Gyprocker and plasterer in Warilla
We strip out failed wet areas and put the walls back across Warilla. Warilla was granted township status in 1951 and most of its houses went up in the two decades after. Two kilometres of open beach run along the eastern edge from the river mouth down to Elliott Lake. That beach decides which streets need coastal grade fixings and which do not. Everything else here follows from houses that are now sixty or seventy years old.
Common gyprock problems in Warilla
Warilla is a post war suburb with a surf beach on one side and a lake on the other. The houses are all reaching the same age at the same time, and the salt reaches some of them and not others. Those two facts account for nearly every job we do here.
A township in 1951, and the estates that followed
Warilla was officially granted township status in 1951, and the houses came quickly after it. Through the fifties and sixties the Housing Commission subdivided former estate land here at scale, including part of the old Peterborough Estate. That is the same grant the village up the road was carved out of a century earlier. What it left is a suburb of modest, well built detached houses, almost all of one period.
Two kilometres of beach, and the salt stops somewhere
The beach here runs the whole eastern edge of the suburb, from the Illawarra River mouth down to Elliott Lake. That is more open ocean frontage than any of the suburbs around it has. In the streets closest to it, fixings, corner beads and trims all have to allow for the salt. A few streets west they do not, and that is a real saving we would rather pass on than quietly keep.
The sea wall went up to protect these houses
Storms through the sixties and seventies took enough sand off this beach to threaten the housing behind it. A sea wall was built along the southern part of the beach in the sixties to stop it. Elliott Lake at the southern end was officially named in 1963, after the Elliott family handed the land at the entrance to the council. It is worth knowing that the front row of this suburb has needed defending before.
Bathrooms that are all failing at once
A suburb built inside two decades has bathrooms that reach the end of their life inside two decades. Waterproofing from the fifties and sixties was never meant to last this long and most of it has now stopped working. What that shows up as is a wall behind a shower that gives slightly when you press it. The board behind has gone soft, lost its strength and become somewhere for mould to live.
Built to a budget, and still worth doing properly
These houses were built quickly and economically for working families, and most of them are still standing straight. That means the right repair here is the one that lasts rather than the one that reads well on a quote. Coastal grade fixings go in where the address needs them and nowhere else. A room gets the finish it actually needs, and we will say plainly when something is not worth spending on.
Why Warilla properties choose us
We sheet, coat and sand plasterboard across Warilla and the rest of the Shellharbour City Council area. The owner is on the job rather than running it from an office.
How a gyprock job runs in Warilla
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.
We come into Warilla off Shellharbour Road and Lake Entrance Road, with the beach at the eastern end. It is a flat suburb on regular lots, so access is about the simplest we get anywhere. What we ask at the quote is how close to the beach the house is, because that decides the fixings. Everything else here is decided by the age of the house rather than by the street.
Gyprock and plasterboard in Warilla homes
Warilla went from paddocks to a township in 1951 and filled up in the twenty years after that. The Housing Commission subdivided former estate land here through the fifties and sixties, including a slice of the Peterborough Estate. So the suburb is one era of detached housing with a modest layer of semis and flats around it. Nobody publishes when a suburb finished building, but a stock this uniform tells its own story.
Sixty and seventy year old framing has bowed, twisted and cupped, and board sheeted straight onto it copies every bit of that. So the wall gets string lined and packed, or furred off entirely, before anything goes on. Blending flat new board into a wall carrying six decades of paint and patching takes wide feathering or a skim of the whole plane. None of that is difficult work and all of it takes time. That is why it belongs in the quote rather than in a surprise. We say which walls need it before we start rather than after.
The volume here is wet areas and the ceilings above them, and the reason is arithmetic. Every original bathroom in this suburb is now sixty or seventy years old and past what its waterproofing was built for. When it lets go, the board behind goes soft and the ceiling below it follows. Ceilings of that age also pull away from their fixings on their own, and a sag is the warning rather than the fault. Catching that early is a much smaller job than dealing with what follows.
Get a free quote in Warilla
Tell us what you need done in Warilla 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 Warilla
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 Warilla and surrounds
Our service vehicles cover every suburb within the Shellharbour City Council area and the surrounding localities. If your suburb is not listed below, contact us to confirm coverage.
Frequently asked questions about Warilla
Do you service all suburbs in the Warilla area?
Yes. Our service vehicles cover every suburb within the Shellharbour 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 Warilla?
Our service hours are Monday to Saturday, 7am to 5:30pm. Work in Warilla 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.
How far back from the beach do the coastal fixings stop being necessary?
About three or four streets in our experience, and it is worth checking rather than counting. The salt in the air drops away quickly as you move west from the beach, and four streets is usually enough. In the front rows it genuinely matters, because under specified fixings rust and bleed through the paint at every screw. So we look at the address rather than the suburb before we price the fixings. If you do not need them, they do not go on the quote.
How much of a bathroom comes out when the waterproofing has failed?
More than the patch you can feel and usually a good deal less than the whole room. Water travels behind a lining rather than staying where it shows, so the damage is always wider than it looks. In a bathroom this age the waterproofing has simply reached the end of its life. We take it back to sound board, replace that section and hand it over ready to waterproof. Send a photograph and we will give you a realistic idea of how far it goes.
Why do the walls in these houses look uneven under a light?
Because timber studs sixty or seventy years old have bowed and cupped, and board fixed straight onto them mirrors every bit of it. It is the single most common thing we deal with in this suburb's houses. So the wall gets string lined and packed, or furred off altogether, before any board goes on. It adds time at the start and it is the difference between a flat wall and a wavy one. We say which walls need it at the quote rather than finding it on the day.
Were these houses all built at around the same time?
Yes, near enough, and it is the most useful thing to know about the housing here. Most of it dates from the two decades after 1951, when Warilla was granted township status. The Housing Commission subdivided former estate land through the fifties and sixties and the suburb filled quickly. That means the great bulk of these houses are now sixty or seventy years old and reaching the same milestones together. Nobody publishes exact build years for a suburb, so we read the house in front of us. Any lining we are unsure of stops the work until somebody has looked at it properly.
Explore our other Wollongong service areas
Ready to get started?
Get a free quote for your job in Warilla, or call now and speak to someone who can help.