What things cost in Canberra

Sparky

$88 – $165/hr

Plus a call-out, usually $55–$165.

Plumber

$88 – $220/hr

Call-out usually $66–$165.

Painter

$55 – $110/hr

Almost always quoted by the room or the house.

Landscaper / gardener

$61 – $120/hr

Cleaner

$38 – $88/hr

After hours

1.5× to 2×

Nights, weekends, public holidays.

The usual jobs

• Extra power point — $165–$275 each
• LED downlight — $66–$130 each
• Ceiling fan in — $165–$440
• Safety switch — $165–$385
• Smoke alarm supplied and fitted — $88–$220
• Fault find — $165–$440 a visit
• Switchboard upgrade — $770–$3,075
• EV charger in — $1,100–$3,300
• Rewire a three-bedder — $8,800–$22,000

What moves it

Whether there's roof space and a subfloor to run cable through, or whether it's getting chased into brick. How far you are from the board. And the big one: whether the board's got a spare way, or whether it needs upgrading first. That's the single most common reason a quote comes back higher than you expected in Belco, Woden and the older half of Tuggers. Get six points done at once rather than one at a time — you only pay the travel and setup once.

The usual jobs

• Dripping tap — $88–$285
• Toilet repair — $88–$385
• New toilet in — $440–$990
• Blocked drain, standard — $165–$440
• Blocked drain, camera and jetter — $385–$990
• Burst pipe — $220–$880
• Hot water, electric — $1,325–$3,300 in
• Hot water, gas storage — $1,650–$3,850 in
• Hot water, heat pump — $3,300–$6,600 in

What moves it

Repair or replace, and whether the replacement's like-for-like. Switching fuel — gas over to a heat pump, say — drags a sparky and maybe a whole switchboard into it. Where the unit sits and whether anyone can get to it. And with drains, whether there's tree roots in there, because that turns a clear into a repair. Worth checking whether a rebate applies before you commit to a hot water changeover.

Per metre, supplied and in

• Colorbond — $88–$175/m
• Timber paling — $88–$210/m
• Picket — $110–$275/m
• Aluminium pool fence — $110–$385/m
• Glass pool fence — $330–$880/m
• Old fence out — $16–$55/m
• Single gate — $275–$715
• Double or driveway gate — $550–$1,650

A typical 40 m side boundary lands somewhere around $4,400–$9,900.

What moves it

Slope's the big one. A fall across the run means stepped or raked panels, and half of Woden and Weston Creek falls away somewhere. Rock and tree roots make post holes miserable and Canberra's got plenty of both. Can a ute and trailer get near the line, or is every panel walked through the house? Is the old fence coming out? And don't forget a dividing fence is normally a shared cost with the neighbour, so the quote isn't necessarily what comes out of your pocket.

The usual jobs

• Inside, per square metre — $25–$45/m²
• One room, walls and ceiling — $330–$880
• Ceiling only — $220–$550
• Whole inside, three-bedder — $3,300–$8,800
• Whole inside, four-bedder — $4,950–$13,200
• Outside, single storey — $4,400–$11,000
• Outside, two storey — $6,600–$19,800
• Fence painted or stained — $550–$2,750

What moves it

Prep, every single time. Two quotes on the same house can be thousands apart purely on how much sanding, filling, caulking and priming is actually in the scope. Then it's coats, whether an undercoat's included, whether you're burying a dark colour, what grade the paint is, and whether there's scaffold. Empty houses are cheaper than furnished ones. And outside work here is seasonal — if a painter says they can't start your exterior in July, they're not fobbing you off.

Bathroom reno

• Basic, budget fittings — $11,000–$22,000
• Mid-range — $22,000–$38,500
• Premium — $38,500–$60,500
• Ensuite, usually — $15,000–$26,000
• Waterproofing on its own — $1,100–$3,850
• Wall tiling — $55–$100/m²
• Floor tiling — $60–$110/m²

What moves it

Whether things stay where they are. Moving a toilet or a shower waste means opening the floor, and in a slab-on-ground house that's a serious jump. After that it's tile size and finish, whether it's stripped back to frame, what's lurking behind the old wall, and whether you're living in the place while it happens. Kitchens work the same way — leave the sink and the stove roughly where they are and you stay in a cheaper bracket.

Waterproofing a wet area is regulated work with a standard to meet. A bathroom quote that's cheap because the waterproofing's thin is the most expensive money you'll ever save.

Decking, supplied and built

• Treated pine — $200–$385/m²
• Merbau — $330–$605/m²
• Spotted gum — $385–$660/m²
• Composite — $310–$605/m²
• 25 m² hardwood deck — $8,800–$17,600
• Basic pergola over it — $5,500–$16,500
• Sand and oil an old one — $28–$66/m²

Landscaping

• Turf supplied and laid — $16–$44/m²
• Synthetic turf — $55–$130/m²
• Timber sleeper retaining — $165–$550/m²
• Concrete sleeper retaining — $275–$770/m²
• Paving — $66–$175/m²
• Irrigation — $1,750–$4,950
• Backyard makeover — $5,500–$22,000

The usual jobs

• Regular clean, three-bedder — $175–$350
• Fortnightly, per visit — $130–$275
• Deep clean — $275–$660
• Bond clean, two-bedder — $275–$550
• Bond clean, three-bedder — $385–$770
• Oven on its own — $88–$220

What moves it

Furnished or empty — empty is properly cheaper. Whether carpet steam clean and windows are in the price or quoted separately, which is where most bond-clean quotes quietly differ. Pets. And how close to the end of the month you're booking, because that's when every cleaner in town is flat out.