Renovating in Queensland: What investors need to know

Step one is to go to the area’s local council and find out the flood and cyclone ratings, the expert said.

“Finding out that information about your area before you purchase a property, or if you hold it and you don’t know it, finding out that information gives you an idea of the level of risk and what you might need to put in place,” Dr Findlay said.

“They also have cyclone ratings or wind ratings on areas, and in many new builds around the country, there will be specifications around the way you need to construct the property to be able to… weather those sorts of conditions.”

After an investor has assessed the risk of the local weather conditions and found them to be acceptable, they also need to keep in mind how they renovate in terms of the renovation site and plans.

For example, Dr Findlay suggested booking in tradies in the afternoon in order to avoid downpours running their work.

“If you’re in an area that has more tropical weather and have those really heavy rains, you need to think about your work schedule, because more often than not, they come in the afternoons, so you need to think about your tradies’ work schedule,” Dr Findlay said.

“You need to make sure when you’re scheduling your renovation work that you have a little bit of a buffer in regards to timeline in there so that you have the ability to be flexible to bring people inside if the outside... was too wet.”

Not only can downpours ruin schedules, but they can ruin materials, too, Dr Findlay warned, so they must be stored away adequately when work is done for the day.

“Often in Sydney and NSW, you can leave wood out in the yard, or you could have your [stuff] set up overnight, as long as it’s secure,” the expert said.

“[In Queensland], you need to think about things like storage of product and storage of material as well to make sure that they’re secure and they’re not going to be damaged by any of the more extreme weather, the humidity, the heat, the rain or the wind when you’re up there.”

If the doors or windows of a Queensland property are being renovated, Dr Findlay also recommended making sure these are properly secured in case a large gust of wind ruins them.

“During a decent renovation… if you were putting in a new back door, just for a period of time, you might actually just have that boarded up with ply while you’re actually undergoing the process of framing it up for the new door or the new windows to come in, and so you need to be really conscious that it just can’t be held on with a piece of string,” Dr Findlay said.

“You need to make sure that is sturdy and secure, because if overnight a big storm came in, or some torrential rain, you don’t want to be doing any damage to your project as you’re doing it.”