What we look for in Yarraville
Housing: Victorian and Edwardian weatherboards on stumps, Californian bungalows with brick plinths, pockets of interwar brick, and modern townhouses replacing older homes on larger blocks.
Yarraville sits between the Stony Creek corridor at Cruickshank Park and the rail line, and the heavy clay along the creek stays damp well into summer. Much of the housing is weatherboard on stumps from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, with Californian bungalows further out, and many have been extended more than once. A typical inspection starts outside, walking the boundary for timber fences, old stumps of removed trees and sleeper-edged garden beds that touch the weatherboards. Under the floor, the inspector looks for ground moisture, blocked vents behind bushes and any timber offcuts left by tradespeople. Bungalows with solid brick bases can hide entry behind rendered plinths, so the meter is run along the internal skirtings as well. Around Yarraville Gardens and the village strip, established street trees and older gardens provide plenty of food for colonies. Owners should keep the subfloor dry, avoid storing firewood against the house and have any deck or pergola checked where posts meet the ground.
We regularly inspect properties around Yarraville Gardens, Cruickshank Park, Yarraville village strip and Yarraville Station.