
Combined B&P 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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