Building Inspection Eltham

A building inspection in Eltham costs $595 inc. GST for the pre-purchase building report, or $650 inc. GST with a timber pest inspection included. Both are carried out by Nathan Maries, who has 23 years in construction and spent ten of those running his own building company across Melbourne's north-east.

Eltham is not standard suburban housing stock. There are mudbrick and owner-built homes going back to the late 1940s, timber-clad architect houses on cut-and-fill blocks, tree canopy sitting right over the roof, bushfire overlays across much of the shire, and septic systems on plenty of the larger blocks. An inspection checklist built for a brick veneer in a flat estate will miss most of what actually matters in Eltham.

Reports are prepared with reference to AS 4349.1, with photos of anything worth knowing about, and written so they make sense to someone without a building background.

What's different about an Eltham house

Eltham sits in the Nillumbik green wedge, roughly 25 km north-east of the city, and around 86% of its dwellings are separate houses. The blocks are bigger, a lot of them slope, and the tree cover is heavy enough to change how a building weathers.

Four things come up on Eltham inspections that rarely come up ten minutes down the hill in Ivanhoe or Rosanna:

• Earth-walled construction. Nillumbik is estimated to have well over 1,300 mudbrick homes, most of them owner-built, and many of them altered since.
• Bushfire exposure. Much of Nillumbik falls inside a Bushfire Management Overlay, and large parts of Eltham are in a designated bushfire prone area.
• Onsite wastewater. Parts of Eltham and Research have been brought into the sewer network, but a good number of blocks still run their own septic system.
• Sloping, treed sites. Cut-and-fill benching, split levels, undercrofts, decks and retaining walls, all of it shedding water somewhere.

None of that makes an Eltham house a bad buy. It just means the report has to look at the right things.

Mudbrick and earth-walled homes

Mudbrick is a genuinely good wall material when it has been detailed properly and kept dry. The problems show up when it hasn't been. On an earth-walled home I spend most of my time at the bottom of the walls and at the top of them, because that is where the water gets in.

• Base-of-wall erosion. Where there is no splash course of fired brick or stone, and rain comes off the roof onto the ground, the lower courses wear back. Garden beds and paving built up hard against the wall make it worse.
• Damp proof course. Plenty of the owner-built stock predates consistent DPC detailing. Rising damp in an earth wall shows as crumbling, powdery mortar joints and salt on the face.
• Render and sealer. A hard cement render over mudbrick traps moisture inside the wall instead of letting it out. I flag it where I see it, because it is a common and expensive mistake.
• Eaves and overhangs. Shallow eaves on a weather-facing elevation mean the wall takes the driving rain directly. Long eaves are the reason some 1960s Eltham walls are still perfect.
• Cracking. Movement around lintels, window and door openings, and at the junction where a later extension meets original mud wall. Not all cracking is structural, and I will say plainly which is which, and where a structural engineer needs to look rather than me.
• Recycled timber. Posts, beams and lintels salvaged from older buildings are part of the tradition here. They also arrive with old borer damage and decay already in them, so bearing points get checked.

Trees, gutters and ember entry points

The canopy is why people buy in Eltham, and it is also the single most common cause of water damage I would expect to find there. Leaf litter fills gutters, box gutters and roof valleys, water backs up under the sheets or tiles, and it ends up in the roof space or running down inside a wall.

What gets looked at:

• Gutters, valleys and downpipes for litter loading, rust and overflow staining
• Gutter guard that has been fitted badly, or that simply holds the litter up on top where it rots
• Flashings and roof penetrations that sit under constant damp leaf load
• Limbs sitting on or rubbing the roof, and litter build-up in roof junctions
• Unscreened weep holes, subfloor vents, roof vents and gaps at the eaves line, which are the same openings embers use
• Decking gaps and stored timber against the house

To be straight with you about scope: a Bushfire Attack Level assessment is a separate specialist report and I do not carry it out. What I can tell you is the condition of the roof, gutters and openings, and where the obvious ember and water risks sit. If you are planning to extend, be aware that in Victoria new buildings, alterations and additions in a designated bushfire prone area have to meet AS 3959, with a minimum of BAL-12.5, and that alterations under 50% of the existing gross floor area may be exempt. That is a planning question for Nillumbik Shire, and it changes what an extension costs. Removing a substantial tree usually needs a permit under the shire's overlays as well.

Termites and timber decay

Bushland fringe, established gardens, retained sleepers and heavy mulch all add up to real subterranean termite pressure in Eltham, and the 1960s to early 2000s stock is where activity turns up most often. This is the suburb where I would tell you to take the timber pest inspection rather than skip it.

Timber pest work references AS 4349.3 and covers the subfloor, roof space, perimeter, fences, retaining walls, decks, pergolas and any stored timber. I look for workings, mudding, damaged timber and the conditions that invite termites in, including garden beds built up over the slab edge and weep holes buried under soil or paving.

Decay is the quieter problem. Shaded southern elevations, gully blocks that stay damp, and subfloors with poor cross-flow ventilation produce fungal decay in bearers, joists and the bottoms of posts. Decks and pergolas built in the 1990s are generally the first thing to go.

