The southside, in brief
Who counts as southside
Wikipedia's list of southern suburbs includes Acacia Ridge, Annerley, Archerfield, Calamvale, Coopers Plains, Holland Park, Moorooka, Mount Gravatt, Rocklea, Runcorn, Salisbury, Sunnybank, Tarragindi and Yeronga.
Homes
The ABS 'Brisbane - South' area had 132,271 occupied homes in 2021: 69.5% houses, 14.5% townhouses or semis and 15.4% flats. 35.6% were rented.
Concrete Dutch Houses
The Housing Commission had 300 concrete 'Dutch Houses' built at Sunnybank between 1951 and 1955 to ease the postwar shortage.
Farmland to suburb
Sunnybank's population reached 7,473 by 1974 as the old farming settlement filled with houses.
The 2014 storm
More than 614 power lines came down across Brisbane, and 108,000 homes and businesses were without power at one stage.
Jobs that come up on the southside
Postwar boards. Any switchboard or meter board built or imported before 2004 may contain asbestos, and the Queensland Government rates most of those installed before 1990 as very likely to. In a postwar house, let the electrician check the board before work starts.
Concrete walls. Concrete homes like Sunnybank's Dutch Houses may not have wall cavities to feed new cable through, so it often runs in surface conduit or through the ceiling instead.
Storm damage. After a storm, anything that took water stays off until it has been tested. Fallen lines go to Energex on 13 19 62.
Rentals. With 35.6% of homes rented, the safety switch and smoke alarm rules for Queensland landlords make up a big share of the work.
Suburb pages south of the river
Sunnybank, Mount Gravatt, Coorparoo, Carindale, Inala and Forest Lake each have a page with local detail.
Our take for the southside
In a postwar house, we'd sort the switchboard and safety switches before storm season, and do the smoke alarms in the same visit. The 2014 storm showed how quickly older homes can be caught out.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.