House maintenance in Forrest

The ACT Government’s Canberra Tracks history of Forrest records that most of the Forrest Housing Precinct was built in 1926 and 1927, to house public servants before the provisional Parliament House opened. The Melbourne firm Oakley, Parkes and Scarborough won a 1924 competition to design it.

Houses approaching a century old need steady attention to roofs, gutters, joinery and paintwork. Our roof restorations cover cleaning, repointing and re-bedding, plus gutter clearing. Check heritage requirements before changing materials or anything visible from the street. Where original timber windows and doors survive, repairing them is usually worth considering before replacement.

Many Forrest homes have been held for a long time. In the 2021 Census, ABS figures for Forrest show 37.7% of occupied homes owned outright, compared with 26.6% across the ACT.

Owners who stay put tend to keep a running list of small jobs. Our home maintenance team handles door repairs, curtain repairs, wall mounting and general installations, and several items can be grouped into one visit. Tell us what is on your list and we will say what fits.

A regular check catches small faults before they spread:

• Roof tiles and ridge capping looked over for cracks or movement.
• Gutters and downpipes cleared so water runs away from the walls.
• Sticking doors and windows eased and their hardware tightened.
• Flaking paint on trims spotted early, before the timber underneath weathers.

Home maintenance in Forrest on a schedule like this is easier to manage than a sudden repair after a storm.

Not every Forrest home is a heritage house. Townhouses and units need the same small fixes on a smaller scale: door closers, blinds, shelving, patching and paint. For common property, the owners corporation usually books and approves the work, and we quote to them.

Before drilling, sanding or cutting into an older home, find out what it is made of. WorkSafe ACT advises that homes put up or renovated before 1990 probably have some asbestos containing material in them. A licensed asbestos assessor can advise on its condition and the options, and removal is a job for a licensed removalist. We plan our work around what the assessment finds.

When upkeep grows into a bigger project, our home renovation service covers kitchens, bathrooms, laundries, flooring and painting.