Electrician in Austral, NSW
Austral, the new estates
Austral is mostly new housing estates on flat, open ground, with streets laid out in blocks of two-storey project homes. The work here is inside the lot, and the lots are small and close together. Almost every job starts at a meter box on the front wall and ends in a garage, a lounge or a first-floor bedroom, so the path from one to the other decides how long we need.
Access is simple compared with acreage, but the streets are busy. Parking can be tight on estate roads, with driveways short and bins, trailers and utes taking up the kerb. Some homes are rented, so we may need to arrange access through a landlord or agent. Side gates are narrow and often locked, and the meter box is usually fixed to the front wall of the house.
The houses are recent builds with modern switchboards, plasterboard ceilings and a small roof space under a tiled roof. That helps with wiring, because the boards are tidy and the layout is predictable, but the ceilings are insulated and the roof space can be hot and tight. Builders usually put in just the minimum outlets and data points, so owners often want more cabling added for TVs, cameras and chargers after they move in.
What we do here most
What Austral newer homes need
A new house in Austral comes finished but minimal, and the work is adding the chargers, cabling and security the builder left out.
EV Charger Installation
A charger on the wall of a double garage
Most project homes here have a garage on the front of the house, close to the meter box, which makes a wall-mounted charger straightforward in principle. We check that the board has room for a separate circuit and how the cable gets from the board to the garage wall. We install chargers for owners of Tesla, Nissan Leaf, BYD, Hyundai and Kia cars.
TV Wall Mount Installation
A television on a plasterboard living room wall
New-build walls are plasterboard on timber or steel studs, so a bracket has to be fixed into the frame, not the board. We find the studs, fix the mount and, where wanted, run the power and cabling inside the wall so nothing hangs down. Open-plan living rooms often have the wall the owner wants for the TV sitting right where a feature panel was added.
Security System Installation & Maintenance
An alarm for a two-storey house with a garage
A two-storey house has more entry points than it looks, with a garage door, a side gate, ground floor windows and sliding doors to the yard. A security system here means choosing sensor positions across both floors and getting wires between them through a ceiling cavity. The control panel generally goes near the entry or in the garage, close to where the owner leaves.
Digital TV Antenna Installation
An antenna and outlets for a new build
Estates have houses closer together than older suburbs, which affects where an antenna can point and how the cable reaches the roof. The aerial usually goes on the roof or in the roof space, and the cable then has to reach each living area through the ceiling. Builders tend to leave a minimum of TV outlets, so adding more means opening up another route.
If it is urgent
If the power drops in a new Austral home
- 1Look at the switchboard in the meter box or garage. If the main switch or one breaker has tripped, note which one, and check whether the safety switch has gone.
- 2Do not remove any covers on the board, and do not keep switching a breaker back on if it drops again straight away. Unplug anything that was running when it tripped.
- 3When you call 0438 653 022, tell us which rooms are dead, how new the house is and whether anything was plugged in or installed recently.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What electrical and antenna services do you offer?
We install and repair digital TV antennas, install Starlink, mount TVs on walls and install CCTV cameras and security systems. On the electrical side we do switchboard upgrades, electric hot water repairs, interconnected hardwired smoke alarms, EV chargers and general home and commercial electrical work.
Do you work on homes and on businesses?
Yes, both. Homes make up the bulk of the antenna, wall mount and smoke alarm work. For businesses the work includes fit-outs, maintenance, test and tag, and security system installation. Tell us which you have when you call so we can ask the right questions.
Which areas do you cover?
We are based in Silverdale and work in Warragamba, Mulgoa, Wallacia, Luddenham, Bradfield, Bringelly, Rossmore, Austral, Leppington, Smeaton Grange and Camden. In general we work within about a 30 to 45 minute radius of Silverdale. If you are just outside that, call and ask.
Do you work after hours?
We list ourselves as open 24 hours, Monday to Sunday. For anything urgent, call 0438 653 022 and describe what is happening. If something smells hot or a switch will not reset, say so straight away.
How do I choose the right digital TV antenna?
It depends on where you are, how far the signal has to travel, what is in the way and how many TVs you want to feed. Tell us your suburb and what the picture is doing, such as dropping out, pixelating or missing channels. We can then look at the roof and the existing cable and recommend what suits.
What do I need to know before a Starlink install?
The dish needs a clear view of the sky, so the first question is where it can sit without trees or roof lines blocking it. We also look at how the cable gets inside and where the router will go. Photos of the roof, the wall and the room where the router will live help when you call.
What should I send you for a CCTV quote?
Tell us how many cameras you want and where they should look, such as the front door, driveway or back yard. Say whether you want to watch from your phone and whether there is a spot for a recorder. A few photos of the outside walls and the eaves help us see how cables will run.
Can you mount my TV on any wall?
Usually, but the wall type matters. Brick, timber stud and plasterboard are each fixed differently, and a large TV needs a firm fixing point. Tell us the TV size, the wall type and where you want the power and antenna lead, so the cabling can be hidden if the wall allows.
How much does a job cost?
The price depends on the job, so we do not quote figures over the phone for anything that needs a look first. The first step is a look at the site, or photos for a small job. You then get a clear quote with no pushy upselling.
What do I need to know about EV charger installation?
The charger has to connect to your switchboard, so the distance from the board to where the car parks is the main question. Tell us the make of your car and where you park it. We install chargers for owners of Tesla, Nissan Leaf, BYD, Hyundai and Kia vehicles, and a photo of your switchboard helps us see what is there.
My hot water has stopped working. What should I tell you?
We repair electric hot water. Tell us whether there is no hot water at all or only a little, whether the unit is leaking, and whether the switchboard has tripped. If you can see water running from the unit, turn off the water supply to it and call us.
What is different about hardwired, interconnected smoke alarms?
Hardwired alarms are connected to the mains power of the building rather than running only on a battery. Interconnected means that when one alarm sounds, every alarm in the building sounds together. We install them as part of the electrical work, so the wiring is run and tested at the same visit.
Everything we do here
Services in Austral, NSW
These services suit the way Austral's newer homes are built, with tidy boards, short runs and plenty still to add after moving in.
Local, and on the phone
Talk to us about an Austral job
Call or email and tell us where the meter box is, how many storeys the house has and whether the garage is attached. In an Austral estate home those three details tell us how the cabling will run before we arrive.
0438 653 02224 hours a day, 7 days a week
Not urgent? Send us the job instead