Indooroopilly, from the river up
The river
Brisbane City Council's heritage trail calls Indooroopilly a riverside suburb. The first Albert Bridge here opened on 5 July 1876 and was swept away in the 1893 flood, which is worth remembering if you're looking at a low block.
Timber and masonry side by side
The trail lists St Andrew's Church Hall, a timber hall from 1889, and Tighnabruaich, a timber villa high above the river. Keating House from the 1890s is masonry. Construction varies a lot here, so ask what an inspector can actually reach.
Building inspection or pest inspection?
| Building inspection | Termite inspection | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does it | A residential building inspector with a QBCC licence | A pest controller with the right licence |
| Same visit? | Yes, if the inspector also holds a pest licence | Yes, if the inspector also holds the building licence |
| What it won't do | The QBCC says it's no warranty against future defects | It covers what could be seen and reached on the day |
What the report should tell you
- Which areas the inspector reached, and which they couldn't.
- Any mud tubes, damaged timber or live termites, with photos.
- Whether the house has a termite management notice, usually in the meter box.
- What to do next, in plain words.
Termite inspection in Indooroopilly: before and after you buy
Start with the signs. In a CSIRO survey, people with termites mostly noticed damaged wood first, then mud tubes. If you see either at an open home, don't poke at it; tell the inspector exactly where it is.
Once you own the place, keep to the QBCC's advice of a yearly termite inspection and report, more often if termites are active nearby. Termite work in Queensland also needs a QBCC licence as well as a pest licence.
The rest of the list
Beyond inspections, Indooroopilly's jobs look like the rest of Brisbane: possums in the roof, rats and mice, wasp nests and cockroaches, each with a page of its own.
Small coppery brown ants in a mound are different. That's a report to Biosecurity Queensland, within 24 hours, which is the law in Queensland. It isn't a booking.
If we were buying in Indooroopilly
We'd have both inspections done before the contract goes unconditional, and we'd read what the inspector couldn't reach before reading anything else. If you've already moved in and spotted something, tell us what it is.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
