Tom Marsden
Licensed builder, founder
Twenty-two years in carpentry, the last nine on balconies. Writes every scope of works himself.
About us
A four-person crew that fixes what the cockies started
Cockyproof began in 2016 after one Kirribilli handrail job turned into eleven in the same building. Today we work only on harbourside apartment balconies and decks — the access, the salt, the birds and the strata process are all we do.
Our approach
Repair the timber properly, then remove the invitation
Plenty of trades will fill a chewed rail with epoxy and call it done. Six months of harbour sun later, the filler cracks and the birds return to the same soft spot. We do it the slower way: cut back to sound hardwood, splice in matched timber, cap the exposed edge, then finish the surface so water and beaks both find it boring.
Because we live with these buildings, we also plan the boring parts well — lift bookings, noise windows, corridor protection and the paperwork your owners corporation needs before a cent is spent.
- Licensed builders (NSW BL 284116) with $20m public liability cover
- White Card, working-at-heights and EWP tickets for every carpenter
- Bird-safe methods only — native wildlife is never harmed
- Timber sourced from certified Australian hardwood suppliers
2016first balcony repaired, in Kirribilli
640+balconies and decks completed
38harbourside buildings we return to regularly
0birds harmed — everything we fit is passive
The crew
Who turns up at your door
Small team, same faces. You get the mobile number of the carpenter running your job, not a call centre.
Nadia Kouris
Lead carpenter
Handles splicing and joinery detail. If your rail has a curve in it, Nadia is the one who solves it.
Reuben Dwyer
Metalwork & capping
Folds and fits our alloy caps and stainless mesh. Also runs the workshop in Peakhurst.
Elise Tran
Client & strata liaison
Books checks, chases access approvals and keeps committees and managing agents in the loop.
Where we work
Our service area around the harbour
Based on Forest Road in Peakhurst, on site across the harbour and lower Parramatta River. If your building is outside these suburbs, ask anyway — we often travel for multi-balcony work.
Lower North Shore
- Kirribilli
- Milsons Point
- McMahons Point
- Neutral Bay
- Cremorne Point
- Mosman
Inner West & river
- Balmain
- Birchgrove
- Drummoyne
- Pyrmont
- Rozelle
- Abbotsford
Eastern harbour
- Elizabeth Bay
- Potts Point
- Double Bay
- Darling Point
- Rose Bay
- Vaucluse
South & workshop
- Peakhurst
- Hurstville
- Sans Souci
- Blakehurst
- Sylvania
- Oatley