Gyprocker and plasterer in Berkeley
We hang and finish plasterboard across the whole of Berkeley, the old streets and the new estates. Berkeley is the most house dominated place we work, with nearly nine in ten homes being separate houses. It was farmland, then it was built out through the fifties and sixties, then more farmland became estates from about 2005. So a seventy year old house and a twenty year old one can sit two streets apart here. Which of the two you have decides almost everything about the job.
Common gyprock problems in Berkeley
Berkeley is two suburbs that happen to share a street network and a name. One half is seventy years old and one half is barely twenty. Which half you are in is the first thing we need to know here.
Two housing eras, fifty years apart
Berkeley was farmland until the fifties, when it was built out to answer the post war housing shortage. Two decades ago more of that farmland became new estates on the western side. The result is single storey houses from the fifties and sixties on some streets and near new homes on others. They are not variations on one job. They are two different jobs with two different risk lists.
Nearly nine in ten homes here are houses
About 88 in every hundred Berkeley dwellings are separate houses and fewer than nine are flats. Ten kilometres north the city is the exact inverse of that. What it means for us is the simplest working conditions we get anywhere. Full length sheets come off the truck and go straight in. That means fewer joints in your walls than there would be in a unit.
Timber, fibro and brick in the older half
The fifties and sixties houses were built quickly, in volume, out of whatever the era used. That means timber framing that has bowed and cupped for seventy years, and linings that vary house to house. We string line and pack, or fur off, rather than sheeting straight onto a wall that has moved.
The newer estates are a different build entirely
On the estate side the framing is straight, the openings are square and none of the old materials are present. The risk there is the opposite one, which is timber that was lined before it had dried out. That shrinks for months afterwards and shows as nail pops and cracked cornice in a house barely finished. Extensions, garage conversions and second living areas are most of what we do on that side.
Wet areas at the end of their run
A bathroom built in the late fifties has had about seventy years of water against its waterproofing. In the older half of Berkeley that is the single most common reason we are called. Board behind a failed shower loses its strength, sags, and becomes something for mould to live in. It gets replaced rather than dried out and painted over, because the second option always comes back.
Between the temple and the lake
Berkeley sits on the northern shore of Lake Illawarra with Nan Tien Temple on its edge. The temple opened in October 1995 and is the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. It is the landmark everybody navigates by and it is genuinely the easiest way to describe where we work. The streets between it and the lake foreshore are most of the suburb.
Why Berkeley properties choose us
We sheet, coat and sand plasterboard across Berkeley 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 Berkeley
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.
Berkeley is south of the city on the lake, and Nan Tien is the turn most people give us. It is a flat run in and a flat suburb once we are here, which makes it one of the easier places we work. Access is rarely the problem, because the houses are detached and the lots are regular. What we ask at the quote is which half of the suburb the house is in, because that changes everything after it.
Gyprock and plasterboard in Berkeley homes
Berkeley was farmland, then a housing answer, then farmland again turned into estates. The fifties and sixties built out most of what is here, in single storey detached houses on regular lots. From about 2005 the western farmland became new estates and brought a second, much younger layer. Nobody publishes when either half was built out precisely, but the two are easy to tell apart on the ground. Nearly nine in ten dwellings across both halves are separate houses.
The two halves want opposite things from us and it is worth being blunt about which is which. In the older stock the framing has moved for seventy years, so it gets string lined and packed before a sheet goes near it. The linings vary house to house, so what is behind one gets established rather than assumed. In the estate stock the frame is straight and the only real risk is timber lined before it dried. That produces nail pops and cracked cornice in a house that is otherwise new.
The work follows exactly the same split as the housing does. On the old side it is repair and renewal, in wet areas that have reached the end of their life. Ceilings that have sagged or been leaked on, and rooms made good between one tenant and the next. On the new side it is extensions, garage conversions and second living areas on houses barely out of warranty. Both halves are ordinary work for us and we do plenty of each. They are simply not the same quote, and we would rather ask than assume.
Get a free quote in Berkeley
Tell us what you need done in Berkeley 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 Berkeley
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 Berkeley 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 Berkeley
Do you service all suburbs in the Berkeley 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 Berkeley?
Our service hours are Monday to Saturday, 7am to 5:30pm. Work in Berkeley 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.
Why does it matter which part of Berkeley the house is in?
Because the two halves of this suburb were built about fifty years apart and behave completely differently. A house from the fifties has framing that has bowed and cupped, and linings we look at before we cut. A house from the estates has a straight frame and none of that. What it can have is nail pops from timber that was lined too wet. One needs packing and checking, the other needs the joins done so they do not move. Telling us which street you are on sorts it in a sentence.
The bathroom is original and the wall behind the shower feels soft. Is it fixable?
Yes, though the soft part gets replaced rather than repaired, and that is usually the right answer anyway. A shower wall built in the fifties has had seventy years of water against its waterproofing and it eventually loses. Once board has gone soft it has lost its strength, and paint over the top changes nothing. That section comes out and goes back in sound, ready for the waterproofer and the tiler. Send a photograph and we will tell you roughly how far it is likely to go.
The cornice on the estate side has split along the top. What causes that?
Almost always because the timber was lined before it had finished drying, and then it shrank around the board. It is common in newer estate housing and it is not a sign that anything is structurally wrong. The frame moves a little for months after handover and the cornice is the least forgiving thing on the wall. Fixing it properly means dealing with the joint rather than filling the crack and repainting. Filled and painted, the same line usually comes back within a year.
Can you get full length sheets into a house here?
Yes, and Berkeley is the easiest place we work for exactly that reason. Nearly nine in ten homes here are detached houses on regular, flat lots with driveways. That means the material comes off the truck and goes straight in without being cut down to fit a stairwell. Fewer joints in a wall is a better wall, and it is one of the few advantages that costs nobody anything. In a unit ten kilometres north we would not have that option.
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