Here's a sad new years tale for you.

I have an investment/retirement property in country NSW . I've had it for just on 10 years and have been (I think) a good landlord. I always get problems fixed as soon as I'm told about them. As I plan to retire to the place, it's to my advantage to do this.

I have a builder friend (Bob) in town who went up to the place to do some minor maintenance and to check the place over (estate agents inspections are a joke) The tenant mentioned that a part of the ceiling in a bedroom was sagging a bit - by sagging they meant had fallen down. After removing a section of gyprock to replace it, Bob (that's really his name) found that the joists in the area of the damage were eaten through. As Bob is thorough sort of bloke, he did a more detailed inspection.

He's told me that all of the joists in all of the rooms are showing some level of damage. In a couple of rooms, he pushed on the ceiling and caould hear the joists crumbling.
His opinion is that all of the timber joists need to be replaced.

Bottom line is the roof, joists and ceiling will need to be replaced, his estimate is between $30k to $40k
It's a flat colourbond roof with no crawlspace (gap between roof and ceiling is about 200mm) in case anyone was wondering why the roof needs to go.
Not happy. I've been getting pest inspections donw every 12 months since I bought the place . The last inspection was only 3 months ago and made no mention of a hole in the ceiling or that a timber ceiling in another part of the house, were 'affected by white ants' as the pest people like to phrase it.

So much for giving up drinking for new year


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