Most of Braddon lives in apartments, and most of it rents. The rest is 1920s cottages built to Walter Burley Griffin's garden-city plan. We mount TVs, build flat-pack, reseal showers and clear end-of-lease lists in the units, and look after the doors, timber and gutters on the cottages. Free quote. Fixed price. No call-out fee.
Polytechnitis works Braddon as 2 suburbs in 1. At the 2021 census 6,383 people lived here, the median age was 30, and 80.7% of homes were flats or apartments against a national figure of 14.2%. Only 4.9% were separate houses. 60.4% of homes were rented, and the average household was 1.8 people. That is a suburb of small households, most of them in apartments.
The other Braddon is much older. It was settled from 1922 and gazetted in September 1928, named after Edward Braddon, who took part in writing the Australian Constitution. The Braddon Garden City precinct, between Donaldson, Elimatta, Batman and Currong streets, is the only completed residential design Walter Burley Griffin produced for Canberra. Its first cottages were built in 1921 and 1922, and a century on they need the careful, like-for-like repair that old timber and plaster ask for.
So the work splits cleanly. In the apartments it is fixing things to walls that tenants are allowed to change, resealing tired bathrooms and getting units through inspections. On the cottage streets it is doors, joinery, plaster and gutters. Lonsdale Street itself was an industrial strip before it became the shopping and dining street it is now.
Polytechnitis covers apartment fit-out and repairs, rental turnovers and cottage maintenance across Braddon. If your job is not listed, call and ask.
In a Braddon apartment the TV usually goes on the wall. Walls in these buildings can be plasterboard, blockwork or poured concrete, and each takes a different fixing. Polytechnitis checks what is behind the paint, mounts the screen level at a height that suits the room, and keeps the cables tidy.
Small apartments, lifts with a size limit and no room to lay out a wardrobe in the hallway. We build in place, tether anything tall to the wall so it cannot tip, and carry the cardboard out with us so it does not end up in the building’s bin room.
60.4% of Braddon homes were rented at the 2021 census, against 30.6% nationally. For owners and property managers we clear routine inspection lists, turnover repairs and end-of-lease make-good in 1 visit, with 1 fixed price for the whole list.
Apartment bathrooms are small, often windowless, and run hard. Silicone around the shower base goes black, grout lines crack, and in a building with a unit underneath, a failed seal is not just your problem. We cut the old silicone and grout out and replace it properly rather than sealing over the top.
Picture hooks, TV brackets and shelving all leave holes when a tenancy ends. Polytechnitis patches, sands and touches up so the wall matches, and repaints a room or a whole unit when a spot fix will not blend in.
2 different jobs here. The 1920s cottages have heavy timber doors that have dropped on their hinges after 100 years. The apartments have sliders to balconies that clog with grit, and entry doors whose closers and latches wear out. We adjust, re-hang and replace hardware on both.
Original skirtings, architraves, picture rails and window frames in the cottage streets, repaired and matched rather than ripped out. Anything that changes the outside of a heritage cottage we flag before we start, so you can check what needs approval.
Braddon’s older streets sit under mature deciduous trees, and Haig Park’s 14 rows of windbreak trees line either side of Northbourne Avenue. Single-storey cottage gutters fill every autumn. We clear them, flush the downpipes and tell you about any rusted sections we find.
Polytechnitis covers Braddon as part of the wider Inner North. Braddon borders Turner, Reid, Ainslie, Dickson, Lyneham, Campbell and the City, so if a neighbour across the street or in the same building has a job waiting, we can usually take it on the same visit.
Braddon sits on the north side of the City, with Lonsdale Street as its main strip and Haig Park running along either side of Northbourne Avenue. The cottage streets of the Garden City precinct sit between Donaldson, Elimatta, Batman and Currong streets.
More about the area: Braddon on Wikipedia · ABS 2021 Census QuickStats: Braddon · ACT Government: modifications during a tenancy
Real jobs from customers across Canberra.
"I had my doors broken and kitchen drawers malfunctioning. From start to finish, the service was professional, reliable, and genuinely friendly. He was on time, understood exactly what needed to be done, and completed the job with great attention to detail."
"The handyman (Steve) knows very well his job and can do it in no time, he saved me a lot of money, his my number one call if i need anything to fix"
"I can't say enough about the outstanding service from Steve, he did a great job with the wall patching all the holes and painting it."
"I was impressed with the quick and efficient service provided by Polytechnitis, Steve the handyman was very good and completed the job to a high standard and I would highly recommend his services, good price as well and on time."
"Steve flattened my yard and placed pavers on top he also gave me a recommendation for good and affordable electricians"
"My roof was leaking Steve fixed the leak in no time and he didnt charge much"
Yes. 80.7% of Braddon homes were flats or apartments at the 2021 census, so apartment work is most of what Braddon needs from Polytechnitis. We work to your building’s rules on lifts, loading and noisy hours, and we will send a certificate of currency if building management asks for one. Inside your own unit is your call. Balconies, external walls and anything shared usually belong to the owners corporation, so check with them before anything is fixed there.
Usually, yes. ACT tenancy law lists picture hooks and fixing blinds to a window as minor modifications, and furniture anchors as safety modifications. You still ask your landlord in writing, but they cannot refuse those without an order from ACAT, and they have 14 days to apply for one. You generally pay for the work and undo it when you leave unless the landlord agrees it can stay. A TV bracket is a bigger fixing, so get written consent first. We can tell your landlord exactly what we would do and how we would patch it at the end.
Yes. The Braddon Garden City precinct, bounded by Donaldson, Elimatta, Batman and Currong streets, is the only completed residential design by Walter Burley Griffin in Canberra, and its first houses went up in 1921 and 1922. Polytechnitis does like-for-like repairs on them: doors, timber, plaster and gutters. If a job would change how a cottage looks from the street, we tell you before we start so you can check whether it needs heritage approval.
Yes. Hook holes filled and painted, bracket holes patched, loose fittings re-fixed, silicone renewed and any approved modifications taken back out. Send photos or the condition report and we quote the whole list as 1 fixed price.
It depends on the job and how much of it there is, so Polytechnitis quotes every Braddon job individually from photos. You get a fixed price before anything is booked in, the quote is free and there is no call-out fee.
Yes. Public liability cover on every job, and an ACT Working with Vulnerable People registration. Building managers and property managers can have a certificate of currency before we start.
No charge for the quote. No obligation. We'll call back the same day and book a time that suits you.
Apartment, rental or cottage. We're insured, we work to your building's rules, and we quote a fixed price with no call-out fee.
