Griffith is one of Canberra's oldest suburbs, settled in 1926 and 1927, and the Manuka shops sit inside it. That means inter-war houses with original timber, heritage streets, and apartments around the shopping centre. Doors, windows, carpentry, painting, gutters and small jobs. Free quote. Fixed price. No surprises on the invoice.
Griffith was settled in 1926 and 1927 and gazetted on 20 September 1928, which puts it among the first suburbs Canberra ever built. Several of its streets follow Walter Burley Griffin's original plan for the city, the streets themselves are named after explorers, and the housing that went up through the inter-war years is still standing in numbers. At the 2021 census 5,328 people lived here.
A suburb that old gives our team a specific job list. Timber doors and casement windows that were hung ninety years ago swell through a Canberra winter and bind in the frame. Original architraves, skirtings and picture rails have profiles nobody stocks. Plaster cracks where the house has settled. The repair that works is the one that matches what is already there, and most of these jobs are a careful hour with the right tool rather than a replacement.
Then there is Manuka. It is not a separate suburb, it is the shopping centre and the streets around it, and all of it is inside Griffith. Manuka Shopping Centre was one of the earliest shopping areas built in Canberra, Manuka Oval is a few minutes away, and the flats and townhouses through that part of the suburb bring apartment work: fixings into unknown walls, blinds, cupboard doors, patching between tenants. If your address says Manuka, this is your page.
The jobs we handle for inter-war houses, townhouses and the apartments around the Manuka shops. If yours is not listed, call and ask.
Griffith houses are old enough that most of the original timber is still in service. Doors bind against the frame after a cold winter, casement windows swell and stop latching, and strikers no longer line up because the frame has moved. We ease, plane, re-hang and adjust rather than replace, and fit new handles, strikers and deadbolts where the old ones have worn out.
Skirtings, architraves, sash and casement repairs, cupboard carcasses and built-in shelving matched to what is already in the room. Inter-war joinery has profiles you cannot buy off a rack, so the point is to repair the existing timber and match the detail rather than tear it out.
Older plaster moves and cracks, and picture rails and deep skirtings make every edge visible. We fill, sand back, cut in by hand and keep the protection down until the last coat is off. Small rooms and single walls are normal work for us, not too small to book.
The blocks around the Manuka shops and along Canberra Avenue bring a different job list: shelving and TV mounts fixed into whatever is behind the lining, blinds and rails, cupboard doors realigned, silicone redone. Work inside your own lot is straightforward, and we say early when something crosses onto common property.
Griffith has 20 parks across nearly 12% of the suburb and street trees to match, so gutters fill faster here than the Canberra average. Gutters and downpipes cleared, gates and fences straightened, pergolas and outdoor timber checked and repaired before storm season.
Wardrobes, beds, desks and storage assembled and levelled, and TVs mounted on walls that run from solid brick to plasterboard, sometimes in the same room. We check what is behind the lining before we drill and use the right anchor for it. Packaging leaves with us.
A lot of Griffith and Manuka stock is tenanted. Send us the condition report or the agent list, we quote the whole thing, attend once and send one invoice with the work photographed.
A tap washer, a torn fly screen, a light fitting swap, a mirror hung straight, a gate latch that no longer catches. Tell us the whole list when you call and our team knocks it over in one visit.
Griffith sits between Red Hill and the lake, with Kingston to the east, Narrabundah south and Forrest across the road. We cover the whole of Inner South Canberra and out through Deakin, so if you are in a neighbouring street we are already working nearby.
Griffith runs from the heritage streets near Manuka Oval out to the parks that cover nearly 12% of the suburb, with the Manuka shops in the middle of it and Red Hill rising behind. Our Torrens base is a short run across the Woden Valley.
More about the area: Griffith on Wikipedia
Real jobs across Canberra's inner south and the Woden Valley.
"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. Manuka is not a separate suburb, it is the shopping centre and the streets around it, and all of it sits inside Griffith, ACT 2603. If your address is Manuka, you are on this page and we cover you. Manuka Shopping Centre was one of the earliest shopping areas built in Canberra, and the flats and townhouses around it are a regular part of our week.
That is most of what the job is here. Griffith was settled in 1926 and 1927 and gazetted on 20 September 1928, so the houses are inter-war and the joinery, profiles and hardware are original in a lot of them. We repair and match rather than rip out: easing a door instead of replacing it, splicing a section of architrave, refitting the original hardware where it can be made to work.
It might be. The ACT Heritage Council register includes sites in Griffith such as the Blandfordia 5 Precinct, the Whitley Houses, St Paul’s Church and Manuka Oval. Heritage status usually affects external and structural changes rather than an internal repair, but it is worth knowing before work starts. If your job looks like it needs approval, we will say so upfront rather than start something that has to be undone.
Griffith has 20 parks covering nearly 12% of the suburb and mature street trees through most of it. That is a lot of leaf for the roof to catch. Most homes here want a clear before storm season rather than a clear once a year, and a blocked downpipe found in August is a much cheaper problem than the same downpipe found in a February storm.
Most jobs in the Canberra metro area, including Griffith and Manuka, are priced between $150 and $180 depending on scope and complexity. We quote a fixed price before anything is booked in. Tell us what you need and we’ll give you a number, no obligation.
Yes. Shelving, TV mounting, blinds, cupboard doors, patching and painting inside your own lot are all standard for us. Balconies, external walls, windows in many schemes and anything shared are common property and the body corporate decides, so we tell you which side of that line your job sits on before we start.
Yes. Public liability cover on every job, and we hold an ACT Working with Vulnerable People registration. Buildings and agents who want a certificate of currency before work starts can have it.
Inter-war house, townhouse or apartment. We're insured, we quote fixed prices, and we tell you upfront if the job needs approval first.
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