Gyprocker and plasterer in Balgownie
We line, joint and sand walls and ceilings across Balgownie and up into the foothills behind it. Balgownie has the largest houses we work in, averaging well over three bedrooms each. A quarter of its homes are attached to another one, and almost none of those are flats. Nearly half the suburb owns its house with nothing left owing on it. Those three things together make it unlike anywhere else on this coast.
Common gyprock problems in Balgownie
Balgownie is a suburb of big houses that people have held for a very long time. The attached half of it is villas and duplexes rather than the walk up flats a few suburbs away. Both of those change the work more than the age of the houses does.
A quarter attached, and almost none of it flats
About 26 in every hundred Balgownie dwellings are semi detached, and fewer than two in a hundred are flats. That combination does not exist anywhere else we work. What it means on the ground is villas, duplexes and townhouses: shared walls, but driveway access and no stairwell. Full length sheets go straight in, which is not true a few suburbs north.
The mine closed in 1955, so a crack is not subsidence
The Mount Pleasant colliery opened here in 1861 and its workings were joined to the Mount Keira ones in 1937. Operations ceased in September 1955 and nothing has been worked underneath since. It is the first thing an owner blames and it is almost never the answer. On a foothill site the likelier cause is the slope, and that is a different question with a different fix.
It was Cramsville until the school opened
James Cram opened the colliery in 1861 and built timber cottages for the miners around Hunter Street. The settlement took his name, and the first Balgownie subdivision is credited to him. It stayed Cramsville until the Balgownie school opened in 1889 and the name changed with it. Those cottages are the oldest housing here and they still have their original framing in them.
Big rooms and long ceilings
Balgownie averages 3.4 bedrooms a dwelling, which is the largest figure anywhere we work. Large houses come with large ceilings, and a long ceiling has a long way to move before anything stops it. Seams telegraph, sheets sag between fixings, and the join shows as a line right across the room. Back blocking behind a recessed joint is not optional at that span.
Back off the salt, and the postcode will not tell you
Balgownie sits several kilometres inland at the foot of the escarpment, well clear of the water. Fairy Meadow shares its postcode and reaches the beach, so the postcode answers nothing at all here. We do not put coastal grade fixings in a Balgownie quote, because the address does not need them.
Houses that have been in the same hands for decades
Nearly half of Balgownie owns outright, with nothing owing, and only about a fifth of it rents. That produces improvement work in houses nobody intends to sell, decided slowly and done once. Extensions, second living areas, bathrooms and whole ceilings rather than patches. It also means the original fabric is still there, because nobody has stripped it out to flip the place.
Why Balgownie properties choose us
We sheet, coat and sand plasterboard across Balgownie and the rest of the Wollongong City Council area. The owner is on the job rather than running it from an office.
How a gyprock job runs in Balgownie
You call or send the form, and the more you can tell us the better. For a repair, a photo of the ceiling or the wall usually settles the question before anyone drives out. For a new build or a renovation we quote from the plans. Suspended ceilings are always quoted from plans rather than from a description.
The owner is on site, and the ceilings go up first, then the walls, then the cornice. The sander runs with a bag on it and the rest is done by hand, so there is dust in the air. We clean up and take the offcuts and the empty bags away with us. The walls are left sanded and ready for the painter's primer coat, because we do not paint.
Balgownie sits behind Fairy Meadow, back off the highway and up against the escarpment foot. We come in that way, and Mount Pleasant, Mount Ousley and Fernhill are the same run for us. Access here is usually the easy part, because the attached housing has driveways rather than stairwells. On the foothill sites it is the opposite, so tell us if the block is a steep one.
Gyprock and plasterboard in Balgownie homes
Balgownie is a suburb of large houses with a quarter of its homes attached to another one. The oldest of it is the miners' cottage core around Hunter Street, going back to the 1860s and 1870s. Then a long interwar and post war suburban layer, and then a villa and townhouse overlay on top of that. No published record says when this suburb finished building, so the house tells us more than the street.
The villa and duplex half is the part that is genuinely unusual here. Elsewhere on this coast, attached housing means walk up flats, stairwells and sheets that will not turn. In Balgownie it means a shared wall, a driveway, a small owners corporation and ground level access. The wall between two dwellings still has to be built properly, but everything about getting there is easier.
The work follows the ownership, and the ownership here barely moves. Long held houses produce renovation and extension rather than turnaround, and the jobs are bigger and slower. Whole ceilings, opened up living areas, extensions at the back and bathrooms that have finally reached the end. The one thing we ask early is how much of the house is still original. In this suburb the answer is usually most of it.
Get a free quote in Balgownie
Tell us what you need done in Balgownie and we will get back to you with a price as soon as we can. There is no obligation to go ahead.
Services we provide in Balgownie
New home builds
Renovations and extensions
Patio and alfresco ceilings
Suspended ceilings
Bulkhead ceilings
Soundproofing and acoustic walls
Fire rated walls and ceilings
Sagging ceilings
Wall repairs
Cornice
Water damage and wet areas
Commercial
Asbestos in older homes
Suburbs we service in Balgownie and surrounds
Our service vehicles cover every suburb within the Wollongong City Council area and the surrounding localities. If your suburb is not listed below, contact us to confirm coverage.
Frequently asked questions about Balgownie
Do you service all suburbs in the Balgownie area?
Yes. Our service vehicles cover every suburb within the Wollongong City Council area and the surrounding localities, including the ones listed below. The service area runs from Helensburgh in the north to Nowra in the south, and west up the escarpment to the Southern Highlands. If your suburb is not shown on that list, contact us and we will confirm whether we cover it.
What are your service hours in Balgownie?
Our service hours are Monday to Saturday, 7am to 5:30pm. Work in Balgownie is booked in during those hours, and the phone is answered then too. Outside those hours you can leave a message or send the form on this page. If a ceiling is sagging and you are not sure it is safe, say so when you get in touch. A photo sent with it usually tells us more than a description.
The mine used to run right under here. Are our cracks subsidence?
No, almost certainly not, and it is the first thing nearly everyone asks in this suburb. The Mount Pleasant colliery ceased operations in September 1955 and nothing has been worked below since. What is far likelier on a foothill block is the ground on the slope moving after prolonged rain. That is a different question and it does not get fixed with filler. We will tell you which of the two you are looking at before we quote a repair.
We are in a villa with a shared wall. What is different about that?
Less than people expect, and mostly in your favour here. A shared wall has to be built and finished as a wall between two dwellings, which is not the same as an internal one. But Balgownie's attached housing is villas and duplexes, so there is a driveway and no stairwell to fight. Full length sheets go in, the material lands beside the door, and the day runs like a house. That is not true in the walk up suburbs north of here.
There is a line showing right across the living room ceiling. What is that?
Usually a joint telegraphing through, and it shows up in big rooms far more than small ones. Balgownie has the largest houses we work in and the ceilings to match, so a single span runs a long way. If the joint was not backed properly the sheets move against each other and the line appears. Fixing it means treating the whole plane rather than the line itself. We would rather do that once than chase the same mark twice.
We have owned the place thirty years and are finally extending. What should we know?
That the old half and the new half will behave completely differently, and the join between them is the job. A house held that long usually has its original framing, which has bowed and cupped and needs packing before anything goes on it. The new work will be flat and square, so the transition is where the eye goes.
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