What we look for in Maidstone
Housing: Post-war weatherboard and brick veneer homes on stumps, some former public housing, and a rapidly growing number of two-storey townhouses on slab foundations.
Maidstone was largely built in the post-war years, with weatherboard and brick veneer homes on stumps giving way in recent years to two-storey townhouses on slab foundations. On the older homes the inspector concentrates on the subfloor, where concrete stumps often replaced the original timber but the bearers and joists are still untreated hardwood and sit close to damp clay. Lean-to laundries and enclosed back verandahs are common, and they were often built with timber posts directly in the soil, giving termites a covered path into the main house. On the newer townhouses, the risk moves to the slab edge, the garage door step and the pipe penetrations under kitchens and bathrooms, none of which can be seen from inside. Gardens in Maidstone tend to have timber sleepers and retaining walls along the side fences, and these are checked closely. Ballarat Road is close by and street trees along it are mature. Owners should keep the slab edge visible and the subfloor dry.
We regularly inspect properties around Ballarat Road, Highpoint Shopping Centre and Maribyrnong Aquatic Centre.