Australia's home for building

40°C days and the roof space hits 60°C

Evaporative coolers work hard and dry; check the pads and the water line. Slabs on reactive clay shrink in a long dry spell, so keep the ground around the footings evenly damp.

Peak fire danger in the hills

Clear gutters of dry leaves, check the ember screens, and know your BAL rating if you are in the Hills Face Zone. Hot water systems fail more in heat than cold.

The first autumn storms test the gutters

Six months of dust and leaves meet the first real rain. Overflowing gutters send water down the wall and into the salt-damp band. Clean them before the break.

The clay swells back and the cracks close

Summer cracks in brickwork start to close as the ground rewets. Photograph them now with a date so you can compare next summer. Check the roof before the wet.

Heating goes on and the mould shows up

Closed windows, wet towels and a cold bathroom wall. Run the exhaust fan longer, open one window a crack, and if the mould keeps coming back it is a building problem, not a cleaning one.

The damp band on the old stone wall

Salt damp is at its worst in winter. Bubbling paint above the skirting, a musty room, soft skirting boards. It does not fix itself and painting over it makes it worse.

Burst pipes and dead hot water

Cold snaps find the weak galvanised pipe in a 1960s house. Know where the mains tap is. In a rental, no hot water is an urgent repair and the landlord must act now.

Doors that stick and floors that slope

Wet clay heaves the footings; doors jam that swung freely in summer. On a stumped house that sticks all year, the stumps are the story.

The pre-summer roof and gutter check

Last chance to get a roofie up before the heat. Cracked ridge capping, slipped tiles, rusted valleys and gutters that hold water all cost more after the first storm.

Termites swarm and the evap comes on

Warm, humid evenings are flying-termite season. An annual inspection is $250-$450 and a barrier is $2,500-$5,500; structural repairs are a different number. Service the evaporative cooler before the first 38°C day.

Heat, solar and the storm season

Solar output peaks, so this is when a battery makes the most sense to price. Summer storms find the loose sheet on the shed. Asbestos Super Six fences and roofs damaged in storms need a licensed removalist, not a broom.