Guides

Hiring a tradie, the smart way

Plain-English guides for homeowners — how to check a tradie is licensed and insured, read reviews without being fooled, get comparable quotes, and run a renovation in the order that saves money.

How to hire a good tradie (and avoid the cowboys)

The full checklist — licences, insurance, reviews, quotes and the red flags — for hiring a tradie you won't regret.

7 min readRead

Tradie licences & insurance: what to check before you hire

Which trades must be licensed, how to verify it, and the insurance every genuine tradie should carry.

6 min readRead

The right order to renovate: which trades come first

Demolition to finishing — the correct sequence to book trades so nothing has to be redone.

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How much to pay a tradie — deposits, progress payments and protecting yourself

What a fair deposit looks like, the legal caps on builder deposits, and how to structure payments so you stay protected.

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Something's broken and it's urgent — here's what to do

What to shut off first, who to call, what a callout really costs, and how to avoid being overcharged in a panic.

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Hiring tradies as a landlord or property manager

Repair obligations, urgent vs non-urgent, using licensed and insured tradies, and building a reliable trade list for your rentals.

7 min readRead

How to read a tradie's quote (and avoid surprise costs)

Quote vs estimate, what an itemised quote must contain, and the terms — variations, provisional sums, exclusions — that move the final bill.

6 min readRead