Dust, seed, leaf litter and grit come off the reserve slope and end up in the guide rails. Hackett runs right up against the nature reserve on Canberra's inner north edge, and a shutter on that side of the suburb needs clearing far more often than one three streets away. It is a small maintenance job that quietly decides how long the motor lasts.
We cover Hackett in the 2602 postcode along with Ainslie, Watson, Dickson and Downer. The inner north suburbs sit close together and we cover the group as one area.
Most of Hackett was built in the 1960s, single storey brick homes on generous blocks with mature gardens. Shutters are retrofits, often added during a later renovation. Many have been in place for decades and are still running on their original mechanism.
Solid shutters closed over glass are one of the few things that shield a window from radiant heat and ember attack, which matters on a street backing onto reserve. That only holds if they actually close. A shutter you cannot bring all the way down is not doing that job. If yours has been sticking, sort it before the dry months rather than during them. While we are there we clear and lubricate the rails on every shutter on the house, because on this side of Hackett that is where most faults begin.
