What we look for in Craigie, and why it differs from the suburb next door. 20.6 km from the CBD, 2.7 km from the coast, postcode 6025.
Craigie exists because of a single administrative act. In 1969 the State Government rezoned a large area of coastal land, creating four Whitfords suburbs, and Craigie is one of them. Being released and built as one coordinated decision gave it a tight build window and consistent 1970s housing.
That consistency is useful. The same era problems turn up across the whole suburb, so we know what we are looking for before we arrive.
Chief among them is the roof. Craigie's 1970s tile roofs sit under three kilometres from the ocean and the suburb is rated high for delignification, which puts it squarely in core territory for the defect. Timbers under an unrenewed roof are the first thing we examine. Salt of that duration also works steadily on gutters, flashings and fixings of the same age, and those are usually easier to see from the ground.
The schooling history says something about the people. Craigie Senior High opened in 1976 and closed in 2003 as enrolments fell, which is the mark of a suburb whose original families grew up and stayed. In practice that means homes held by the same owners for decades, with original fittings, dated services and deferred maintenance, sitting on frequently sound structure. As that generation moves on, subdivision and rebuilds are appearing among the original houses, so establishing whether a property is 1970s stock or recent infill is the necessary first step.
Uniform housing of the same age means uniform termite exposure, which makes the pattern predictable. Fifty year old gardens with buried timber and old stumps. Beds and paving built up over slab edges. Reticulation keeping the soil damp against footings through every summer since construction.
Original barriers are long dead. Most of these houses are slab on ground, so the perimeter and the slab edge are the focus, particularly where a patio, carport, pergola or later addition has covered the junction. We also check the roof space, since termites do not always announce themselves at ground level and we are up there for the delignification check anyway.
Craigie is close to the ideal case for one combined visit. The roof space matters for both. The slab edge matters for both. The house is a single storey 1970s home that can be properly covered in one attendance, so splitting the work across two visits adds cost and coordination without adding information. Reported under AS 4349.1 and AS 4349.3.
Generational turnover is driving subdivision, so building stage inspections and practical completion inspections are increasingly common on new homes going up on split lots. Dilapidation reports matter where a 1970s house sits beside that work.
Pre-settlement inspections apply particularly on long held and deceased estate properties. We also do strata work on the units appearing among the houses, and expert witness reports where a dispute over a new build or a shared boundary has started.
Craigie's uniformity has one more practical benefit. If a neighbour has already had work done on their roof or their plumbing, the same is very likely due on yours, so local knowledge is worth collecting before you commit.
Craigie was one of four suburbs created by a single 1969 State Government rezoning of coastal land, so it was released and built as part of one coordinated planning decision, giving it a tight build window and consistent 1970s stock. That means the same era-specific issues recur suburb-wide, and once you have read one Craigie home of this vintage you know what is coming due down the street. The defining inspection issue is the roof: 1970s concrete-tile roofs less than three kilometres from the ocean, rated HIGH for delignification, put this squarely in core delignification country. Roof timbers on any unrenewed roof are the first priority, and the salt also works on gutters, flashings and fixings of that age.
The suburb reads as an ageing, long-settled one — the local high school opened in 1976 and closed in 2003 as enrolments fell — so expect long-tenure owners, original fittings, dated services and deferred maintenance sitting alongside structure that is often sound. Presentation can be modest while the bones are fine, so the house is judged on condition rather than decor. As original owners move on, subdivision and rebuilds are appearing among the 1970s homes, so establishing original stock versus new infill is worth doing early, since the two inspect completely differently. A Craigie inspection leads with the roof space and the delignification risk, then reads the aged services and the original-versus-infill question.
On a typical 1970s Craigie home the roof space leads the inspection, entered where access allows so the battens and rafters can be read for the delignification the HIGH rating and the coastal proximity make likely, and the tile fixings and pointing checked alongside. The services come next as second-cycle items: an aged or once-replaced switchboard and wiring, a hot water system near its life, and wet areas whose original waterproofing is long past service. On a long-tenure original-owner home the fittings and decor are typically dated but the structure often sound, so we separate cosmetic age from real condition. Where newer infill has appeared among the 1970s streets, that stock is read for its own first-cycle and build-quality concerns instead.
Craigie sits on the Spearwood dune system — residual yellow and grey sand over a Tamala Limestone core, with the rock often close to the surface. Limestone near the surface makes for stable footings and expensive excavation. Where the rock is shallow, older houses often sit directly on limestone footings, and those are the ones to look at for rising damp and salt damp at the base of the wall.
What that means in practice, on a house in Craigie:
Landform is assigned from the suburb's position on the Swan Coastal Plain rather than from a site soil test. It tells you what to expect, not what you have. A site classification to AS 2870 is a different exercise and a different report.
Beldon, Padbury, Edgewater and Woodvale sit on the same ground as Craigie, so the footing behaviour and the drainage problems tend to repeat across all of them. If you are comparing houses across those suburbs, you are largely comparing the same site conditions.
Mullaloo is 2.3 km away but sits on the Quindalup dune system; Kallaroo is 2.7 km away but sits on the Quindalup dune system. That is the useful thing about this part of Perth: the ground can change inside a few kilometres, and with it what an inspection is looking for.
On site classification: any soil zone quoted for a suburb is indicative, inferred from geography rather than surveyed. A real AS 2870 classification comes from geotechnical work on your actual block and can differ from the one next door. We report what we observe; we do not read your soil class off a map.
The inspection is visual and non-invasive, over the readily accessible areas, reported to AS 4349.1. Our inspectors physically enter the roof space, as long as there is sufficient access. Report within 24 hours of the inspection.
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Flat fee, the same in Craigie as anywhere: $440 inc. GST for a pre-purchase building inspection, or $616 inc. GST with the timber pest scope added in the same visit. Full price list →
At 2.7 km from the water, Craigie sits inside the coastal-salt band — the band where coastal salt drives the defects. The fee concentrates on delignified battens, corroded ties and fixings, and the salt staining that starts inside the masonry, with the roof space taking the longest on a tiled roof past its first decade.
Pre-purchase building inspection in Craigie →
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Yes. Our inspectors physically enter and inspect the roof space, as long as there is sufficient access to do so safely. Where access is restricted, the report says so plainly rather than implying we saw more than we did.
Craigie is 2.7 km from the coast, inside the band where delignification should be expected in tile battens. On a tiled roof more than about ten years old it is one of the first things we look at.
Within 24 hours of the inspection itself, not 24 hours from booking. On a pre-purchase or pre-settlement job that timing is the whole point, because your leverage disappears once you are committed.
We would rather you checked than took our word for it. These are the bodies that actually hold the records and set the rules:
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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