Two eras of building sit side by side in Watson. The original 1960s houses on the older streets, and a substantial amount of newer townhouse and apartment infill added since. We get called to both, and the shutters on them have almost nothing in common beyond the weather they are exposed to under Mount Majura.
We cover the whole of Watson in the 2602 postcode, from the older streets through to the newer development along the northern edge. Hackett, Downer, Dickson, Lyneham and Ainslie are all part of the same inner north run.
On the original houses the shutters are retrofits onto sixty-year-old brickwork. On the newer builds they are usually factory-fitted and much younger, but they are not immune, particularly where they are wide or motorised.
People often expect a service to mean spraying something into the rails, and it should be more than that. We take the curtain through its full travel and watch where it hesitates, check the balance of the spring, look at the end locks and the bottom rail for wear, clean and re-lubricate the guides properly, and open the headbox to see the barrel and the drive. Most of what stops a shutter is visible for months beforehand if somebody looks. It is far cheaper to find at that stage than after a jam.