Septic systems and unsewered blocks

If the property is on an onsite wastewater system, that is a maintenance liability you are buying along with the house, and it is worth understanding before you bid. Septic tanks generally need pumping out around every five years, and the owner is responsible by law for keeping the system working.

Here is what I can and cannot do. I report on what is visible and what the site is telling me: surface ponding or soggy ground over the disposal field, odour, effluent breakout, the position of the tank and field relative to the house and boundaries, and whether the field looks overloaded for the size of the household. I do not open, pump or pressure test the tank, and I am not a wastewater consultant.

Two things worth doing yourself alongside the inspection: ask your conveyancer to obtain the council permit records for the system, and if anything looks doubtful, get a wastewater specialist to assess it properly. A failed or unpermitted system is a five-figure problem, so it is not the place to guess.

Sloping blocks, footings and retaining walls

Much of Eltham sits on Silurian siltstone and mudstone with clay soils over it, on ground that rarely sits flat. That combination produces the site issues I see most often on the sloping blocks.

• Cut-and-fill benching where the fill side has settled, showing as cracking or out-of-level floors
• Surface and roof water directed towards the house rather than away from it, especially after a wet winter
• Blocked or absent agricultural drains behind cut faces and retaining walls
• Timber sleeper retaining walls at the end of their life, leaning, rotted at ground level, or holding up more than they were built for
• Undercroft and subfloor areas with damp ground, poor ventilation and no clearance
• Deck bearers and posts where they meet the ground or the house

Where a defect needs a structural engineer, a geotechnical assessment or a licensed trade, the report says so rather than guessing at a cause.

Inspection types and prices

All prices are inc. GST. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical work is arranged through licensed partners, so those inspections are carried out by licensed tradespeople rather than by me.

Booking an inspection in Eltham

Send through the address and your timing, and I will check the calendar and let you know where I can fit it in. Auction campaigns in Eltham move quickly, with houses averaging a little over three weeks on market, so earlier is better.

Background, so you know who is turning up: 23 years in construction from 2003, nine of them as a project manager. Melba Building Services ran from 2007 to 2017 doing renovations, extensions and fit-outs, hundreds of jobs between $5,000 and $350,000. From 2017 I project managed retirement living, insurance and school work, including projects inside more than 20 occupied retirement villages across Melbourne. Builder registration is in progress and not yet held.

Phone 1300 489 150 or email nathan@melbabuildinginspections.com.au. Post: PO Box 109, Montmorency VIC 3094. ABN 12 504 713 859.

Also serving Greensborough, Diamond Creek, Montmorency, Watsonia, Hurstbridge, Ivanhoe, Heidelberg, Rosanna, Macleod, Bundoora and Doreen.

Common questions

How much is a building inspection in Eltham?

A pre-purchase building inspection in Eltham is $595 inc. GST, or $650 inc. GST combined with a timber pest inspection. The combined option is the one most Eltham buyers take, because the bushland fringe and established gardens put real termite pressure on houses here. Building stage inspections are $495 per stage or $2,200 for five, and an Auction-Ready Express inspection is $650.

Do you inspect mudbrick and owner-built homes?

Yes, mudbrick and other earth-walled homes are inspected, and they get looked at differently to a conventional house. The focus goes on base-of-wall erosion, damp proof course detailing, cement render that traps moisture in the wall, eaves and overhang protection on weather-facing elevations, cracking at lintels and at extension junctions, and decay or old borer damage in recycled timber posts and beams. Where cracking or movement needs a structural engineer, the report says so rather than guessing.

Does a pre-purchase inspection include a bushfire or BAL assessment?

No. A Bushfire Attack Level assessment is a separate specialist report and it is not part of a pre-purchase building inspection. What the inspection does cover is the physical condition side of bushfire exposure: gutters and valleys loaded with leaf litter, gutter guard that has been fitted poorly, roof flashings and penetrations, overhanging limbs, and unscreened openings such as weep holes, subfloor vents and eaves gaps. If you are planning an extension in a designated bushfire prone area, check the construction requirements with Nillumbik Shire before you commit to a budget.

Do you check the septic system on an unsewered Eltham property?

The visible condition of an onsite wastewater system is reported on, but the tank is not opened, pumped or pressure tested. That means surface ponding over the disposal field, odour, effluent breakout, the position of the tank and field relative to the house, and whether the field appears overloaded. Ask your conveyancer to obtain the council permit records for the system, and bring in a wastewater specialist if anything looks doubtful, because a failed or unpermitted system is a five-figure repair.

Is a timber pest inspection worth it in Eltham?

In Eltham it is worth it more than in most of Melbourne. Properties on or near the bushland fringe with established gardens, timber retaining walls, decks and heavy mulch give subterranean termites both a food source and a way in, and the 1960s to early 2000s housing stock is where activity turns up most often. Timber pest work references AS 4349.3 and covers the subfloor, roof space, perimeter, fences, retaining walls and decks. Combined with the building inspection it is $650 inc. GST rather than $595 for the building report alone.

How quickly can you inspect a property in Eltham and when do I get the report?

Send through the address and your timing and I will check the calendar and let you know where I can fit it in. The report comes through with photos of anything worth knowing about, prepared with reference to AS 4349.1. Eltham houses average a little over three weeks on market, and auction campaigns can be shorter than that, so it pays to get in early rather than the week of the auction.

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